Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of raping woman over Tupac claims
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been accused of raping a woman as alleged payback for her saying she believed he was involved in the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, a new lawsuit shows.
The court document, filed in California, is the latest civil case to be filed against Combs, who is currently behind held in New York as he awaits a criminal trial on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
Warning: This story contains details readers may find distressing
In the lawsuit, the woman claims the hip-hop mogul raped her using a remote control – and that associates witnessed and also took part in sexual abuse. She also alleges he threatened to give her “a Glasgow smile” – to cut her face with a knife – and threatened he could harm her and her family if she spoke out.
She is suing Combs, along with four other men and two women, over allegations of sexual assault, battery, rape, sexual abuse, false imprisonment and kidnapping, and has called for a trial by jury.
Combs, known as P Diddy, has not yet responded to this lawsuit, but has denied all claims of sexual assault made against him.
He has also previously denied any involvement in the murder of Shakur, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996.
Tupac Shakur was killed in 1996. Pic: Walik Goshorn/MediaPunch/IPx/AP
The woman claims she first met one of Combs’ friends in a bar in February 2018. In the lawsuit, she says the man made a video call to Combs and showed her – but she told him she “was not impressed” as she believed “he had something to do with the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur”.
She heard Combs remark that she would “pay” for her statement and dismissal of him, the court documents say.
The woman says she was at the friend’s home in Orinda, California, the following month, when the rapper arrived unannounced.
He told her again she would “pay”, the lawsuit claims, and approached her with a knife. He held it to the right side of her face “and threatened to give her a ‘Glasgow smile’ in retaliation for her previous statements on the video call”, the document says.
The woman alleges her clothes were removed and that Combs covered her in a substance she realised was an oil or lubricant, before picking up a television remote and “violently” raping her with it.
Read more:
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P Diddy’s mother issues statement on allegations
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September: Diddy’s lawyer speaks outside court
Combs is accused of telling the woman “her life was in his hands and that if he wanted he could ‘take her’ and she would never be seen again”, and also that he “owned her now”.
She was then raped by Combs and others “until eventually she had no control over her body nor could she move her body”, the lawsuit alleges. The rapper recorded some of this, she claims.
The woman says she eventually managed to run for help and that Combs offered her money to say she was a sex worker and that they had had consensual sex.
She says she told a local sheriff about her ordeal, but her complaint was “ignored”.
Her claim in California comes a day after six lawsuits were filed against Combs in New York, with more expected in the coming weeks.
In a statement, Combs’ representatives said the rapper and his legal team “have full confidence in the facts, their legal defences, and the integrity of the judicial process”.
They added: “In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone – adult or minor, man or woman.”
When planned lawsuits were announced on 1 October, one of his lawyers said he could not “address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus”.
Combs, 54, was once one of the most influential producers in hip-hop, and also known as a rapper in his own right, with hits including Bad Boy For Life and I’ll Be Missing You.
After being arrested in September, he pleaded not guilty to three felony charges accusing him of using his business empire, including record label Bad Boy Entertainment, to transport male and female sex workers across state lines to take part in recorded sexual performances called “freak offs”.
His criminal trial has been set for May 2025.
The killing of Tupac remained unsolved for more than two decades, but the case was reinvestigated in recent years.
In September 2023, former gang member Duane “Keffe D” Davis was charged with murder. His trial is due to take place in March 2025.
It’s 5.30am, but the car park outside a laundrette in south central Los Angeles is already bustling.
A woman is setting up a stand selling tacos on the pavement and the sun is beginning to rise behind the palm trees.
A group of seven women and two men are gathered in a circle, most wearing khaki green t-shirts.
The leader, a man named Francisco “Chavo” Romero, begins by asking how everyone is feeling. “Angry,” a few of them respond. “Proud of the community for pushing back,” says another.
Ron, a high school history teacher, issues a rallying cry. “This is like Vietnam,” he says. “We’re taking losses, but in the end we’re going to win. It’s a war.”
Francisco ‘Chavo’ Romero leads a volunteer group, attempting to warn people ahead of ICE raids
This is what the resistance against Donald Trump’s immigration policy looks like here. In the past month, immigration and customs enforcement agents – known as ICE – have intensified their raids on homes and workplaces across Los Angeles.
Since the beginning of June, nearly 2,800 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in the city, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The previous monthly high was just over 850 arrests in May this year.
