State Champ Radio sexual assault
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A federal judge ruled Thursday (Feb. 29) that an unnamed woman suing Sean “Diddy” Combs over allegations that he “sex trafficked” and “gang raped” her must reveal her identity as the case moves forward.
The judge acknowledged that disclosing the accuser’s identity “could have a significant impact on her” due to the “graphic and disturbing allegations in this case,” but said the woman had failed to prove that she could proceed anonymously.
“While the court does not take plaintiff’s concerns lightly, the Court cannot rely on generalized, uncorroborated claims that disclosure would harm plaintiff to justify her anonymity,” Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke wrote.
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The judge cited previous lawsuits against Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein in which John Doe and Jane Doe accusers, respectively, had been denied anonymity and said that allowing cases to proceed under a pseudonym in the U.S. court system was “the exception and not the rule.”
The ruling will not take effect immediately; instead, the accuser will not be revealed until after the judge rules on Diddy’s pending motion to dismiss the lawsuit. It’s unclear when that ruling might come. If the case survives, the Jane Doe will be forced to reveal her name.
Thursday’s decision came in one of several abuse cases filed against the hip-hop mogul late last year. In the current case, the unnamed Jane Doe accuser claims that Combs and former Bad Boy Records president Harve Pierre “plied” her with drugs and alcohol before raping her in a Manhattan recording studio when she was a high school junior.
Combs has strongly denied those allegations, saying: “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.” Last week, he formally responded to the lawsuit, arguing that that the allegations are “fictional” and violate his constitutional right to due process.
For months, the two sides have wrangled over whether the Jane Doe accuser could proceed anonymously. She argued that the media attention she would face would result in fresh trauma, adding to what she already allegedly suffered. Diddy’s attorneys argued strongly the other way, saying it would be unfair to let his accuser proceed under a pseudonym while his name was dragged through the mud.
On Thursday, the judge sided clearly with Diddy’s argument, ruling that she had failed to show the kind of “particularized harm or current vulnerabilities” that would necessitate such special status.
“Although this case involves highly sensitive allegations and Doe has not publicly revealed her identity, all other factors weigh against Plaintiff’s motion should this case survive Defendants’ dispositive motions,” the judge wrote.
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Diddy has more explaining to do. A former male producer is making some stunning claims that the mogul sexually assaulted him.
Variety Magazine is reporting that the Bad Boy Entertainment founder is now facing some new allegations regarding his behavior. On Monday, Feb. 26 producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed a lawsuit against Sean Combs stating the music executive made several sexual advances toward him during the recording of The Love Album: Off the Grid and was “subjected to unwanted advances by associates of Diddy at his direction.” Jones also faced “constant unsolicited and unauthorized groping and touching of his anus” and was even made to work in the bathroom while Diddy showered.
But wait it gets worse. Aside from the inappropriate advances Jones says that Combs frequently hired sex workers and offered them illegal drugs and laced alcoholic beverages. Additionally, the producer says he was also drugged and woke up on Feb. 2, 2023 in bed naked with Diddy and two sex workers. As expected lawyers for Combs have denied in a statement to Variety Magazine. “Lil Rod is nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 billion lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday,” Shawn Holley said. “His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines. We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.”
This one of many lawsuits against Diddy with claims of sexual misconduct. According to HipHopDX on Friday, Feb. 23 his lawyer Jonathan Davis described him and former Bad Boy Records president Harve Pierre in a filing as “victims of the ‘cancel culture’ frenzy in the courts”. The two businessmen are defendants along with another unnamed individual are alleged to gang raping a 17-year-old girl back in 2003. Both have plead not guilty and have asked the suit to be dismissed.
A music producer who says he worked on Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ 2023 album The Love Album: Off the Grid is accusing the hip-hop mogul of sexual assault and harassment, sex trafficking and various other forms of misconduct in a sprawling lawsuit filed Monday (Feb. 26).
In the complaint, filed by plaintiff Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr. in New York federal court, the producer accuses Combs of “groping and touching” his anus and trying to groom him into engaging in sexual acts with Combs and other individuals, including Love Album producer Steven Aaron Jordan (a.k.a. Stevie J) and a cousin of Combs’ ex-girlfriend Yung Miami (named as a Jane Doe defendant). He also claims that Combs “forced” him to “solicit sex workers,” some of whom were underage, as well as to “perform sex acts to the pleasure of Mr. Combs.”
