(NewsNation) — Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-bodyguard has filed a lawsuit against a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her with the music mogul in 2001, calling her accusations “outrageous and disgusting.”
Joseph Sherman filed a lawsuit alleging defamation and emotional distress in New York federal court Friday against Thalia Graves, who named him in a lawsuit along with Combs in September, USA Today reported.
Sherman called Graves’ allegations of rape “utterly false and untrue” and that she and her lawyers “made outrageous, disgusting, and life-altering statements … without any regard for the truth,” the outlet reported.
He also says Graves is trying to “blackmail him” and that she had messaged him to see if he would provide “false testimony against Sean Combs” in exchange for being left out of the legal proceedings, the outlet reported.
“Joseph Sherman has never met Thalia Graves, let alone raped her,” the filing stated, according to USA Today, and he “continues to suffer severe reputational harm, emotional distress, and financial damages.”
Graves filed a lawsuit in September alleging that Combs and Sherman “viciously raped her” at the Bad Boy Records studio in the summer of 2001, according to court documents obtained by NewsNation local affiliate KTLA.
She also alleged that the assault was filmed and then shared without the victim’s consent — including selling it as pornography.
“By raping the plaintiff and recording it, the defendants caused the plaintiff to be depicted in a video image unclothed and with intimate body parts exposed and engaged in sexual conduct with another person,” her attorney, Gloria Allred, said at a news conference in September.
Court documents show that Graves didn’t report it for decades out of fear they “would use their power to ruin her life, as they had repeatedly, explicitly threatened to do.”
The incident left her traumatized and contemplating suicide, according to the filing.
“The trauma of the assault has taken a toll on my mental health. I’ve had PTSD, depression and anxiety,” she said at a September news conference. “It has been hard for me to trust others, create relationships or even feel safe in my own skin. The combination of physical and emotional pain has created a cycle of suffering from which it is so hard to break free.”
Combs is accused of using his music empire to engage in sex trafficking and accused of having a pattern of abusing women.
He was arrested Sept. 16 after months of allegations and a federal raid on two of his properties. He pleaded not guilty in New York court the next day.
The music producer was indicted last month on three felony charges after months of speculation surrounding a possible federal investigation that could be connected to a slew of civil lawsuits that allege abuse and sexual assault by multiple victims spanning over 30 years.
A May 5 trial date was set on Oct. 10 for him to face sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
One week after his indictment, Combs and Sherman were both named in a lawsuit by Graves, making her the 11th accuser to file a suit against him.