Hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and his former bodyguard drugged, bound and violently raped a woman in 2001 — in a vicious attack he filmed and showed to friends, a bombshell new lawsuit claims.
Thalia Graves sobbed and said she is “happy” the hip-hop mogul is behind bars during a press conference Tuesday announcing the legal action.
“It’s a pain that goes to the very core of who you are, leaving emotional scars that may never fully heal,” Graves said through tears. “Some of the hardest parts of this pain are the shame and the guilt I have experienced that plays a negative part in my day-to-day ability to be able to function properly.”
In court papers filed Tuesday, Graves accused Combs and ex-security head Joseph Sherman of “mercilessly raping” her inside the Bad Boy Records studio in Manhattan.
The two men lured Graves, who was 25 at the time and dating one of Combs’ employees, into the studio where they gave her a drink “likely laced with a drug” that caused her to briefly lose consciousness, the lawsuit alleges.
Graves “awoke to find herself bound and restrained” before the duo “proceeded to brutally sexually abuse and violate” her, the court papers claim.
During the horrific incident, Sherman “forcefully slammed [Graves] onto a table, slapped her,” and roughly forced her to perform a sex act, the filing claims.
“Both men were undeterred by [Graves’] cries for help throughout the attack,” the suit charges.
Graves “never recovered” and her emotional wounds were reopened on Nov. 27, 2023, when she discovered her attackers made a video that they showed “to multiple men, seeking to publicly degrade and humiliate both [Graves] and her boyfriend,” the court documents claim.
She was so “distraught” over the discovery that she “sunk into a deep depression” and “considered ending her life” — not for the first time, the filing alleges.
Graves, who now lives in Texas, never reported the depraved attack to police out of fear that Combs would use his power as a hip-hop industry kingmaker to “ruin her life,” says the suit, filed in Manhattan federal court.
Here’s what we know about the allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs
But she decided to go public with her claim soon after Combs’ Sept. 16 arrest on federal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, the suit says.”Being blamed, questioned and threatened has oftentimes made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what has happened to me,” Graves said as she wiped her eyes with a tissue.
She explained that at the time of the assault, she was going through a divorce and so she “did not get the support that I needed,” and ever since she has struggled in her love life, often ending up in abusive relationships.
She has experienced chronic pain and sexual discomfort since the alleged attack, Graves said.
The incident left her with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression and anxiety and she endures “flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts,” she explained.
“I am emotionally scarred,” a crying Graves said.
“I’m glad that [Combs] is locked up but that is a temporary feeling of relief,” she said.
In her suit, Graves is asking for a judge to issue an injunction, ordering the video to be destroyed and permanently barring anyone from distributing it again. She is also seeking unspecified damages.
In addition to Combs and Sherman, the suit names Combs’ record companies, claiming they “aided and abetted” the two men, including by providing them the studio space where they “committed the rape,” the court papers say.
Plaintiff lawyer Gloria Allred — sitting beside Graves during the press conference — said, “We want justice for her and we are looking forward to winning it. It is long overdue for those who have caused her to suffer to be held accountable.”
Allred declined to comment on whether Graves had been in touch with federal prosecutors currently probing sex trafficking charges against Combs. But the lawyer confirmed she is representing other alleged victims of Combs, noting Graves’ case is the first suit her firm has mounted against him.
Allred declined to give any further details about potential additional lawsuits.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that he served as the ruthless kingpin of a criminal empire that abused women for decades — including by forcing them to have sex with male prostitutes that he called “Freak Offs.”
Allred said the arrest of Combs has “been a very stressful and anxiety-producing experience and [Graves] has lived with all of it for many years and is relieving it now.”
Sherman and a spokesperson for Combs both didn’t immediately return a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