In one alleged incident from February 2023, Jones claims he woke up “naked, dizzy, and confused” in a “bed with two sex workers and Mr. Combs” at Combs’ home in Miami and “believes” he was drugged by Combs.
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The lawsuit, filed by attorney Tyrone Blackburn, names several more defendants whom Jones claims conspired with Combs in an alleged “RICO enterprise” to enable his misconduct: Universal Music Group (UMG), its subsidiary Motown Records, Combs’ label imprint Love Records, UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge, former Motown CEO/chairwoman Ethiopia Habtemariam; Combs’ chief of staff, Kristina Khorram; and Combs’ son, Justin Combs. Federal RICO cases, which are based on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act traditionally used to target the mafia and drug cartels, are brought to more effectively sweep up members of alleged crime rings. (Notably, the ongoing Georgia criminal case against Young Thug that alleges the rapper ran a violent Atlanta street gang is based on a Georgia statute modeled off of the federal RICO law.)
In this case, Jones claims the “RICO enterprise” in question was set up to recruit sex workers, some of them underage, and to acquire and distribute drugs and guns out of Combs’ Miami home. He accuses the participants in the alleged enterprise of keeping him under their control by threatening him with violence, ostracism from the music industry and nonpayment for work on the album, which he says he still has not been compensated for despite having allegedly produced nine tracks.
The lawsuit also brings up an alleged September 2022 incident at Chalice Recording Studio in Hollywood, during a writing and producing camp for The Love Album, that allegedly resulted in a man being shot in the stomach following a “heated conversation” between Combs, his son Justin Combs and another unnamed man. Following the incident, Jones claims Combs forced him to lie to police by telling them the man was injured in a drive-by shooting outside. Jones is suing Combs, UMG, Motown, Love Records and Chalice Recording Studio for providing “inadequate or negligent security” during the camp.
In a statement sent to Billboard, Combs’ attorney Shawn Holley said: “Lil Rod is nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 billion lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday. His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines. We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies. Our attempts to share this proof with Mr. Jones’ attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, have been ignored, as Mr. Blackburn refuses to return our calls. We will address these outlandish allegations in court and take all appropriate action against those who make them.”
A spokesperson for Justin Combs sent the following statement: “Justin Combs categorically denies these absurd allegations. They are all lies! This is a clear example of a desperate person taking desperate measures in hopes of a pay day. There will be legal consequences for all defamatory statements made about the Combs family.”
Representatives for UMG, Motown, Love Records, Grainge and Chalice Recording Studio did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Habtemariam could not be located for comment at press time.
Jones is asking for damages for loss of past and future income as well as “mental anguish, humiliation, embarrassment, stress and anxiety, emotional pain and suffering, and emotional distress”; punitive damages; and the costs of bringing the suit.
The Love Album was originally announced in May 2022 as a release on Combs’ newly formed imprint Love Records, to be released in tandem with UMG’s Motown. However, the album — which featured a laundry list of stars including Mary J. Blige, Burna Boy, John Legend, Justin Bieber and The Weeknd — was ultimately released independently in September 2023.
Jones’ lawsuit is just the latest in a string of legal accusations to be lodged against Combs over the past several months. In November, Combs’ longtime girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, sued him for rape and physical abuse, though the case was promptly settled. He was subsequently sued by two more women for sexual assault and later by a Jane Doe who claimed Combs “sex trafficked” and “gang raped” her when she was 17. Combs has denied all of the allegations.
A new sexual assault lawsuit has been filed against Nigel Lythgoe, this time by an unidentified woman who claims the former American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance producer forcibly touched her in 2016.
The suit, filed on Saturday in Los Angeles Superior Court, is the latest against Lythgoe accusing him of sexual misconduct and abuse. After Paula Abdul sued the producer in December over two separate incidents of sexual assault, a pair of unnamed contestants on “AAG,” which is believed to be a reference to reality series All American Girl cited in a complaint from the women, came forward with accusations that he made unwanted sexual advances and groped them inside his Los Angeles home in 2003. That second suit was filed in January against a defendant with the initials “N.L.,” which multiple outlets identified as the producer.
Lythgoe stepped back from his on-camera and behind the scenes roles on SYTYCD in the wake of the allegations. The producer did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story.
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The suit says the accuser met Lythgoe at a hotel in Beverly Hills and that he “insisted” on driving her home. The complaint describes the alleged assault, which took place inside his car over the course of at least ten minutes.
