A New York judge dismissed one of the many sexual assault lawsuits against Sean “Diddy” Combs today after a Jane Doe chose not to reveal her identity by pursuing the case.
In the suit, originally filed by attorney Tony Buzbee in Oct. 2024, Doe claimed that Combs attempted to sexually assault her at a New York City party in 1995 and violently struck her when she refused his advances. In January, Buzbee filed a motion for Doe to proceed anonymously, which the court denied, stating that the “very gravity of the charges” combined with “no evidence of specific and concrete harm… undermin[ed] her claim to proceed anonymously.”
After the court ordered Doe to file a complaint under her name by March 20, the judge dismissed the case earlier today as Doe chose not to pursue the case further. Buzbee explained in a statement to Variety that Doe did not feel comfortable revealing her identity and ultimately decided not to refile. “In this particular case, Jane Doe opted not to proceed,” he said. “There is a lot of fear amongst these plaintiffs. I thus can’t blame her. These are tough cases and they are many times re-traumatizing for those who pursue them. Each case stands on its own merit. This woman chose not to proceed and subject herself to the media circus and the perceived danger she felt. We have to respect that.”
Combs’ legal team shared with Variety that this dismissal is a sign of what’s to come with other pending cases. “Today a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against Mr. Combs by Texas attorney Anthony Buzbee and his local counsel Antigone Curis on behalf of an anonymized plaintiff,” reads the statement. “This is now the second case brought by these attorneys against Mr. Combs that has been dismissed in its entirety. It will not be the last. For months, we have seen case after case filed by individuals hiding behind anonymity, pushed forward by attorneys more focused on media headlines than legal merit. The other claims, like the one dismissed today, also will not hold up in a court of law.”
The dismissal comes in the wake of last week’s ruling that a Jane and John Doe must also reveal their identities in separate suits by April 10 to proceed. In her opinion, Judge Jennifer Rochon stated that each case was “substantively identical to declarations filed on the same day in other Doe v. Combs cases in this District involving different plaintiffs and facts.”
Combs is currently incarcerated in Brooklyn on federal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. Last week, a judge dismissed five charges against Combs in a separate $30 million sexual assault lawsuit, but allowed several other charges to proceed.
From Variety US