Sean 'Diddy' Combs is facing another lawsuit by a new accuser, Dawn Richard. Photo / Getty Images
Warning: mention of physical and sexual abuse.
Another alleged victim of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has come forward, filing a lawsuit that claimed the disgraced music mogul belittled, terrorised and sexually abused her, according to TMZ.
Dawn Richard, a singer who was most notably a member of the former girl group Danity Kane, has alleged she first fell victim to Combs in 2005 while filming for Making the Band, an MTV reality TV series that focuses on the formation of different musical acts.
All but one season of the show was overseen by Combs, who made the final decision on who would be in the band and also served as executive producer. The third iteration focused on Danity Kane, who were signed to Combs’ Bad Boy Records .
In the court documents, which were obtained by TMZ, Richard, 41, alleged Combs would call female contestants “fat”, “ugly”, “b****es” and “h**s” during the on-set auditions for the show.
She also claimed Combs had promised to advance her singing career if she gave in to his alleged demands, and showed particular disdain for her on set due to her young age. In 2005, she alleged she saw his former partner, the late Kim Porter, leaving a music studio visibly distressed and with obvious wounds on her face.
According to the lawsuit, in 2009 Richard also witnessed Combs physically attacking his ex-girlfriend Cassie, throwing her against a wall, choking her, and dragging her up a flight of stairs of his Los Angeles home while high on drugs.
In another alleged instance of abuse, Richard said the mogul hurled a burning hot pan of eggs at Cassie, 17 years his junior, while yelling: “I’ve been asking you for my s**t; I can’t stand you b****, you never do it right!”.
Richard alleges witnessing Combs also punching Cassie, an R&B singer and his protégé, in the face and attempting to strangle her.
Richard alleges in the documents that she and others, including her band mate Kalenna Harper, attempted to intervene on one occasion, advising Cassie to leave the relationship.
Combs, who later found out about the conversation, then purportedly threatened to “end” Richard and Harper’s careers, yelling: “Y’all b****es don’t get in my relationship ... Don’t tell my b**** [Cassie] what she need to be doing ... Just make money and shut the f*** up ... I end artists ... I shelve careers ... You could be missing ... You b****es want to die today”.
In terms of his treatment of Richard, the singer has claimed she was forced to rehearse 48 hours at a time without sleep, which had a significant impact on her physical health. In another instance, she asked the producer to put on clothes when he greeted her at his Miami home wearing only underwear; he refused, screaming, “This is my f***ing house!”.
Between 2009 and 2011, Richard claimed Combs inappropriately touched her breasts and backside after barging into her dressing room when she was naked. She says she was also locked in a car by Combs for two hours, with the heavily tinted windows obscuring her as she screamed for help.
In a statement to TMZ, Combs’ attorney, Erica Wolff, said the rapper is “shocked and disappointed” by the lawsuit.
“In an attempt to rewrite history, Dawn Richard has now manufactured a series of false claims all in the hopes of trying to get a pay day — conveniently timed to coincide with her album release and press tour,” Wolff said.
“If Ms. Richard had such a negative experience with Making the Band and Danity Kane, she would not have chosen to continue working directly with Mr. Combs for Dirty Money, nor would she have returned for the Making the Band reboot in 2020 or agreed to be featured on The Love Album last year.
“It’s unfortunate that Ms. Richard has cast their 20-year friendship aside to try and get money from him, but Mr. Combs is confidently standing on truth and looks forward to proving that in court.”
The Making the Band reboot, slated to screen in 2020, was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has yet to materialise.
Earlier this week, it was reported Combs had lost another legal battle, with a judge ruling on Monday that the mogul must pay US$100 million ($162m) for a sexual assault claim by a 51-year-old Michigan man.
The lawsuit alleged that in 1997, while at a party in Detroit, Combs drugged and sexually assaulted Derrick Cardello-Smith.
Lenawee County Circuit Court Judge Anna Marie Anzalone ruled in favour of Cardello-Smith and Combs — who did not appear at the September 9 virtual hearing — was ordered to pay US$10 million ($16.3m) monthly from October 1 in the default judgement.
In May, Combs admitted he beat ex-girlfriend Cassie in a hotel hallway in 2016 after CNN released footage of the attack, with the rapper saying in a video apology he was “truly sorry” and that his actions were “inexcusable”.
“I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now,” Combs said in the statement, posted to Instagram and Facebook.
The video showed Combs, wearing only a white towel, punching, kicking, shoving and dragging Cassie, and throwing a vase in her direction.
Cassie, legal name Cassandra Ventura, sued Combs in November 2023 over years of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. The suit was settled the next day, but spurred intense scrutiny of Combs, with several more lawsuits filed in the following months, along with a federal criminal sex-trafficking investigation that led authorities to raid Combs’ mansions in LA and Miami.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Diddy said in the May video.
“I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask 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.”
The security camera footage of the attack, dated March 5, 2016, closely resembled the description of an incident at an InterContinental Hotel in the Century City area of Los Angeles described in Ventura’s lawsuit.
The suit alleged Combs paid the hotel US$50,000 ($81.5m) for the security video immediately after the incident. Neither he nor his representatives addressed that allegation.