Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs vows ‘time tells fact’ amid intercourse trafficking probe

Diddy on Tuesday took to Instagram with a message that ‘time tells truth,’ as he remains involved in an ongoing federal sex trafficking investigation in addition to multiple lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.

The Grammy-winning artist, 54, who has denied all of the allegations against him, captioned the post ‘LOVE’ and left the comment section open to the post, revealing a mix of supporters and detractors amid the ongoing scandal.

The New York City native is less than two months removed from his Los Angeles and Miami homes being raided by federal officials March 25.

Among those to pledge support to Diddy amid the turbulent times included Bravo alum Peter Thomas.

‘Bro, I have been behind you from day one, no one from the block make it that far being stupid,’ said Thomas, the former husband of Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Cynthia Bailey.

Others addressed the musical artist with uplifting sentiments such as ‘I stand with Diddy;’ ‘We still riding with you;’ and ‘God got you don’t worry everything will be ok.’

One user suggested the scandal was beneficial to Diddy in seeing who would stick with him through tough times: ‘At least now you know who your real friends are.’

Another user said they reserved judgment on the hip-hop mogul before the facts have been properly sussed out: ‘Big facts that’s why I never just ran with the gossip because ppl will make up anything. Let time do the talking let it play out.

One user said Diddy was ‘brave for leaving his comment section open,’ as number of people showed their skepticism at Diddy’s ‘time tells truth’ prediction, with one person saying ‘Yeah that’s why you in trouble now.’

Another chimed in, ‘You’re definitely gonna serve some time I can tell you that…’ while one user posted the intro statement from the NBC series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Said one user: ‘Nobody wanna hear no music from you.’

Multiple users referenced the November lawsuit filed by Diddy’s former protégé and girlfriend Cassie, which contained accusations of beatings, rape and other abuse between 2005 and 2018. Diddy denied the allegations made in the suit, which he settled a day after its filing.

‘Cassie definitely took her time telling the truth,’ one user said, while another said, ‘Bro u settled ur lawsuit wit Cassie in less than 24hrs. Just stop it n lay it to rest.’ 

Diddy was pictured stepping out in Miami with his family last weekend. 

On Friday, lawyers for the embattled rapper asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that he and two co-defendants raped a 17-year-old girl in a New York recording studio in 2003, saying it was a ‘false and hideous claim’ that was filed too late under the law.

The legal move is the latest piece of pushback from Diddy and his legal team after he was subjected to several similar lawsuits and a subsequent criminal sex-trafficking investigation.

‘Mr. Combs and his companies categorically deny Plaintiff´s decades-old tale against them, which has caused incalculable damage to their reputations and business standing before any evidence has been presented,’ says the filing, which also names Combs-owned corporations as defendants. 

It continued: ‘Plaintiff cannot allege what day or time of year the alleged incident occurred, but miraculously remembers other salacious details, despite her alleged incapacitated condition.’

The lawsuit was filed in December and amended in March by the woman, a current Canada resident whose name wasn´t disclosed in the court filing. 

She said she was in 11th grade at a high school in a Detroit suburb in 2003, when Harve Pierre, then the president of Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment record label, flew her to New York on a private jet and took her to a recording studio, where she was given drugs and alcohol until she was incapable of consenting to sex. 

Then, the lawsuit said, Pierre, Combs and a man she didn’t know took turns raping her. The lawsuit included photographs of the woman sitting on Combs´ lap that she said were taken on the night in question.

The defense filing asks that the case be ‘dismissed now, with prejudice’ – meaning it cannot be refiled – ‘to protect the Combs Defendants from further reputational injury and before more party and judicial resources are squandered.’

One of the plaintiff´s attorneys, Michael J. Willemin, said in a statement in response to the filing: ‘At this point, no one should take anything “Diddy” or his lawyers say seriously. Today´s motion is just a desperate attempt by Combs to avoid accountability for Ms. Doe´s allegations of gang rape and sexual assault. It won´t work.’

At this early stage in the lawsuit, the arguments are procedural rather than on the facts of the case.

Some of the lawsuits filed against Combs involve decades-old allegations and are among the more than 3,700 legal claims filed under New York´s Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily suspended certain legal deadlines to give sexual assault victims a last opportunity to sue over abuse that happened years or even decades ago.

The new deadlines established by that law expired, but the suit Combs filed the motion against Friday was brought under a different law, New York City´s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law. That city law also allows accusers to file civil complaints involving sexual assault claims after the statute of limitations has run out.

But Combs´ motion argues that suit was filed too late, because the city law is preempted by the state law, whose provisions mean the lawsuit needed to be filed by August of 2021 to be timely.

‘New York state law trumps New York City law, without exception,’ the filing says.

The amended version of the lawsuit filed in March sought to address some of these issues, but Combs´ attorneys argue that it didn´t go far enough.

The judge has ruled the woman will need to reveal her name if the lawsuit moves forward after this challenge.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused, unless they come forward publicly, as some of Combs’ accusers have done.   

More lawsuits against Combs were filed in the following months following the suit from the Me & U singer. 

Then on March 25, Homeland Security Investigations served search warrants on his homes in Los Angeles and Miami in a sex-trafficking investigation. His lawyer called it ‘a gross use of military-level force.’ 

The investigation is continuing. Combs has not been charged.