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.
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.
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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”.
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.
Dame Judi Dench has revealed she can no longer leave her house alone due to her deteriorating eyesight.
The 90-year-old actress has macular degeneration, a condition which leads to a gradual loss of vision.
In a new interview on Trinny Woodall’s Fearless podcast, Dame Judi says “somebody will always be with me” when she leaves the house.
“I have to [have someone] now because I can’t see,” she continues. “And I will walk into something or fall over.”
Reflecting on how she used to feel about attending events alone, Dame Judi said she was “no good at that at all”.
“And fortunately, I don’t have to be [alone] now because I pretend now to have no eyesight,” she laughs.
In July 2023, Dame Judi said she was determined to work “as much as I can” despite her health issues.
“I mean, I can’t see on a film set anymore,” she told The Mirror’s Notebook magazine. “And I can’t see to read. So I can’t see much. But, you know, you just deal with it. Get on.”
Dame Judi’s acting career began in the 1950s when she made her stage debut in a production of Hamlet at London’s Old Vic theatre.
In the decades since, she’s conquered the worlds of TV and film, winning an Oscar for her role in the 1998 movie Shakespeare In Love and, more recently, playing the head of MI6, M, alongside Daniel Craig’s James Bond.
Dame Judi has also cemented herself as one of the UK’s best stage actresses, winning a string of Olivier awards for starring roles in plays including The Winter’s Tale and Macbeth.
Her most recent screen credit was in 2022, for a small role in Christmas film Spirited. She has continued to make public appearances and last October, she was a speaker at the Cheltenham Literary Festival.
From the sampled vocals of Mel & Kim to the instantly memorable lyrics of Rick Astley’s biggest hits, Stock, Aitken and Waterman’s songs ruled the UK charts in the late 1980s.
With a blue plaque being installed on the side of the Bermondsey building that housed their “hit factory”, the trio spoke to Sky News about spotting Kylie’s “spark” and claiming they “invented” AI.
At their peak in 1989, Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman songs made up a whopping 27% of the UK singles market.
It remains one of the most successful partnerships in the history of pop.
Waterman admits feeling “knocked out” by the 40 or so crowd that came to watch them receive the honour – including 1980s artists Brother Beyond, former staff who worked on their records, and fans.
“These are some of the kids that every day used to be here after school wanting autographs. Of course, they’re all grown up now!” laughs Waterman.
The partnership produced countless hits for some of the biggest stars at the time.
“We had a method of working, we tried to taper the songs to how we thought the public would perceive the artist and we were quite successful in that regard,” says Matt Aitken.
Waterman adds: “If it didn’t work, we didn’t bother.”
In 1988, their success went into overdrive thanks to a collaboration with a young Australian soap actress called Kylie Minogue who they hadn’t even heard of at the time.
“When she arrived at the studio we were unaware that she was even turning up,” Mike Stock explains. “So we had to come up with a song pretty quick.”
They wrote her 1987 debut hit I Should Be So Lucky in just 20 minutes.
“She was a great deliverer of a song,” Aitken says.
“When she was sat in a corner you wouldn’t know she was there but the minute a camera went on… she sparked,” adds Pete Waterman.
Back in the day most of their hits were recorded on a simple 24-track tape machine but now, with advances in AI software, songs can be produced in an instant.
So how do the trio feel about artificial intelligence being the new “hit factory”?
“AI? We invented it!” jokes Waterman.
“You’ve got to incorporate influences from the past but… the difference between AI and what we did [is] we had emotion,” he says.
“We fought over songs if a lyric didn’t work. It doesn’t work without emotion.”
Sting has cancelled an awards ceremony performance and several shows at short notice this week, on the advice of his doctor.
An announcement on the British singer’s Instagram page said the decision had been made “due to illness” but did not include any more details.
Sting, 73, was due to perform at the Bass Magazine Awards in California, where he is set to be honoured with a lifetime achievement award, on Thursday.
He has also postponed shows in Phoenix, Arizona, and Wheatland, California, as well as a performance at a record label’s anniversary concert, which were all due to take place later this week.
“On advisement from his doctor, due to illness, it is with sincere regret that Sting must cancel his appearance at the Bass Magazine Awards this Thursday and postpone his STING 3.0 concerts,” the statement said.
The Phoenix show, originally scheduled for 24 January, has been moved to 1 June, while the 26 January Wheatland show has been pushed back to 28 May.
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“Fans should retain their tickets for the postponed shows, as they will be honoured on the new dates,” the statement said.
“Sting sincerely apologises for any inconvenience and extends his gratitude to the fans for their understanding.”
The Cherrytree Music Company’s 20th anniversary event, also set to feature Shaggy and other artists, will now take place on 29 May.
Sting, whose real name is Gordon Sumner, rose to fame as frontman of The Police in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with hits including Roxanne, Message In A Bottle, Don’t Stand So Close To Me, and Every Breath You Take.
His success continued as a solo artist, with three number one albums in the UK chart and three top 10 singles – All For Love (with Bryan Adams and Sir Rod Stewart), When We Dance, and Rise And Fall (with Craig David) – as well as other hits including Englishman In New York, and If I Ever Lose My Faith In You.
In 2022, he became the latest in a list of high-profile artists, including Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, who have sold their music rights, announcing that his back catalogue of solo material and songs he wrote for The Police had been acquired by Universal Music Publishing Group.