Police use tear gas against protesters, angry at a recent immigration raid at a farm in Camarillo, California. Pic: AP
Videos have circulated online of people being tackled to the ground in the car park of DIY shops, in car washes and outside homes. The videos have prompted outrage, protests and a fightback.
“Chavo” and Ron belong to a group of organised volunteers called Union del Barrio. Every morning, a group of them meet, mostly in areas which have high immigrant populations.
The day I meet them, they’re in an area of LA which is heavily Latino. Armed with walkie talkies to communicate with each other, megaphones to warn the community and leaflets to raise awareness they set out in cars in different directions.
A volunteer from Union del Barrio shows Sky’s Martha Kelner how they try to stay one step ahead of ICE agents
They’re looking for cars used by ICE agents to monitor “targets”.
“That vehicle looks a little suspicious,” says Ron, pointing out a white SUV with blacked-out windows, “but there’s nobody in it”.
An elderly Latino man is standing on a street corner, cutting fruit to sell at his stall. “He’s the exact target that they’re looking for,” Ron says. “That’s what they’re doing now. The low-hanging fruit, the easy victim. And so that is proving to be more successful for their quotas.”
This man, selling fruit on a street corner in LA, is a potential target of immigration agents
In the end, it turns out to be a quiet morning in this part of LA, no brewing immigration operations. But elsewhere in the city, dawn raids are happening.
ICE agents are under pressure from the White House to boost their deportation numbers in line with Donald Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
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In June, tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at protestors demonstrating against immigration raids
Maria’s husband Javier was one of those arrested in LA. He came to the United States from Mexico when he was 19 and is now 58.
The couple have three grown-up children and two grandchildren. But Javier’s work permit expired two years ago, according to Maria and so he was living here illegally.
Maria’s husband Javier was arrested after his work permit expired
She shows me a video taken last month when Javier was at work at a car wash in Pomona, an area of LA. He is being handcuffed and arrested by armed and masked ICE agents, forced into a car. He is now being held at a detention centre two hours away.
“I know they’re doing their job,” she says, “but it’s like, ‘you don’t have to do it like that.’ Getting them and, you know, forcing people and pushing them down on the ground. They’re not animals.”
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US troops accused of ‘political stunt’ after park raid
Maria wipes away tears as she explains the impact of his absence for the past four weeks. “It’s been so hard without him,” she says. “You feel alone when you get used to somebody and he’s not there any more. We’ve never been apart for as long as this.”
The family have a lawyer and is appealing for him to remain in the US, but Maria fears he will be sent back to Mexico or even a third country.
Maria fears her husband, who has lived in the US for nearly 40 years, will be sent back to Mexico
“I don’t know what to say to my grandkids because the oldest one, who is five was very attached to his papas, as he calls him. And he’s asking me, ‘When is papa coming home?’ and I don’t know what to say. He’s not a criminal.”
The fear in immigrant communities can be measured by the empty restaurant booths and streets that are far quieter than usual.
People in LA are being asked to report sightings of ICE officials so others can be warned
I meet Soledad at the Mexican restaurant she owns in Hollywood. When I arrive, she’s watching the local news on the TV as yet another raid unfolds at a nearby farm.
She’s shaking her head as ICE agents face off with protesters and military helicopters hover overhead. “I am scared. I am very scared,” she says.
All of her eight employees are undocumented, and four of them are too scared to come into work, she says, in case they get arrested. The process to get papers, she says, is too long and too expensive.
Read more from Sky News:
Farmer first to die during ICE raids
Trump warns comic over citizenship
Soledad, who owns a Mexican restaurant, plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive
“They call me and tell me they are too afraid to come in because immigration is around,” she says.
“I have to work double shifts to be able to make up for their hours, and yes, I am very desperate, and sometimes I cry… We have no sales, and no money to pay their wages.”
There is just one woman eating fajitas at a booth, where there would usually be a lunchtime rush. People are chilled by the raids.
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Soledad says she plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive.
“I’ve told them, get inside the fridge, hide behind the stove, climb up where we have a space to store boxes, do not run because they will hunt you down.”
The White House says they’re protecting the country from criminals. ICE agents have been shot at while carrying out operations, their work becoming more dangerous by the day.
The tension here is ratcheting up. Deportation numbers are rising too. But the order from Donald Trump is to arrest even more people living here illegally.
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