Hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and his former bodyguard drugged, bound and violently raped a woman in 2001 — in a vicious attack he filmed and showed to friends, a bombshell new lawsuit claims.
In court papers filed Tuesday, Thalia Graves accused Combs and his former bodyguard Joseph Sherman of “mercilessly raping” her inside the Bad Boy Records studio in Manhattan.
The two men lured Graves, who was 25 at the time and dating one of Combs’ employees, into the studio where they gave her a drink “likely laced with a drug” that caused her to briefly lose consciousness, the lawsuit alleges.
Graves woke up to find herself “bound and restrained” by Combs and Sherman, who ignored her cries for help while they “mercilessly” raped her, court papers say.
Graves, who now lives in Texas, never reported the depraved attack to police out of fear that Combs would use his power as a hip-hop industry kingmaker to “ruin her life,” says the suit, filed in Manhattan federal court.
But she decided to go public with her claim soon after Combs’ Sept. 16 arrest on federal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, the suit says.
Here’s what we know about the allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs
- Combs was arrested at a New York hotel by Homeland Security agents on September 16.
- Prosecutors allege Combs participated in sex trafficking and “freak off” parties.
- Combs was denied bail and is on suicide watch as he awaits his sex trafficking trial in jail.
- Sean “Diddy” Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security in March amid a possible ongoing sex-trafficking investigation.
- A video of Combs viciously assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway was made public in May.
- In November 2023, the rapper was accused of drugging, filming and sexually assaulting a woman on a date in 1991.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that he served as the ruthless kingpin of a criminal empire that abused women for decades — including by forcing them to have sex with male prostitutes that he called “Freak Offs.”
A spokesperson for Combs didn’t immediately return a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