“Plaintiff tried to push Lythgoe away from her and instruct Lythgoe’s driver how to return to her house, but Lythgoe continued to grab at Plaintiff, fondle her breasts, and kiss her,” the suit states. “Lythgoe even shoved his hand up Plaintiff’s skirt and penetrated her genitalia.”
The woman claims the producer eventually relented once his driver arrived at her apartment after allegedly taking an unexpectedly long route. She alleges she continues to suffer severe mental anguish due to the incident.
The complaint brings claims for sexual battery, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
“It is troubling to hear of yet another alleged incident of a woman being taken advantage of and abused by a prominent public figure,” said Melissa Eubanks, a lawyer for the Jane Doe plaintiff who also represents Abdul in her suit against Lythgoe, in a statement.
In her complaint, Abdul accused Lythgoe of assaulting her twice during one of the early seasons of American Idol and years later when she was a judge on SYTYCD.
“Lythgoe shoved Abdul against the wall, then grabbed her genitals and breasts and began shoving his tongue down her throat,” the suit stated.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
The unnamed woman who filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine in November has dropped the case, according to a document filed in New York court on Thursday (Feb. 15). The case has been “discontinued in its entirety with prejudice,” meaning the woman cannot refile. Representatives for Iovine and his accuser […]
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Ahead of his upcoming trial for trafficking, Diddy is hiring the lawyer who represented Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s associate in her case.
According to reports, Diddy has engaged the services of attorney Bobbi Sternheim to represent him in a lawsuit that was filed against him accusing him of sexual assault in 2003. Sternheim, a veteran trial attorney, recently was the lawyer for Ghislaine Maxwell in her 2022 case where she was ultimately convicted of recruiting and trafficking young girls abused by the disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Legal reporter Meghan Cuniff also noted Sternheim’s experience as the former president of the New York Women’s Bar Association in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Sternheim, who works with the law firm of Fasulo, Giordano & DiMaggio LLP, also served as the defense attorney for Khaled al-Fawwaz, the henchman for Osama bin Laden in his 2015 trial for his role in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. The bombings would claim the lives of 224 people, and al-Fawwaz would receive a life sentence in prison. According to her biography, Sternheim is the first and only woman to receive the New York Criminal Bar Association’s Award for Excellence in the Profession.
This new lawsuit against Diddy was filed last December, accusing him and former Bad Boy Records President Harve Pierre of organizing “a sex trafficking scheme that involved plying [Jane Doe] with alcohol and transporting her by private jet to New York City where she was gang-raped.” The victim, identified in the documents as “Jane Doe” claimed that she was 17 at the time, meeting Pierre and a “third assailant” at a lounge in Detroit, Michigan. They persuaded her to take a private plane to New Jersey, after which they drove to Diddy’s House Recording Studio in New York City. The legal filing states that the victim consumed so much alcohol “to the point that she could not possibly have consented to having sex with anyone, much less someone twice her age.”
The victim has retained Douglas H. Wigdor as her attorney. Wigdor is the lawyer who represented Cassie in her lawsuit accusing Diddy of rape and domestic violence last December. That suit was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount the day after it was filed, stating: “Pursuant to an agreement between the parties, Plaintiff hereby dismisses this action, with prejudice and without costs or fees to either party.”
Former record executive Drew Dixon, who previously accused Russell Simmons of rape, is now suing the Def Jam Recordings founder over allegations that he defamed her by suggesting during a December interview that she was lying about the incident.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday (Feb. 15) in Manhattan federal court, Dixon’s attorneys claim Simmons “subjected Ms. Dixon to public ridicule, contempt, and disgrace” by “calling her a liar.” During the interview, Simmons did not reference Dixon by name, but her lawyers say the message was clear.
“Mr. Simmons’s false statements were broadcast around the world and were reasonably understood by those who heard them to be specific factual claims by Mr. Simmons that he had not sexually abused Ms. Dixon and that Ms. Dixon was a liar who was seeking fame,” her attorneys wrote.
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The lawsuit claims that Simmons’ statements were designed “to cause the world to disbelieve Ms. Dixon” and to “destroy Ms. Dixon’s efforts to use her experience to help others suffering as victims of sexual abuse and harassment.”
Simmons did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuit’s allegations.
Dixon, a former A&R at Def Jam, was one of three women who accused Simmons of rape in a blockbuster 2017 article by the New York Times. Her allegations were also at the center of On the Record, a 2020 documentary film that featured interviews with numerous other women who have made other abuse accusations against Simmons.
