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Tag: civil lawsuit

  • L.A. County sheriff investigating new claims that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs assaulted a music producer

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    Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is serving four years in federal prison for using prostitutes in “freak-offs,” is under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in connection with new allegations of sexual assault. A record producer alleges Combs assaulted him on two occasions.

    The sheriff’s Special Victims Unit initiated the probe because one of the incidents occurred in East Los Angeles, according to Nicole Nishida, a department spokeswoman. The producer reported the incidents to police in Largo, Fla.

    Florida-based music producer John Hay revealed in media interviews that he was the “John Doe” plaintiff from a civil lawsuit filed in July alleging assault.

    The producer, who was not named by law enforcement investigating the allegations, alleged he was subjected to sex acts in 2020 and 2021 while working on a remix project of music by Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. Christopher Wallace, which put him into contact with Bad Boy Records and company executive Combs.

    A spokesman for Combs did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment on the investigation.

    The lawsuit states that, in December 2020, the producer was at a warehouse in Los Angeles that housed some of Notorious B.I.G.’s clothing. The items were being donated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later that year, when Biggie would eventually be inducted.

    Combs “provided drugs to everyone present. Everyone there was running around the warehouse and tripping on the drugs,” the lawsuit alleges. Combs “started watching porn on his cell phone, grabbed one of Biggie’s shirts off a rack, and began to masturbate with it in front of the plaintiff,” the suit states.

    Combs subsequently threw the shirt over the producer’s lap and arm, laughed and said “Rest in peace, Biggie” before leaving the room.

    In an incident in March 2021, the plaintiff claims that he was set up. He states in the lawsuit he was lured to a meeting by Biggie’s son, Christopher “CJ” Wallace Jr., and music producer Willie Mack.

    But upon his arrival, his head was covered, and Combs appeared and began yelling and ordered everyone to leave, the lawsuit alleges. Combs then allegedly attempted “to force plaintiff to perform oral copulation on Combs, while plaintiff’s head was still covered.”

    “I’m pushing for criminal charges to be filed against Combs at a state and federal level,” Hay told ShockYa earlier this month in an interview where he stated he was the civil suit plaintiff.

    According to a police report first obtained last month by People magazine, Hay reported the allegations on Sept. 20 of this year to Largo, Fla., police.

    Gary Dordick, the producer’s lawyer, said “we intend to present out client’s case to a jury in California and we are confident that the truth will prevail.” Dordick said in a message to The Times that he would not comment further given that a defamation lawsuit was filed last week by Wallace.

    Wallace, the son of Biggie Smalls and singer Faith Evans, sued Hay for defamation in a Florida federal court last week, calling Hay’s recent interviews “a calculated smear campaign” that included false statements that he attended Combs’ so-called freak-off parties and “conspired to lure Hay to a location where Combs purportedly assaulted him.”

    An attorney for Mack could not immediately be reached for comment.

    Wallace says in his defamation action that Hay worked on the remix project, titled “Ready to Dance,” with Wallace and Mack in 2020. A single was released, but the remaining songs were not, due to a lack of interest.

    According to the suit, Hay was upset over the decision not to release the music he worked on and began accusing Mack of “inappropriate and abusive behavior” in 2021. But Hay never made an assault allegation, the suit claims.

    Combs is currently incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution Fort Dixon, a New Jersey low-security federal penitentiary.

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    Richard Winton

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  • Cardi B found not liable of assault allegations in civil case

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    (CNN) — A California jury has found Cardi B not liable of assault allegations in a civil lawsuit filed by a former security guard.

    The case stems from a 2018 incident involving plaintiff Emani Ellis, a former building security guard who sued Cardi B for alleged assault during an interaction between the women in the hallway of a medical office where Ellis was employed.

    The artist, who was pregnant at the time and on her way to see her obstetrician, denied the allegations. Ellis was seeking punitive and other damages that included medical expenses for a scratch on her face.

    The Grammy-winning artist, who testified over two days in the trial last week, reacted with a sigh of relief to the verdict.

    Outside of court, Cardi B expressed thanks to her lawyers, the jurors and her supporters. She lamented that she missed her children’s first day of school because of the trial, which she criticized as being the result of a “frivolous” lawsuit.

