Rap mogul Sean Combs, popularly known as Diddy, is being sued by a woman who says he drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1991.
In a lawsuit seen by reporters, the plaintiff says the assault took place during a date with the rapper.
Diddy recently settled a sexual assault suit brought by R&B singer and former partner Casandra Ventura popularly called Cassie.
Diddy’s representative called the latest allegations “made up and not credible”.
“This is purely a money grab and nothing more,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the reporters on Thursday.
The woman, Joi Dickerson-Neal, claims in the lawsuit that she met Mr. Combs, also known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, through acquaintances. She was also in one of his music videos.
According to the lawsuit, on January 3, 1991, she “reluctantly” agreed to meet Mr. Combs at a Harlem restaurant where she worked, and he “pushed [her] to keep him company as he attended to a few things in the city”.
She stated that during that time she was drugged by the rapper “resulting in her being in a physical state where she could not independently stand or walk”.
According to the lawsuit, he later transported her to where he was staying and sexually attacked her.
She claims she later discovered he secretly filmed the interaction and showed it to several other individuals.
According to the lawsuit, her life went into a “tailspin” after the claimed attack; she suffered with her mental health and eventually dropped out of college.
The lawsuit was filed just hours before the New York Adult Survivors Act, which allows claimed victims of sex crimes to sue after the statute of limitations has expired, expires on November 24.
“Our client has not been able to escape the continuing impact of the harm Combs caused her many years ago,” said Jonathan Goldhirsch, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers, in a statement.
“Through the Adult Survivors Act, she can avail herself of the courts to finally seek justice.”
Reacting, Diddy’s spokesperson said, “This last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned on its head. Ms. Dickerson’s 32-year-old story is made up and not credible.”
This is Mr. Combs’s second sexual assault case filed this month.
In a federal lawsuit filed last week, Ms. Ventura accused the music entrepreneur of rape and sex trafficking. She said the rap producer raped and beat her for ten years, beginning when she was 19 and ending when he was 37.
Mr. Combs had denied Ms. Ventura’s charges, and his counsel stated that the settlement decision was not an admission of wrongdoing.
