Photo Credit: Jonathan Cooper
Diddy remains behind bars awaiting sentencing while his attorneys swat away the civil suits filed against him earlier this year.
A New York judge has dismissed a civil lawsuit filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs by a man who claimed the music mogul drugged and assaulted him in 2015. Under New York law, the claims were filed outside the statute of limitations.
The John Doe plaintiff alleged that ten years ago when he was 23 years old, he was performing as an artist at a Los Angeles nightclub where Diddy was also present. He claimed he had been given a drink that caused him to black out, and later regained consciousness to find the music mogul making “unwanted sexual contact” with him.
The case, filed by attorney Tony Buzbee, further claimed that Diddy had warned the anonymous artist that his music career would suffer if he refused or spoke out against the advances. Diddy’s companies, Bad Boy Entertainment and Combs Enterprises, were also named as defendants, but those claims were dismissed as well.
According to the judge, the claims were filed too late under New York State law. At the time of the alleged incident, the statute of limitations was five years. That period was expanded to 20 years in 2019, but the court stated that the change cannot be applied retroactively. Therefore, the case still remains outside the statute of limitations.
The ruling marks the latest win for Combs, as several other civil suits targeting him have recently been dismissed. Overall, the music mogul has faced more than 100 similar lawsuits filed against him in the last year.
But even this victory leaves Diddy’s future uncertain, as his attorneys continue to work for his release. He remains behind bars awaiting his October 3 sentencing in the federal case against him.
Though he was acquitted of the more severe charges against him, Combs could still face as much as 20 years in prison for the remaining charge of transportation to engage in prostitution. However, legal analysts remain certain that he will actually serve far less.
