A woman has filed a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs, claiming that the music executive and his head of security sexually assaulted her and recorded the incident at his New York recording studio in 2001.
This lawsuit, submitted in federal court in New York, is the most recent among several similar allegations against Combs, occurring just a week after his arrest and the unsealing of a federal indictment related to sex trafficking.
Thalia Graves, who was 25 at the time and in a relationship with an executive associated with Combs, asserts that she was enticed to a meeting at Bad Boy Recording Studios during the summer of 2001. She alleges that Combs and Joseph Sherman picked her up in an SUV and provided her with a drink that was “likely laced with a drug.”
The lawsuit states that Graves lost consciousness and later regained awareness to find herself restrained in Combs’ office and lounge at the studio. It is claimed that the two men assaulted her, physically abused her, and disregarded her pleas for assistance.
During a press conference in Los Angeles alongside her attorney, Gloria Allred, Graves expressed the lasting impact of the incident, stating that she has endured “flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts” in the years that followed.
She conveyed the difficulty she faces in trusting others and forming healthy relationships, stating, “It has been hard for me to trust others to form healthy relationships or even feel safe in my own skin,” while visibly emotional as she read her statement.
Graves described the pain as one that penetrates deeply into one’s being, leaving emotional scars that may never completely heal.
Combs is currently being held without bail in New York, facing federal charges that allege he orchestrated a large network facilitating sexual crimes and engaged in violent acts, employing blackmail and other means to safeguard himself and his associates.
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He entered a plea of not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His attorney asserted his innocence and expressed a commitment to exonerate him. His representatives did not promptly respond to an inquiry regarding the recent lawsuit. There was no immediate clarification from the lawsuit or Combs’ representatives concerning whether Sherman had retained a separate attorney capable of addressing the allegations.
The lawsuit filed by Graves also claims that late last year, following the initiation of allegations against Combs by his former protégé and girlfriend Cassie, Graves was informed by her ex-boyfriend that Combs had recorded her assault, shared it with others, and marketed it as pornography.
The Associated Press generally refrains from identifying individuals who allege sexual abuse unless they publicly disclose their identities, as Graves and Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, have done.
According to Graves’ lawsuit, both Combs and Sherman reached out to her multiple times in the years following the assault, threatening her with consequences if she disclosed the events. At that time, she was involved in a divorce and custody battle, fearing that revealing the truth could jeopardize her custody of her young son, as stated in the suit.
During a news conference, Graves expressed that the accompanying guilt and shame “often made me feel worthless, isolated, and sometimes responsible for what happened to me.”
The lawsuit seeks damages to be determined at trial and demands that all copies of the video be accounted for and destroyed.
