Disclaimer: This story contains graphic details that some may find disturbing.
Another woman is suing Sean "Diddy" Combs, alleging he and his bodyguard violently raped her, recorded it then repeatedly sold the footage as pornography in the years since the alleged 2001 incident.
Well-known sexual abuse lawyer Gloria Allred filed the lawsuit on behalf of Thalia Graves Tuesday in New York federal court. The suit comes nearly a week after New York federal authorities indicted Combs on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
In her complaint, Graves claims she was 25 and dating one of Combs' employees in the summer of 2001 when the music mogul lured her to Bad Boy Recording Studios under the guise of discussing her boyfriend's supposed performance issues. She alleges Combs and his head of security, Joseph Sherman, picked her up from her mother's Queens residence and offered her a glass of wine "likely laced with a drug that eventually caused her briefly to lose consciousness," the lawsuit states.
Graves alleges she awoke at the studio naked and with her hands bound behind her back. She claims Combs then came in and repeatedly raped her, slamming her head on a pool table as she tried to resist. She alleges Sherman then slapped and raped her as she was coming in and out of consciousness, the graphic lawsuit states.
She later regained consciousness while alone and called a taxi driver her family knew well to pick her up, the complaint says. Graves claims the driver drove her to a hospital and tried to convince her to report the rape, but she didn't out of fear the report or Combs could cause her to lose custody of her young child amid the "contentious divorce" she was in at the time. Graves alleges in the lawsuit that her boyfriend also discouraged her from disclosing the assault on the belief it would hurt his career.
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At a news conference Tuesday, Grave spoke through tears as she described "the internal pain" that's gone beyond the "physical harm" the alleged assault caused her, saying the "shame and guilt" since are some of the "hardest parts of this pain."
"Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me," Graves said. "My family issues made the pain even worse. I was already going through a divorce at the time of the assault and did not get the support that I needed."
Graves said she's faced PTSD, depression and anxiety since the alleged attack. She told reporters "flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts" coupled with "chronic pain" and "sexual discomfort" stemming from the alleged rape have created a "cycle of suffering from which it is so hard to break free."
"I want to continue on this journey toward recovery and healing," she said. "I am glad that he is locked up, but that is a temporary feeling of relief."
Graves is now the 11th person to accuse Combs of sexual crimes, which he has denied. The first to seemingly start the domino effect came from the musician's former girlfriend, the singer Cassie, last November. The lawsuit — which claimed sexual abuse, assault and drug allegations — was settled the day after it was filed.
However, its filing pushed Graves' former boyfriend from the summer of 2001 to tell her later in November 2023 that Combs and Sherman had recorded the alleged rape, have repeatedly showed it to groups of people over the years and have sold it to the public as pornography, she claims in her lawsuit.
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"After over two decades spent trying to heal and distance herself from the experience, [Graves] was devastated by the news," the lawsuit states. "She felt as if her life had been turned upside down, again, and like the rape had been happening again and again even as she was trying to forget it. She experienced acute psychological distress, plunging into a deep depression and having suicidal ideations. She felt intense fear, anger and anxiety."
When asked during the news conference why Graves wanted to file her complaint now, Allred said, "It was time to file this lawsuit." But she did clarify that Graves came to her before the federal indictment against Combs was released. Since the indictment, Allred told reporters it's been "a very stressful and anxiety-producing experience" for Graves, who she says has "been dealing with all of it for many years and is reliving it now."
Allred also corrected a reporter who asked the attorney if she was representing any other female victims of Combs, saying "or men." She said she is representing other alleged victims but had "no comment" on if other lawsuits would be filed.
As for whether either Combs and Sherman or federal prosecutors have contacted Graves, Allred had no comment. But in the lawsuit, Graves alleges the defendants have contacted her and "warned her to be silent, threatening repercussions including [Graves] potentially losing custody of her son if she ever disclosed the assault."
Before a judge denied Combs bail last week, federal prosecutors had argued against his release, saying he has a history of attempting to coerce victims into supporting him or not speaking out and has "seemingly limitless resources" to flee. They also cited the alleged violence he committed against his victims in urging the court to deny his bail, while Combs' attorneys argued he wasn't a flight risk nor a danger to those in his community.
Graves' lawsuit names Combs, Sherman, Bad Boy Entertainment and various other business entities as defendants. Its main claim is a violation of the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act, which is currently in a two-year "lookback" window that allows victims to sue for abuses that would otherwise be barred by legal deadlines. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages determined at trial and requests for the permanent destruction of any videos of the alleged rape.
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