Photo Credit: Tingey Law
The judge in the Diddy ‘gang rape’ lawsuit rules that the plaintiff cannot remain anonymous, preventing the case from moving forward unless the unnamed woman reveals her identity.
A federal judge ruled Thursday (February 29) that the lawsuit filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs accusing him of sex trafficking and gang rape cannot move forward unless the unnamed plaintiff reveals her identity.
Judge Jessica G.L. Clarke acknowledged that disclosing her identity could “have a significant impact” on the accuser due to the “graphic and disturbing allegations in this case,” but determined that the woman had “failed to prove” that she could proceed anonymously.
“While the court does not take Plaintiff’s concerns lightly, the Court cannot rely on generalized, uncorroborated claims that disclosure would harm Plaintiff to justify her anonymity,” wrote Judge Clarke, citing previous lawsuits against Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey in which Jane Doe and John Doe accusers were denied anonymity, stating that cases allowed to proceed under a pseudonym were “the exception and not the rule.”
Still, the ruling will not take immediate effect, and the accuser will not be revealed until after the judge rules on Combs’ pending request to dismiss the lawsuit — but it isn’t clear when that ruling will be. Should the case continue, the anonymous accuser will be forced to reveal her identity.
The unnamed Jane Doe alleges in the filing that Combs and former Bad Boy Records president Harve Pierre “plied her with drugs and alcohol” before taking turns raping her in a recording studio in Manhattan when she was a teenager. She has argued that media attention would result in renewed trauma should she be forced to reveal her identity, while Diddy’s attorneys have argued the opposite.
Meanwhile, Combs himself has denied the allegations, as well as the many others raised against him in numerous sexual assault lawsuits in recent months. Those lawsuits — and many others filed against other celebrities — come as the result of a piece of New York State legislature enabling victims an additional window of time who would otherwise be barred from suing due to the statute of limitations.