Similar harassment and assault claims against Simmons by other women have also been reported by the Los Angeles Times and the Hollywood Reporter; a report by People says that a total of 19 different women have made allegations against him. Just last week, Simmons was hit with new accusations in a federal lawsuit that claims he raped a former Def Jam video producer in the 1990s.
At issue in Friday’s lawsuit are statements made by Simmons during an interview on a Dec. 6 episode of In Depth with Graham Besinger, titled “Russell Simmons breaks silence on allegations.”
On the podcast, Simmons said he was facing allegations from “six people” after he slept with “thousands” of women over the course of his life. He said that “people can have a recollection from 30 or 40 years ago, and it can be different from my recollection.”
“Could someone leave and feel hurt? Could someone leave and feel that they wish they hadn’t? Could some re-imagine a story out of thousands of people? Could someone want notoriety in a market where people thirst for fame?” Simmons asked, before later adding: “I’ve never been forceful in any of my relationships. All of what I’ve had has been consensual.”
Dixon’s name is never mentioned during the interview. But statements can still be defamatory without explicitly naming the alleged target, so long as a person is “reasonably identifiable” from what is said.
In her complaint, her lawyers say the “six people” Simmons mentioned “necessarily includes Ms. Dixon,” and thus his statements “have the effect” of accusing her of lying in her allegations: “Mr. Simmons’s false statements directly and indirectly indicate that Ms. Dixon lied about being sexually abused and harassed by Mr. Simmons.”
The case against Simmons is not the first time Dixon has taken a powerful music industry figure to court.
While she hasn’t previously filed a lawsuit against Simmons over her public abuse accusations, she did file such a case in November against Antonio “L.A.” Reid, a longtime music industry executive with stints at Epic Records, Island Def Jam and Arista Records. In that case, Dixon says Reid assaulted her twice during the mid-2000s and then blackballed her after she rebuffed further advances.
That case remains pending.
Gloria Trevi — arguably one of the most successful Mexican pop acts of all time — has weathered trials and tribulations throughout a long career, but she’s now facing a legal battle over renewed allegations of serious sexual wrongdoing.
The dispute resurfaced in December 2022, when two unnamed Jane Does filed a lawsuit alleging that Trevi and Sergio Andrade, her ex-producer and manager, had “groomed” and “exploited” them when they were between the ages of 13 and 15. The lawsuit also named backup singer María Raquenel Portillo, also known as Mary Boquitas, over her alleged involvement in the abuse.
Trevi has for many years categorically denied such claims. In a statement released after the December 2022 lawsuit was filed, she wrote: “These false accusations, which were first made against me 25 years ago, have been tried in various courts and, in all instances, I have been completely and totally acquitted. For these old, disproven claims to resurface now is tremendously painful for me and for all my family. The accusations were false when they were made and remain false today.”
The story dates back decades. Trevi, Andrade and Portillo were arrested in 2000 in Rio de Janeiro — where they had fled to avoid prosecution — for allegedly luring young girls into a cult-like pornographic ring where they were kidnapped, raped and corrupted. All three were eventually extradited to Mexico, where Trevi was acquitted in 2004 on charges of rape, kidnapping and corruption of minors.
“Many people don’t understand that I wasn’t detained for a crime. I was part of a process,” Trevi told Billboard in 2014. “I was exploited by those who I was working with. All I did was [to] be loving, faithful and loyal. God picked me up. He protected me. He took me out. I was cleared. I was released. I’ve never committed a crime.”
Trevi scored her first big hit in 1990 with the anthemic “Dr. Psiquiatra,” becoming the first Latin female rockstar with her signature untamed hair, ripped tights and leather vests. Since, Trevi has established a 40-year career of hitmaking and touring success. To date, she has four No. 1s on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart and has entered Hot Latin Songs a total of 12 times, including three top 10s with “Con Los Ojos Cerrados” and “Me Siento Tan Sola” from the ’90s and “Cinco Minutos” from 2008.
In August, Trevi released the bio-series Ellas Soy Yo, which chronicles her rise to stardom as an adolescent to become Mexico’s biggest pop star, her involvement in the Trevi-Andrade sex scandal, her time in prison and her return to the stage after being found not guilty. Trevi is currently on her Live Nation-produced Soundtrack Tour visiting over 30 cities across the United States, including L.A., New York, Chicago and Miami.
