Danity Kane’s Dawn Richard Sues Sean Combs for Sexual Abuse
Former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard has sued Sean “Diddy” Combs, alleging the music mogul groped her on numerous occasions, was physically violent with women, trapped her inside a locked car for two hours as a form of punishment, and threatened her life.
Richard, who was also in the group Diddy-Dirty Money alongside Combs and singer Kalenna Harper, filed suit on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York. The singer is also suing former Bad Boy Entertainment CEO Harve Pierre, who is facing two sexual assault lawsuits stemming from his time working for Combs. (A rep for Pierre did not immediately reply to a request for comment.)
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From the time Richard met Combs while auditioning for his hit MTV series Making the Band in 2004 until her music career with Combs abruptly ended in 2012, she claims in her lawsuit obtained by Rolling Stone, the music executive “manipulated her with mantras that submission to his depraved demands was necessary for career advancement, instilling in her the belief that such abuse and exploitation were required for female artists to succeed in the music industry.”
Her filing details dozens of disturbing encounters that she observed while in Combs’ orbit, including drug-fueled parties with young women who seemed “lethargic or passed out” while “Combs and his friends performed sexual acts on them.”
Richard claims that she believes Combs invited her to these parties as a “test,” before he began to barge into her changing room and “grope” her “bare buttocks” and “attempted to touch her breasts” between 2009 and 2011. In one uncomfortable moment, Combs allegedly cupped Richard’s breasts to guess her bra size and offered to gift her “[fake] titties for Christmas” in 2010. However, the more Richard resisted Combs’ sexual advances, the more he retaliated against her, she claims. Combs would allegedly deny her singing parts on songs and turn off her microphone during performances.
Richard’s lawsuit also supports allegations that Combs’ ex-girlfriend singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura leveled against Combs in her sex trafficking and abuse lawsuit, which was filed in November. (Combs reached a private settlement with Ventura one day after it was filed.) Richard claims she personally observed Combs choke and strangle Ventura, and once saw him throw a scalding hot pan of eggs at Ventura before dragging her up the stairs of his Los Angeles home.
When Richard says she tried to intervene and encourage Ventura to leave the relationship, Combs would threaten that he makes “n—– go missing” and “I end people,” the lawsuit alleges.
In response to Richard’s lawsuit, Combs’ attorney Erica Wolff said in a statement to Rolling Stone that Combs was “shocked and disappointed” by Richard’s “manufactured” claims. “If Ms. Richard had such a negative experience with Making the Band and Danity Kane, she would not have chosen to continue working directly with Mr. Combs for Dirty Money, nor would she have returned for the Making the Band reboot in 2020 or agreed to be featured on The Love Album last year. It’s unfortunate that Ms. Richard has cast their 20-year friendship aside to try and get money from him, but Mr. Combs is confidently standing on truth and looks forward to proving that in court.”
Lisa Bloom, Richard’s attorney, tells Rolling Stone that “like many women, [Richard] needed to extricate herself from the business relationship. She needed to think about what had happened to her. She needed to process it.” And once Richard came to terms about her experience, Bloom says Richard “had to speak out, she had to stand up, she had to seek justice.”
Bloom also fired back at Combs’ attempting to “shame” Richard for their previous working relationship saying, “it is not up to women to give up career opportunities to dodge powerful men who behave badly. It is up to men to conduct themselves honorably or at a minimum, legally, in every workplace. No woman should have to choose between her dignity and her career.”
In light of Richard coming forward, Bloom added that her firm has heard from several potential new victims.
Richard’s lawsuit comes 10 months after Ventura’s, making her the seventh woman, in addition to one man, who have since come forward to sue Combs, with allegations ranging from sex trafficking to sexual assault. (Combs has denied any wrongdoing in each case.) Richard said in the suit that Ventura’s bravery made her realize that “her own personal suffering was tied to the many years of abuse by Mr. Combs that had become normalized for her.”
Even Richard’s first encounter with Combs was unnerving, her lawsuit claims, alleging the music executive showed a “blatant disdain” for young women auditioning for Making the Band, calling them “fat,” “ugly,” “bitches,” and “hoes.” Throughout her time in Danity Kane and later Diddy-Dirty Money, Richard claims that Combs would make degrading comments about her body and physical appearance.
