Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing a new lawsuit from another woman who claims that he drugged her, sexually assaulted her and recorded the attack. On Tuesday, September 24, a woman named Thalia Graves spoke during a press conference and explained how the alleged rape affected her.
“Some of the hardest parts of this pain are the shame and the guilt I have experienced that plays a negative part in my daily ability to function properly,” Graves said alongside her attorney, Gloria Allred. “Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me.”
Diddy’s accuser, Thalia Graves, claims at 25 while dating a Bad Boy executive in 2001, Diddy lured her to his lounge, drugged her, and r*ped her.
— RapTV (@Rap) September 24, 2024
Per Deadline, the lawsuit claims that Combs, 54, and his bodyguard, Joseph Sherman, “viciously raped [Graves] at the Bad Boy Records studio in New York City” in 2001.
“Plaintiff was 25 at the time and dating one of Combs’ employees, a relationship that Combs exploited to lure Plaintiff into meeting him and Sherman alone,” the court filing reads, according to the outlet. “Once they successfully sequestered Plaintiff, Combs and Sherman gave Plaintiff a drink, likely laced with a drug that eventually caused her briefly to lose consciousness. She awoke to find herself bound and restrained.”
The lawsuit further claims that both Combs and Sherman reached out to Graves “and warned her to be silent, threatening repercussions including [Graves] potentially losing custody of her son if she ever disclosed the assault.”
“Because of their enormous power in the industry, including through their ownership of and positions at the Combs Corporations, [Graves] knew that they could follow through on their threats,” the lawsuit reads. “[Graves] could not believe that Defendants would record themselves committing such a gruesome crime and then proceed proudly and widely to disseminate the recording of it.”
Graves’ lawsuit is the latest amid a string of previous accusations against Diddy. The rapper was previously accused of sexual assault by multiple people, including his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in late 2023. Though they settled Ventura’s lawsuit shortly thereafter, a video of Combs dragging and beating Ventura in 2016 surfaced earlier this year. Diddy apologized for the assault in an Instagram clip.
However, Combs’ two properties in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by Homeland Security as part of a sex trafficking investigation. Nearly six months later, he was arrested in New York City by federal agents and charged with three felony counts of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.” Combs is currently in custody at MDC Brooklyn.
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.
