Sean “Diddy” Combs is on a legal roll.
Six weeks after the rapper was largely acquitted on federal criminal charges, he’s won a ruling dismissing most of a $60 million civil sexual assault lawsuit filed by “Making the Band 2” contestant Sara Rivers.
Rivers, who became a member of hip-hop group Da Band, sued Combs in earlier this year – accusing him of sexually harassing and groping her during the filming of the 2000s MTV reality show.
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But in a ruling issued Thursday, Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed 21 of the 22 counts in her lawsuit, including racketeering, assault and battery, forced labor, and false imprisonment. Those accusations were dismissed with prejudice – meaning they are permanently tossed.
The judge declined to permanently dismiss a single count, accusing Combs of violating New York City’s Gender Motivated Violence Protection Act. The judge said he would wait to decide that count until a federal appeals court rules on key questions about how that law functions.
“From the outset, we have said these claims were meritless, time-barred, and legally deficient,” said Combs’ attorney Erica Wolff. “The Court agreed, finding no legal basis to allow them to proceed. We are pleased the Court carefully analyzed and swiftly dismissed these baseless claims.”
Combs was largely acquitted last month in a blockbuster federal criminal case that accused him of forcing girlfriends to partake in drug-fueled sex marathons with prostitutes called “freak-offs.” Jurors found him not guilty on racketeering (RICO) and sex-trafficking charges, the core of the government’s case which could have sent him to prison for life.
Jurors did convict Diddy on lesser charges of interstate prostitution, which could still land him in prison for several years when he’s sentenced in October. And he’s still facing dozens of civil lawsuits from other alleged victims, accusing him of rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and various other forms of sexual abuse.
Rivers was one of those alleged victims. In a February lawsuit, she claimed that Combs cornered her in a recording studio and “ran his left hand across her breasts.” She also claimed that he later blackballed her in the music industry in retaliation for rebuffing his advances.
Judge Rakoff did not provide a written ruling explaining his decision; he said he would issue one at some point in the future “in due course.”