A woman who alleges Sean “Diddy” Combs drugged and violently raped her, filming the assault so he could sell it for the titillation of others, said Tuesday she was suing the rapper. Thalia Graves held a tearful press conference in Los Angeles, in which she said the emotional and mental pain from the 2001 attack remains with her. The 54-year-old Combs was indicted last week on three criminal counts that allege he sexually abused women and coerced them into drug-fueled sex parties using threats and violence.

A spate of separate lawsuits, now including Graves’s, in the last year have painted the picture of a serial predator, sparking a massive fall from grace for the hip hop star. “It goes beyond just physical harm caused by and during the assault. It’s a pain that reaches into your very core of who you are, and leaves emotional scars that will never be fully healed,” she told reporters.

“I’ve had PTSD, depression and anxiety. I’m emotionally scarred. It has been hard for me to trust others, to form healthy relationships, or even feel safe in my own skin.

“Flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts make me feel like it’s a constant struggle.” In the criminal case, Combs is charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transporting victims across state lines to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors say Combs was the don of a criminal enterprise that ensnared women and forced them to commit sex acts under the threat of violence, financial insecurity and reputational ruin.

Mounting lawsuits

Allegations have been building against Combs since last year, when singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rape. A spate of similarly lurid lawsuits since describe Combs as a violent man who used his celebrity to prey on women. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. He has been jailed awaiting trial.

Graves’ lawyer, Gloria Allred, said her client’s claims were not part of the criminal indictment. Graves’ suit, filed in the Southern District of New York, says she met the rapper through her then-boyfriend, who worked at Combs’s Bad Boy Records. It details how Combs took her to his studio, giving her a glass of wine along the way that she believes was spiked. She says she lost consciousness shortly after arriving. When she woke up, she was naked and bound. But when she called for help, Combs’ associate Joseph Sherman smashed her head into a pool table.

Combs and Sherman then raped her and she passed out again. The suit says the two men repeatedly warned her over the following years not to talk about the alleged assault. After Combs’s ex-girlfriend Cassie Venture went public with allegations about his criminal behavior last year, Graves discovered her assault had been taped and sold as pornography. The legal action demands compensatory and punitive damages, as well as other costs and fees.—AFP