Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sexual assault lawsuit dismissed after victim chooses not to reveal identity
Los Angeles, April 1 (IANS) Disgraced rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs seems to have lucked out as a New York judge dismissed one of the many sexual assault lawsuits against him.
The lawsuit was dismissed after a victim, who uses the proxy name, ‘Jane Doe’, chose not to reveal her identity by pursuing the case, reports ‘Variety’.
In the lawsuit, originally filed by attorney Tony Buzbee in October 2024, Jane claimed that Combs attempted to sexually assault her at a New York City party in 1995 and violently struck her when she refused his advances.
As per ‘Variety’, in January, Buzbee filed a motion for Jane to proceed anonymously, which the court denied, stating that the “very gravity of the charges” combined with “no evidence of specific and concrete harm… undermin(ed) her claim to proceed anonymously”.
After the court ordered Jane to file a complaint under her name by March 20, the judge dismissed the case on Monday as she chose not to pursue the case further. Buzbee explained in a statement that she did not feel comfortable revealing her identity and ultimately decided not to refile.
“In this particular case, Jane Doe opted not to proceed”, he said. “There is a lot of fear amongst these plaintiffs. I thus can’t blame her. These are tough cases and they are many times re-traumatizing for those who pursue them. Each case stands on its own merit. This woman chose not to proceed and subject herself to the media circus and the perceived danger she felt. We have to respect that”.
The rapper’s legal team shared with ‘Variety’ that this dismissal is a sign of what’s to come with other pending cases.
“Today a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against Mr. Combs by Texas attorney Anthony Buzbee and his local counsel Antigone Curis on behalf of an anonymized plaintiff”, reads the statement. “This is now the second case brought by these attorneys against Mr. Combs that has been dismissed in its entirety. It will not be the last. For months, we have seen case after case filed by individuals hiding behind anonymity, pushed forward by attorneys more focused on media headlines than legal merit. The other claims, like the one dismissed today, also will not hold up in a court of law”.
–IANS
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