Facing the new civil lawsuits over the Andrade sex abuse claims, Trevi filed her own counter-lawsuit in December. She claimed that it was Andrade who was the “true predator” that had subjected Trevi and other girls to “total control and sadistic abuse,” and that her Jane Doe accusers had actually been “enlisted to perpetuate his abuse.”
Billboard reached out to Trevi’s team for additional comment on the accusations but had not heard back at press time.
To get caught up on the full story, here’s a timeline of the messy legal saga, from the filing of the cases to where things stand today.
Two Jane Does Sue Gloria Trevi
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A former producer and executive who worked with Russell Simmons has sued the mogul, alleging that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s.
According to reports, Hip-Hop pioneer and Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons was hit with a lawsuit Tuesday (Feb. 13) in Manhattan, New York. The lawsuit, filed by a woman referred to as “Jane Doe,” claims that Simmons raped her in the late 1990s in his apartment. The woman describes herself as a former senior music executive and music video producer who worked for Def Jam during that time.
In the filing, Ms. Doe claimed that Simmons had invited her to his place to view a rough cut of a music video. Soon after she arrived, his demeanor went from business to being sexual, which she brushed off as a joke. He then pulled a “wrestling move” and pinned her down before allegedly raping her. She detailed how she tried to fight him off, but was unable to. She would further detail how Simmons sexually harassed her afterward at the office, invading her personal space. The lawsuit says she resigned from Def Jam in 1997.
Her lawyers, Kenya Davis and Sigrid McCawley, stated that their client was moving up in her career before the sexual assault. “She was proud of her contributions to the burgeoning musical genre of hip hop, but her hard work and her career in music was disrupted and derailed by Mr. Simmons, a rich and powerful celebrity whose wealth and influence allowed his abusive behavior to go unchallenged for decades,” they said in a statement. “Now a successful writer and producer in the entertainment industry, Jane Doe’s traumatic experiences with Simmons echo those of so many other women who he has preyed upon for decades.”
The lawsuit was filed under the New York’s Adult Survivors Act and the New York City Gender Motivated Violence Act. Both laws contain “lookback windows,” which allow for the filing of lawsuits that wouldn’t occur due to being outside of the statute of limitations. Russell Simmons faced other lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault in 2018 and was the subject of the On The Record documentary in 2020 where other accusers detailed their allegations against him. Simmons has stated in the past that he had been in “compromising situations,” but claimed in an interview that he took and passed nine lie detector tests concerning those allegations.
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The Vince McMahon era at the WWE has officially come to an end.
*Trigger warning: this post will touch on alleged sexual assault*
It was only a day after some alarming allegations about Vince McMahon accusing the WWE founder of sexual assault, trafficking, and other disgusting things, and now he is out at TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of the WWE and UFC.
McMahon remains defiant despite stepping down and claiming his innocence in the matter.
Per Deadline:
“I stand by my prior statement that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth,” McMahon said this evening of the scorching lawsuit against him filed earlier this week. “I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name.”
“However, out of respect for the WWE Universe, the extraordinary TKO business and its board members and shareholders, partners and constituents, and all of the employees and Superstars who helped make WWE into the global leader it is today, I have decided to resign from my executive chairmanship and the TKO board of directors, effective immediately,” the WWE co-founder added.
McMahon was hit with the People’s Elbow in the form of a lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant, which shared details about disturbing sexual assault allegations.
We previously reported about those allegations where Grant was described as being constantly sexually abused by McMahon and other WWE employees and an unnamed WWE superstar, but according to The Wall Street Journal’s reporting, was former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.
Per HHW’s Reporting:
The lawsuit also details the “extreme cruelty and degradation” Grant was allegedly subject to, accusing McMahon of defecating on her during a threesome, “commanding her to continue pleasuring his ‘friend’” while his waste was in her hair and running down her back.
McMahon is also accused of using sex toys he named after WWE superstars on Grant and making her engage in sexual acts with other WWE employees like head of talent relations John Laurinaitis, who is also named in the lawsuit.
There was also an incident detailed in the lawsuit where McMahon and Laurinaitis corned Grant in Laurinaitis’ locked office during a work day and took turns sexually assaulting her, ignoring her pleas for them to stop.
Social media continues to hit McMahon, who should have been gone long ago with a virtual smackdown. You can see those reactions below.
2. Well damn
3. The accuracy