Being on the show was intense and exhausting, Richard claims, with Combs subjecting the group to long rehearsal days, which sometimes began in the middle of the night. Richard claims that Combs would sometimes hold meetings in his underwear, alleging that she was once summoned to his Miami home in 2008 where Combs refused to put on more clothes, saying, “This is my fucking house.”
After Danity Kane broke up in 2009, Combs selected Richard to be part of Diddy-Dirty Money, a new trio he was forming alongside singer-songwriter Kalenna Harper.
While recording their album Last Train to Paris, Richard claims that she and Harper were present when Combs began yelling at then-girlfriend Ventura while “high on drugs” for apparently not cooking eggs the way he liked. “I’ve been asking you for my shit; I can’t stand you bitch, you never do it right,” Combs allegedly screamed, before pushing Ventura up against a wall and choking her. Combs then threw the hot pan at Ventura, who fell to the ground in a fetal position, the lawsuit claims.
The next day, Combs allegedly gave Richard and Harper flowers and tried to explain himself for 20 minutes, before threatening them. “This is normal, this was just a lover’s argument where no one was hurt,” Combs told them, the lawsuit alleges. “I’m giving you an opportunity, if you want to make it you’ll shut your mouth … if you say anything, there will be consequences.”
There were several other times, Richard claims, that Combs would physically assault Ventura, strangling and punching the young singer. During a dinner with Ne-Yo, Usher, and then-CEO of Interscope Records Jimmy Iovine, Combs punched Ventura in the stomach, causing her to cry and “double over in visible pain,” the lawsuit alleges. She was later escorted out of the restaurant while Combs socialized. Combs would later warn Richard to “shut the fuck up” and not meddle in his relationship after she encouraged Ventura to leave Combs, Richard’s lawsuit claims.
Combs also allegedly attempted to use physical violence against Richard, the mogul once throwing a punch at her when she told him not to call her a bitch. “Before Mr. Combs could strike her, Mr. Combs’ bodyguard grabbed her, escorted her out of the studio and forced her into the Bad Boy Records Bentley that was parked outside,” the lawsuit claims. Richard alleges she was locked alone in the freezing car for two hours, unable to exit because there were no interior door handles. She was only allowed out after she called her father, who raced to the studio and demanded for Combs to let her out. Later, Combs allegedly told Richard, “You don’t call your dad unless you’re in the hospital.”
Other women were also allegedly abused in Richard’s presence. Around 2005, Richard claims that she observed Kim Porter, the mother of Combs’ children, emerge crying from Combs’ recording studio with visible facial injuries, including a lacerated lip. Combs would routinely host parties where illegal drugs were supplied and young women — some who appeared underage — would be passed out as men performed sexual acts on them, the lawsuit alleges. “This is a buffet, enjoy yourselves,” Combs allegedly told his guests. “This is what we do, this is how we party.”
Richard is seeking restitution, as well as compensatory and punitive damages, the amount to be determined at trial.
Combs’ fall from grace began with Ventura’s lawsuit, where she claimed that Combs routinely physically attacked her and forced her to have drug-fueled intercourse with male sex workers during arrangements he dubbed “freak-offs” throughout their 10-year relationship. She also detailed a 2016 physical assault at a Los Angeles hotel after a freak-off, which was later confirmed by unearthed hotel surveillance video that shows Combs chasing after a fleeing Ventura. He is seen throwing her to the ground, kicking and stomping on her before he attempts to drag her away, later throwing a glass vase at her direction.
Although Combs’ attorney previously called Ventura’s 35-page lawsuit a shakedown “riddled with baseless and outrageous lies,” Combs issued an video apology after the video surfaced, saying he was at “rock bottom” and was “truly sorry” for his behavior in the disturbing footage. In response, Ventura’s lawyers called Combs’ mea culpa “pathetic.”
In May, Rolling Stone published its six-month investigation into the mogul, uncovering a previously unreported allegation of violence against a woman on the Howard campus, new details of alleged physical aggression, and claims that Combs sexually harassed a freelance employee at a 2001 party. Several people who spoke to Rolling Stone described Combs as a serial predator who used his fame, fortune, industry status, and reputation as a fun-loving party host to hide a volatile temper and disturbing, narcissistic behavior for decades.
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