Sean “Diddy” Combs bound and raped a woman along with his head of security, then threatened her with a recording of the assault two decades later, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan Federal Court.
Thalia Graves is now one of several women and men who have sued Combs, 54, and accused him of sexual assault and abuse. Combs was arrested last week in New York and has been held without bail at Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn on sex trafficking charges.
Graves said Combs and his bodyguard Joseph Sherman tied her hands and raped her in a New York recording studio in 2001, while her boyfriend at the time was working for Combs’ Bad Boy Records.
“Combs mercilessly raped her, anally and vaginally. Sherman forcefully slammed [Graves] onto a table, slapped her,” the lawsuit reads. “Both men were undeterred by [Graves’] cries for help throughout the attack.”
Combs and Sherman also recorded the attack and sold it as pornography, according to the lawsuit. Last year, days after Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura sued him, Graves was contacted by her ex-boyfriend, who told her about the recording, the suit said.
Graves said she panicked and reached out to Sherman about destroying the tape, but he never responded. The lawsuit seeks to destroy any and all copies of the recording.
“The trauma has taken a toll on my mental health,” Graves said through tears at a press conference alongside her attorney, Gloria Allred. “I’ve had PTSD, depression and anxiety. I’m emotionally scarred. It has been hard for me to trust others, form healthy relationships or even feel safe in my own skin.”
On the day of the assault, Graves said she was picked up by Combs and Sherman at her mother’s home in Queens and given a drink. In the suit, she said Combs had talked about “her boyfriend’s supposed performance issues” at work.
According to the suit, Graves quickly lost consciousness after having just one drink and woke up inside the studio naked with her hands tied behind her back. She yelled for help, and Sherman slammed her face-down on a table, the suit said.
Graves was repeatedly assaulted by Combs and Sherman and eventually lost consciousness, according to the suit. When she woke up alone in the room, she said she sprinted out and called for a ride home.
“Following the assault and multiple times over the years, both Combs and Sherman contacted [Graves] and warned her to be silent, threatening repercussions” including Graves losing custody of her son, the suit reads.
After Ventura’s lawsuit, Graves said she was threatened again when Combs told her he had video of the assault and showed it to people. She said her ex-boyfriend contacted her to let her know about the video.
At Combs’ bail hearings, prosecutors have argued for him to remain behind bars because of his many connections in the entertainment industry and his alleged threats to victims. Two judges agreed that he should remain at MDC Brooklyn despite criticism of the jail’s living conditions.
“I’m glad that he’s locked up,” Graves said at the press conference, “but that’s a temporary feeling of relief.”