Lawyers for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs are attempting to dismiss charges made in a sexual assault case filed against the music mogul, claiming that he cannot be sued under laws that did not exist at the time of the claimed incident.
Combs’ legal team filed a motion in a New York court on Friday, requesting that charges in a suit brought by Joi Dickerson-Neal, including revenge porn and human trafficking, be dismissed with prejudice. She said the 54-year-old artist “intentionally drugged” her before bringing her home and sexually assaulting her following a date in Harlem while she was a 19-year-old college student.
According to his lawyers, the incident occurred in 1991, when some statutes listed in the lawsuit were not yet in effect. They cited the New York Services for Victims of Human Trafficking Law, which went into force in 2007, around 16 years after the claimed assault.
Diddy’s legal team also contended that Dickerson-Neal should not be able to sue under the New York State Revenge Porn Law, which was codified in 2019, the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which was approved in 2000, or the 2016 NYC Revenge Porn Law.
Diddy has refuted the allegations in the lawsuit, accusing Dickerson-Neal of abusing a New York legislation that temporarily extended the statute of limitations.
She filed her complaint in Manhattan Supreme Court in November 2023, one day before the New York State Adult Survivors Act expired. It also occurred only weeks after Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, popularly known as singer Cassie, filed a sex trafficking and sexual assault case against him.
Her lawyer reported the following day that the former couple had reached an agreement, but did not disclose any other information.
However, Diddy’s legal troubles have only become worse in recent months. He is the target of many additional lawsuits, including one brought by music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr. He also accused Combs of sexual misconduct, assault, and harassment.
In March, Homeland Security Investigations investigators and other law enforcement personnel raided Combs’ houses in Los Angeles and Miami as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation.