Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of rape, sexual assault, and abuse. Reader discretion is advised.
In a new bombshell lawsuit, Dawn Richard has accused Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs for sexual abuse, battery, and assault. The suit alleges multiple harrowing accounts where he threatened her throughout her career with Diddy’s Bad Boy Records. Richard signed with the company in 2005 as part of the girl group Danity Kane after auditioning for MTV’s Making the Band 3 and was also a member of the trio Diddy – Dirty Money that formed in 2009.
Why Danity Kane’s Dawn Richard is suing Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Dawn Richard is suing Diddy for an alleged pattern of abuse as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York.
As detailed by Variety, the suit describes Combs as an aggressive abuser who used physical violence and threats to manipulate Richard. She alleges that the members of Danity Kane were deprived of food and sleep on a regular basis, and she felt forced to form Diddy – Dirty Money due to being financially destitute.
Between 2009 and 2011, Richard says Combs would come into her dressing room and grope her, telling her that he would remove her from songs and turn off her microphone during performances if she didn’t comply.
In another incident, as reported by TMZ, Richard allegedly locked her in a car and she had to call her father, who traveled from Baltimore to New York, to free her from the vehicle. When her father said he would report Combs to the police, Richard said that Combs told him to “think about your daughter.”
The lawsuit also states she witnessed Combs assaulting Cassie Ventura on many occasions. Richard cites Cassie’s lawsuit against him in November 2023 as one of the reasons she felt the need to file a lawsuit against the mogul now. In one instance, she claims that she saw Combs, high on drugs, choke Ventura, throw a pan of eggs at her, and then threaten Richard not to say anything about it or that “there will be consequences.”
In addition, the suit requests over a million dollars in compensation for unpaid salaries and a withholding of royalties for her work on various albums and tours.
Since Cassie’s lawsuit against Combs, he has faced more than a handful of additional lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault, battery, and other crimes. On March 25, federal agents from Homeland Security raided Combs’s properties as part of an investigation into sexual assault, sex trafficking, and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms.
Netflix will air a documentary series from rapper 50 Cent about Combs’ allegations of assault, rape, sexual abuse, and more.