    “I’m not even playing around, even if I’m on my death bed, I swear to God I will say it on my deathbed, I did not touch that woman. I did not touch that girl. I didn’t lay my hands on that girl,” she said.

    The “Up” rapper told reporters gathered that she’s in the middle of an album rollout. She said she had late nights and early mornings, waking up at 5:30 am in order to be camera-ready for court and joked that her forehead is “raw” from changing her wigs.

    Her hair, fashion, candor and occasional humor during her courtroom testimony, which was live-streamed by Court TV and recirculated across social media, brought new attention to the 7-year-old case last week.

    “I hope that this is something I leave behind,” Cardi B said Tuesday.

    Ron Rosen Janfaza, an attorney for Ellis said his client plans to file an appeal.

    Ellis, meanwhile, criticized Cardi B’s conduct on the stand as “totally unprofessional” and told reporters that the musician’s “body language, body gestures, facial expressions (and) disrespect for the court speaks to who she is.”

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    Lisa Respers France, Elizabeth Wagmeister and CNN

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  • Boys ages 3, 4 locked in dark closet, beaten with ‘teacher’s stick’ at Mass. day care, lawsuit alleges

    Boys ages 3, 4 locked in dark closet, beaten with ‘teacher’s stick’ at Mass. day care, lawsuit alleges

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    The families of two young boys claim their pre-school age children were locked in closets and beaten with a stick at a Methuen day care center, according to a civil lawsuit filed this week in Essex Superior Court.A 4-year-old boy who attended the Children’s Center of the Faith United Methodist Church day care from March to August 2022 said as a form of punishment, he was frequently locked in a dark supply closet.The child said he was also frequently beaten with a stick known as a “teacher’s stick” and was not allowed to eat food in his lunchbox that was packed by his mother, the lawsuit alleges.”(The child) was told by employees of The Children’s Center that there were rats and monsters in the supply closet to scare the children when they were being ‘bad kids,’” the lawsuit states.Employees of the day care were also accused of retraining the boy, “grabbing him until his arms and legs could not move. (The boy) indicated that he could not breathe when this was being done to him.” The family of a 3-year-old boy who attended the daycare from October 2021 to August 2022 also said he was locked in a dark closet and told “monsters” were inside, according to court paperwork. His family also alleges he was beaten with a “teacher’s stick.”The child’s mother also alleges her son suffered an injury to his face and was denied a meeting with day care staff. Both families have filed complaints with the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Early Education and Care.The civil lawsuit seeks $15 million in damages from defendants, which include the daycare, Mark Siegel, Sandra Lumb, William Callahan, Jennifer Pacard, Leticia Cordero, Iris Cordero, Yarlene Betances, Jane Doe and Unexie Santos.

    METHUEN, Mass. —

    The families of two young boys claim their pre-school age children were locked in closets and beaten with a stick at a Methuen day care center, according to a civil lawsuit filed this week in Essex Superior Court.

    A 4-year-old boy who attended the Children’s Center of the Faith United Methodist Church day care from March to August 2022 said as a form of punishment, he was frequently locked in a dark supply closet.

    The child said he was also frequently beaten with a stick known as a “teacher’s stick” and was not allowed to eat food in his lunchbox that was packed by his mother, the lawsuit alleges.

    “(The child) was told by employees of The Children’s Center that there were rats and monsters in the supply closet to scare the children when they were being ‘bad kids,’” the lawsuit states.

    Employees of the day care were also accused of retraining the boy, “grabbing him until his arms and legs could not move. (The boy) indicated that he could not breathe when this was being done to him.”

    The family of a 3-year-old boy who attended the daycare from October 2021 to August 2022 also said he was locked in a dark closet and told “monsters” were inside, according to court paperwork. His family also alleges he was beaten with a “teacher’s stick.”

    The child’s mother also alleges her son suffered an injury to his face and was denied a meeting with day care staff.

    Both families have filed complaints with the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Early Education and Care.

    The civil lawsuit seeks $15 million in damages from defendants, which include the daycare, Mark Siegel, Sandra Lumb, William Callahan, Jennifer Pacard, Leticia Cordero, Iris Cordero, Yarlene Betances, Jane Doe and Unexie Santos.

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