Thalia Graves attends a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. Graves is suing Sean “Diddy” Combs, accusing Combs of sexual assault in 2001. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
LOS ANGELES – Sean “Diddy” Combs, already jailed in connection with a federal indictment alleging racketeering and sex trafficking, was hit with a new rape allegation Tuesday by a woman who contends in a lawsuit the music mogul and another man sexually assaulted her at a New York music studio two decades ago.
Speaking at a Los Angeles news conference, Thalia Graves said she continues to suffer the emotional and physical effects of the alleged assault.
“The internal pain after being sexually assaulted has been incredibly deep and hard to put into words,” Graves said at the office of her attorney, Gloria Allred. “It goes beyond just physical harm caused by … assault. The hardest parts of this pain are the shame and the guilt and the experience that pays a negative part in my day-to-day ability to function properly — being blamed, questioned and threatened.”
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The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York alleges that Graves was dating one of Combs’ employees in summer 2001 when she was 25 years old.
According to the lawsuit, Combs lured Graves to meet her and another man at the Bad Boy Records studio in New York. Once she was alone with them, she was given a drink, “likely laced with a drug that eventually caused her to lose consciousness.”
“She awoke to find herself bound and restrained,” the lawsuit states. The two men “proceeded to brutally sexually abuse and violate” Graves, and they were “undeterred” by her cries for help.
ADVERTISEMENTAccording to the suit, Combs threatened to “ruin her life” if she ever came forward, and she remained silent until November of last year when she learned that the pair “had video-recorded the horrific rape” and “shown the video to multiple men, seeking to publicly degrade and humiliate both (Graves) and her boyfriend.”
Combs, 54, whose homes in Holmby Hills and Miami were raided by federal agents earlier this year, was arrested in New York earlier this month in response to an indictment accusing him of a decade-long racketeering and sex-trafficking operation that prosecutors say included forced labor, staged sex parties, bribery and arson.
Combs has pleaded guilty, but he remains jailed without bail.
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The indictment charges him with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He could potentially face life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors contend that Combs and his conspirators would stage what were known as “Freak Offs,” which were elaborate sex parties or performances in which women were forced to participate with male commercial sex workers.
The events were usually filmed, prosecutors allege.
Prosecutors contend that Combs would force victims to participate in such events through violence and intimidation and leveraging his power over them, “power he obtained through obtaining and distributing narcotics to them, exploiting his financial support to them and threatening to cut off the same, and controlling their careers,” according to the US Attorney’s Office.
According to prosecutors, members of Combs’ business empire would facilitate the “Freak Outs” by arranging travel for sex workers and victims, setting up hotel rooms that were stocked with lubricants and other sex-party supplies, then cleaning the rooms after the events concluded.
Prosecutors also said Combs would control women through physical abuse.
Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, responded to the arrest of his client in a statement, calling it “an unjust prosecution.”
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the US Attorney’s Office. Sean `Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community,” Agnifilo said in the statement.
“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges.
Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court,” Agnifilo added.
Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, had claimed in a lawsuit filed last November that Diddy physically assaulted her in 2016 at a Century City hotel, saying the rapper was drunk and punched her in the face. She alleged that when she tried to leave, Diddy followed her and eventually threw glass vases that were on display in the hallway at her. According to the suit, Ventura eventually got into an elevator and took a cab back to her apartment.
The lawsuit also made more serious allegations of sexual assault and other acts of physical abuse inflicted by Diddy. The lawsuit was settled one day after it was filed, but no details were released.
Earlier this year, surveillance video from the Century City hotel became public, showing the 2016 assault of Ventura. The video shows Combs — wearing only a towel — attacking Ventura in a hotel hallway and attempting to drag her back to a room. He is also seen throwing a vase in her direction.
Combs issued a public apology after the video surfaced, saying in an Instagram video, “It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that. I was (expletive) up. I mean I hit rock bottom, but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. Disgusting. I was disgusting then when I did it, I’m disgusted now.
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“I went and I sought out professional help. I’m going to therapy, going to rehab. I have asked God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry, but I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”
In addition to Ventura, two other women filed lawsuits against Combs alleging sexual abuse.
Music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr. filed a lawsuit earlier this year accusing Diddy of groping him while the pair worked together on Diddy’s album “The Love Album: Off the Grid.” The lawsuit also included allegations that Diddy and his son engaged in a “sex-trafficking venture.”
Diddy’s attorney, Shawn Holley, issued a statement in response at the time saying, “Lil Rod is nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 million lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday. His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines. “We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.” (CNS)
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