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Sean "Diddy" Combs Accused of Raping Woman Over Suggestion He Was Involved in Tupac Shakur's Murder
View Date:2024-12-23 23:43:37
Content warning: this article contains details of violent sexual assault.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing allegations of another violent crime.
A woman named Ashley Parham has alleged in a new lawsuit obtained by E! News that the music mogul—who is currently in jail on charges of racketeering, prostitution and sex trafficking—sexually assaulted her in retaliation for her suggestion he was involved in the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.
According to the Oct. 15 filing, Parham met a man named Shane Pearce (listed as a codefendant alongside Combs) at a bar in 2018. Pearce allegedly FaceTimed Combs while he and Parham were outside the bar, to which Parham said aloud “she was not impressed by him knowing Defendant Diddy because she believed Defendant Diddy had something to do with the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.”
Parham then alleges Combs heard the remarks and told Parham on FaceTime she'd “pay” for the allegation and her “overall dismissal” of Combs.
The following month, Parham claims Pearce asked her over to his home to assist with administering cancer medications. It was there that Combs arrived with a bodyguard, two women, a friend and his driver, the latter of whom reportedly remained outside.
Parham claims Pearce invited her over to his home to “set her up” to be assaulted by Combs over the statements she’d made the month prior.
According to the lawsuit, Parham alleges Combs approached her with a knife, threatening to give her a “Glasgow smile,” in which a cut is made from the corner of a victim’s mouth to their ears.
From there, Parham claims Combs removed her clothes and raped her with a TV remote, drugged her, and then proceeded to gang rape her alongside Pearce, Combs’ bodyguard and his friend (the latter two of whom are referred to as Doe 1 and Doe 2 in the filing).
According to the filing, Combs allegedly threatened Parham during the ordeal, telling her “they could ship her off anywhere in the world and that she would never see her family or anyone she knew ever again,” in addition to the threat that they could “sell” her to potential clients for sex.
E! News has reached out to lawyers for Parham and Combs but has not received comment.
Parham’s lawsuit comes as one of a slew that have been filed against Combs since he was arrested in September.
Just one day before Parham’s filing, five lawsuits were filed against the rapper as seen in documents obtained by NBC News. The complaints were filed on behalf of three men and two women, all of whom were unnamed, with allegations of incidents that spanned from 1995 and 2021.
According to the outlet, among the allegations leveled in the documents were those of sexual assault and rape, including from one victim who claims she was sexually assaulted and raped by Combs in a Manhattan hotel room at age 19.
The lawsuits were filed by Tony Buzbee, an attorney who previously said he was representing 120 accusers with allegations against the 54-year-old.
Regarding the new suits, he said on Instagram Oct. 14, “We will let the allegations in the filed complaints speak for themselves, and will work to see that justice is done. We expect to be filing many more cases over the next several weeks naming Mr. Combs and others as defendants as we continue to gather evidence and prepare the filings."
For Combs’ part, his legal team previously maintained his innocence amid the growing number of allegations.
"He cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus," attorney Erica Wolff told E! News in an Oct. 1 statement. "That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors. He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court if and when claims are filed and served, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation."
For more on the case against Combs, keep reading.
After Sean "Diddy" Combs pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges on Sept. 17, his legal team proposed a $50 million bond package that included equity in his Miami home and his mother's house, as well as limited his travel to within certain parts of Florida, New York and New Jersey.
The defense also offered, per a letter obtained by E! News, to "walk the Court through a series of actions taken by Mr. Combs over the past six months that prove that he is not a risk of flight or a danger to anyone in the community."
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky rejected the package and ordered that Combs be remanded without bail. He remains in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
"He is not a perfect person," Combs' attorney Marc Agnifilo told the court, per NBC New York. "There has been drug use. He has been in toxic relationships."
Therefore, he added, his client was getting "treatment and therapy for things that he needs treatment and therapy for."
Overall, though, Combs' "spirits are good," the lawyer told reporters after court Sept. 17. "He's confident."
More than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and personal lubricant were seized during the March 2024 raids on Combs' L.A. and Miami homes, according to the 14-page indictment unsealed Sept. 17.
Per the indictment, the oil and lube were stockpiled for use in so-called "freak-offs," the term Combs used for gatherings in which he allegedly orchestrated sexual encounters between women he coerced and threatened into doing his bidding and male sex workers.
"I don't know where the number 1,000 came," his attorney Agnifilo said in the TMZ documentary The Downfall of Diddy: The Indictment, which premiered Sept. 27. Pondering out loud why anyone would need so much, the lawyer added, "He has a big house, he buys in bulk. I think they have Costcos in every place where he has a home."
Costco, meanwhile, wanted no part of it, telling TMZ in a statement that "none" of its U.S. stores carry baby oil.
In May 2024, CNN published a clip of hotel surveillance video from 2016 that appeared to show Combs attacking his then-girlfriend Cassie, born Cassandra Ventura. (The assault matched up with an alleged incident detailed in the lawsuit she filed against Combs on Nov. 16, 2023; both parties announced a settlement the next day.)
"I was f--ked up. I hit rock bottom," Combs said in a video posted to Instagram in response to the footage. "But I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video." He had gone to therapy and rehab since, he added, and was "committed to be a better man each and every day."
During a Sept. 18 hearing on Combs' second request for bail, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson said, per NBC News, that Combs allegedly sent a text in the days following the assault that read, "Call me, the cops are here." Another read, "I have six kids. Call, I’m surrounded."
Johnson did not say Cassie's name in court. She said that Combs' victim replied via text, "Sick you think it’s OK to do what you've done."
Bail was once again denied, this time by U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr.
On Oct. 3, the Combs case was reassigned to Judge Arun Subramanian because Carter was unable to accommodate a trial date.
During an Oct. 10 status hearing, Subramanian set a trial date of May 5, 2025.
Prosecutor Johnson told the judge she expected the trial to last roughly three weeks, but said there was still the possibility that a superseding indictment could lead to more charges against Combs.
Agnifilo said in court they'd need about a week to put on their case.
Meanwhile, the attorney said in the TMZ doc that Combs was looking forward to testifying in his own defense.
“I don’t know that I could keep him off the stand," Agnifilo said. "I think he is very eager to tell his story."
For free, confidential help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit rainn.org.veryGood! (1917)
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