Another day, another sexual lawsuit aimed at Sean "Diddy" Combs. Today, The Guardian reports that Diddy has been sued by Dawn Richard, former member of music group Danity Kane, who entered the musician and producer's orbit after being a contestant on reality TV series Making The Band. Richard says Combs repeatedly verbally harassed and abused her during several years of association, and, while she was a member of the group Diddy - Dirty Money, that he "sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions by touching her near her breasts and rear while she undressed in a changing room." Per the text of the suit: "Mr Combs frequently smacked Ms Richard’s bare buttocks and often commented on her body, noting that although she was ‘too skinny,’ she had an ‘ass’.”
In addition to her own allegations, Richard has also given her perspective on abuse that Combs is alleged to have committed against his long-time partner Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura, saying she witnessed Combs physically strike Ventura, attempt to strangle her, and once threw a "scalding" pan of food at her. Combs previously settled an abuse lawsuit with Ventura, just a day after she filed it in 2023.
News of this latest suit comes just a day after Combs was hit with a $100 million penalty in a default judgment against him in a lawsuit in Michigan, after current prison inmate Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith accused Combs of sexually assaulting him in 1997. Combs allegedly failed to show up for a virtual hearing this week, causing the default judgment to be issued. Combs has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women over the last several years, with most of the related legal action arriving after the Cassie suit was launched in November of 2023. Several of his properties were raided by the federal government in March of 2024 in relation to "an unspecified ongoing investigation."
