LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawsuit that names Sean “Diddy” Combs as a co-defendant alleges that his son Christian “King” Combs sexually assaulted a girl engaged on a yacht chartered by his father.
The go well with filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court docket says Sean Combs created the circumstances that led to the assault and paid to cowl it up afterward. It’s the most recent in a collection of lawsuits accusing the producer and music mogul of sexual misconduct, and it comes amid a federal intercourse trafficking investigation that led Homeland Safety brokers to raid his properties in Los Angeles and Miami final week.
Grace O’Marcaigh, who labored as a crew member and a bartender on the boat, says that in late December 2022, Christian Combs pressured her to drink tequila that she believes was spiked with different medication. He groped her breasts and genitals and tried to pressure her to carry out oral intercourse, the go well with alleges.
The Related Press doesn’t usually identify individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused until they arrive ahead publicly, as O’Marcaigh has carried out. She additionally consented to being named by means of her attorneys.
Aaron Dyer, an lawyer for Sean and Christian Combs, referred to as the lawsuit “lewd and meritless.”
“We will likely be submitting a movement to dismiss this outrageous declare,” Dyer stated in an announcement.
Dyer referred to as the investigation that introduced final week’s raids “nothing greater than a witch hunt primarily based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”
Sean Combs, who chartered the yacht all through the vacations in 2022, “had full management of the employees and premises” and created circumstances the place her assault was not solely tolerated however inspired.
O’Marcaigh, who was 25 on the time, stated when Christian Combs, then 24, got here aboard late one night time, he appeared closely intoxicated and started giving her inappropriate consideration.
She stated the 2 have been in a music studio on board the ship, the place producer Rodney Jones, who filed his personal lawsuit in February, was advised to be obtainable across the clock for Sean Combs to work on his subsequent album.
O’Marcaigh stated within the go well with that Christian Combs was insistent that she take photographs of tequila, and she or he drank out of obligation.
The go well with alleges he grew to become more and more aggressive along with her, violently grabbing her arm as she tried to get out of the state of affairs then groping her. The drinks made the whole lot blurry, unusually shortly, the go well with says.
Microphones within the studio, the place Jones was advised to seize the whole lot, recorded their change, and the lawsuit features a transcript the place O’Marcaigh calls for that Christian Combs cease touching her.
The go well with alleges that he later continued the assault within the ship’s movie show, which was used as a spare sleeping space and the place she was searching for a spot to spend the night time as a result of the rooms have been all taken, earlier than one other crew member appeared and he stopped.
O’Marcaigh advised the yacht’s captain in regards to the assault the next morning, however she alleges that after Combs gave him a considerable amount of money the identical day, the captain didn’t meaningfully examine or take any motion.
The go well with says O’Marcaigh was finally fired in retaliation and has since been unable to seek out work within the music trade the place she had deliberate to construct a profession. It says since 2022, she has suffered extreme emotional trauma.
The lawsuit seeks damages to be decided at trial.
Christian Combs can be a musical artist whose track “Can’t Cease Received’t Cease” with Kodak Black topped Billboard’s Mainstream R&B Hip-Hop charts in 2022. He was at his father’s Los Angeles residence throughout final week’s searches, throughout which he and his brother have been handcuffed however not arrested.
The producer Jones’ federal lawsuit, filed in February by Tyrone Blackburn, the identical lawyer as O’Marcaigh’s go well with, contains allegations that Sean Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have intercourse with them.
Dyer’s assertion stated the most recent lawsuit is “crammed with the identical type of manufactured lies and irrelevant info we’ve come to anticipate from Blackburn.”
He identified that U.S. District Decide Denise L. Cote criticized Blackburn in a separate lawsuit on Wednesday and referred him to a disciplinary committee for a “sample of conduct” the place he “improperly recordsdata instances in federal courtroom to garner media consideration, embarrass defendants with salacious allegations, and stress defendants to settle shortly.”
Blackburn responded in an e-mail that “a referral just isn’t a sanction” and the assertion from Combs’ lawyer was an try to “deflect and distract.”
“Christian Combs sexually assaulted Ms. O’Marcaigh, and we’ve got it on tape,” Blackburn stated.
A number of lawsuits have introduced public scrutiny to the music and enterprise mogul, starting with a November go well with from his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, which alleged years of sexual abuse, together with rape. It was settled the next day.
Combs and his attorneys have denied all the lawsuits’ allegations.
Combs, a three-time Grammy winner and the founding father of Unhealthy Boy Data, is among the many most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the previous three a long time. He turned his hip-hop empire right into a broader enterprise empire that features private-label spirits, style, and a TV community.
