OAN Staff James Meyers
3:25 PM – Thursday, October 31, 2024
A judge has ruled that a woman who anonymously sued Sean “Diddy” Combs earlier this month for rape must reveal her name or her lawsuit will be tossed out.
The woman’s complaint, filed under “Jane Doe” in the Southern District of New York, accuses Combs of raping her in 2004 at a Manhattan hotel when she was a 19-year-old college student.
U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil said the anonymous woman’s complaint provided insufficient evidence that she would face “significant risk of harm” if publicly named.
Vyskocil said her lawyers offered “no support for this assertion,” beyond the fact that 20 years ago, Combs threatened Doe’s life if she fled at the time of the alleged rape.
Additionally, the judge also said that her lawyers failed to provide evidence that revealing Doe’s identity would cause mental harm, citing that “public humiliation” wasn’t enough.
Vyskocil said she had also considered the fairness to Combs’ camp in defending himself, which would be difficult without her identity being made public, given that the alleged attack happened 20 years ago.
“Defendants have a right to defend themselves, including by investigating Plaintiff, and the people have a right to know who is using their courts.”
In denying the motion, the judge has given Jane Doe until November 13th to file a complaint in her own name “or this case will be dismissed.”
Furthermore, attorney Tony Buzbee filed the lawsuit under the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act, which allows victims under a two-year window ending in March 2025 to file older claims.
This suit was one of six complaints Buzbee filed in the Southern District of New York, all anonymously, on October 14th.
The suit was filed against Sean Combs and several of his businesses.
The lawsuit alleged that the victim had been invited to one of Comb’s photo shoots in Brooklyn, New York, in 2004. She went to the photo shoot where she and another freshman from her dormitory were invited to an after party. At that party, Combs told Doe and her friend “they should come to his hotel first for a more exclusive party.” Doe and her friend agreed to go and were taken to a Manhattan area Marriott hotel by a member of the hip hop artist’s entourage, the complaint stated.
Inside, Doe and her friend were allegedly grabbed and taken to a separate bedroom off from the main party, and locked inside with Combs, according to the filing.
Once in the room Combs allegedly gave them drinks, ordered them to use cocaine, and touched them via force, the complaint stated. He allegedly ordered Doe’s friend to perform oral sex “or else he would have them both killed,” and raped Doe, according to the filing.
Then a security guard eventually opened the door and Doe’s friend ran out. However, Doe was ordered to stay and she had to wait approximately half an hour until another security guard came and told her she could leave, the complaint said.
The latest lawsuit comes after Combs was arrested in New York in September, following multiple lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault and misconduct.
Meanwhile, Combs’ attorneys have denied allegations of sexual misconduct.
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