[ad_1]
A federal judge threw out Shante Kelly’s suit under New York City’s gender-violence law, saying her story was too vague and may have taken place outside of New York City
A federal judge has dismissed a civil lawsuit accusing Sean “Diddy” Combs of drugging and raping an independent artist named Shante Kelly, but left the door open for her to refile her case if she can fix the errors in question.
In a 22-page opinion, Judge Valerie Caproni ruled that Shante Kelly’s lawsuit failed to allege sufficient facts to connect Combs or his affiliated companies to the alleged assault. The complaint, filed under New York City’s Victims of Gender Motivated Violence Protection Act, claimed that Kelly was assaulted after being invited to a party hosted by Combs.
Judge Caproni granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss, but said Kelly could amend and refile her complaint by November 21, 2025, if she can correct the “deficiencies.”
In the matter of Kelly v. Combs,
The motion to dismiss is GRANTED, with leave to amend by November 21 and establish the alleged incident occurred in New York City. pic.twitter.com/3GNThDrWrm
— 🧑⚖️ The Diddy Docket (@diddydocket) October 22, 2025
According to court documents, Caproni found that Kelly’s filing did not clearly establish where the alleged assault occurred, an element for jurisdiction under the law. Kelly described a “large, white, elegant house with a curved driveway” in Manhattan, but Combs’s attorneys argued no such residence exists in the city, and that the description better matches Combs’s East Hampton property, which lies outside the court’s jurisdiction.
The judge also criticized Kelly’s legal team for admitting the uncertainty about the location, noting that attorneys are required under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to verify these types of claims before filing. “A lawyer may not plead facts that might be true but for which the lawyer has no evidentiary support,” Caproni wrote in the opinion brief.
Caproni also rejected Kelly’s request to begin discovery to determine where the alleged assault took place, stating that discovery “is not a fishing expedition to find out whether a viable claim exists.” The dismissal was issued without prejudice, meaning Kelly can refile if she provides factual evidence showing that the alleged assault occurred within New York City and that Combs’s business entities, including Bad Boy Entertainment and Combs Global, were directly involved.
The decision marks a much-needed legal victory for Combs; attorneys for both sides have not commented on the ruling.
Scroll to continue reading
[ad_2]
Lauren Conlin
Source link