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Woman claims Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs raped her on video in lawsuit
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Woman claims Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs raped her on video in lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Another woman charged Sean “Diddy” Kammen Tuesday, alleging that the music mogul and his security chief raped and videotaped her in 2001 at his New York recording studio.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, the latest of several similar lawsuits against Combs, comes a week after he was sentenced. was arrested and a federal sex trafficking indictment against him was made public.

Thalia Graves alleges that when she was 25 and in a relationship with an executive who worked for Combs in the summer of 2001, Combs and Joseph Sherman lured her to a meeting at Bad Boy Recording Studios. She said they picked her up in an SUV and during the ride gave her a drink that was “probably laced with a drug.”

According to the complaint, Graves lost consciousness and awoke to find herself tied up in Combs’ office and lounge at the studio. The two men raped her, beat her, slammed her head into a pool table and ignored her screams and cries for help, the complaint alleges.

During a press conference in Los Angeles with one of her attorneys, Gloria Allred, Graves said she has suffered from “flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts” in the years since.

“It has been difficult for me to trust others to have healthy relationships or even feel safe in my own skin,” Graves said, crying as she read a statement.

She said it is “a pain that cuts deep into your being and leaves emotional scars that may never fully heal.”

Combs remains in custody without bail in New York on federal charges. He allegedly ran a vast network that facilitated sex crimes and committed shocking acts of violence, using blackmail and other tactics to protect Combs and those close to him.

He has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His attorney said he is innocent and will fight to clear his name. His representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the latest lawsuit. There was no immediate indication from the lawsuit or from Combs’ representatives whether Sherman had a separate attorney who could comment on the allegations.

The lawsuit, filed under the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act, comes during a two-year period in which legal deadlines have been suspended and victims of sexual abuse can file lawsuits alleging abuse who would otherwise be too old to sue.

Allred declined to say whether her client had spoken to investigators in Combs’ criminal case, which lists allegations only since 2008.

Graves’ lawsuit also alleges that late last year, after Combs’ former singing protégé and friend Cassie a lawsuit was filed which began the wave of accusations against himThrough her ex-boyfriend, Graves discovered that Combs had recorded her rape, shown it to others and sold it as pornography.

The Associated Press does not generally name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Graves and Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, have done.

Graves’ lawsuit says Combs and Sherman contacted her multiple times in the years following the attack, threatening repercussions if she told anyone what had happened to her. She was in the midst of a divorce and custody battle at the time and feared losing her young son if she revealed anything, the lawsuit says.

Graves said at the news conference that the guilt and shame that came with it “often left me feeling worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me.”

The lawsuit demands that damages be determined at trial and that all copies of the video be destroyed.

The lawsuit also names as defendants several companies owned by Combs, the three-time Grammy winner and founder of Bad Boy Records. Combs was one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades.