Diddy‘s lawyers have filed a motion petitioning the courts to partially dismiss the sexual assault lawsuit brought by Joi Dickerson-Neal.
The motion, which was filed on Friday (April 26), claims that the embattled Bad Boy mogul cannot be sued for breaking laws that didn’t exist at the time, according to the Associated Press.
More specifically, the motion states that at the time of the alleged attack on Dickerson-Neal in 1991, some statutes that she cites in her suit, including those around revenge porn and human trafficking, weren’t yet on the books.
A judge has not yet ruled on the matter.
Joi Dickerson-Neal claims that the rapper and producer drugged and raped her in the early ’90s, while also filming the act.
He denied these allegations, saying through his spokesperson: “This last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law [New York State’s Adult Survivors Act] can be turned on its head. Ms. Dickerson’s 32-year-old story is made up and not credible. Mr. Combs never assaulted her and she implicates companies that did not exist. This is purely a money grab and nothing more.”
In February, a producer named Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones accused the New York City native (real name Sean Combs) of sexual harassment as well as drugging and threatening him over the course of a year.
Additionally, the lawsuit claimed that ex-Motown Records chief executive officer Ethiopia Habtemariam was among those involved in a drug- and sex-trafficking ring for the mogul’s alleged “RICO enterprise.” More specifically, she was accused of being aware that alcoholic beverages served at his parties were laced with illegal substances.
Jones and his lawyer Tyrone Blackburn have since dropped her from the case, and the 44-year-old has now set the record straight about her involvement in the controversy via a statement.
“I am informed and believe that Mr. Blackburn has falsely represented to various social media sites and other media outlets that I agreed to ‘testify against’ Mr. Combs,” she shared. “This is completely untrue. I have no personal knowledge of any alleged wrongdoing by Mr. Combs and there is nothing I could testify to that would be against his interest.
“Being falsely accused of criminal conduct is deeply upsetting to me. I did no wrong. I never saw or participated in any alleged racketeering enterprise, and I never saw, aided or, abetted, or tried to conceal any sex trafficking activity. In short, there is no basis for any of the claims asserted against me, and I should never have been named a defendant in this lawsuit.”
She concluded: “My counsel provided a revised declaration that addressed the topics that Mr. Blackburn addressed and corrected his false narrative. I am aware that Mr. Blackburn found my truthful version to be unsatisfactory to him and he presented yet another version that again presented a false narrative.”
