Judge rules Jane Doe cannot remain anonymous if Diddy gang rape lawsuit proceeds

A New York federal judge has denied the request of a woman to remain anonymous in her lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs and two others, after claiming they gang raped her in 2003 when she was 17 years old.

In a ruling filed by Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke on Thursday, she acknowledged that the public disclosure of the plaintiff's identity, referred to as "Jane Doe," "could have a significant impact on her, particularly given the graphic and disturbing allegations in this case," documents obtained by USA TODAY state.

However, the accusor did not provide specific examples of how she would be affected, thus the court cannot "rely on generalized, uncorroborated claims" of how disclosing her identity would have consequences.

"She has failed to demonstrate particularized harm or current vulnerabilities," the judge wrote.

Clarke also referenced similar lawsuits previously filed against Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein where they were denied anonymity.

The Southern District of New York court will first determine whether they will honor Combs' dismissal request before Doe would have to publicly reveal her identity.

USA TODAY has reached out to her attorney for comment.

Diddy has faced a series of recent lawsuits alleging sexual assault

The original lawsuit, filed in December, alleges Combs and two others gang raped Doe when she was in her junior year of high school, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY at the time.

Combs, who has been accused of sexual and physical assault by multiple women and producer Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones Jr. in several recent civil suits, is named in Doe's lawsuit along with former Bad Boy Entertainment president Harve Pierre, who has also been accused of sexual assault in a separate suit.

In a response filed last month, Combs denied Doe's allegations. According to the court documents obtained by USA TODAY, the music mogul claims he "never participated in, witnessed, or was or is presently aware of any misconduct, sexual or otherwise" in relation to the accuser.

In Diddy's response to Doe's suit, his lawyers push back about the validity of the photos featured in the original complaint that Doe claimed were taken at the studio that night in 2003, including one where she's seen sitting on the lap of Combs, then 34.

Previous:Lawsuit accuses Diddy, former Bad Boy president Harve Pierre of gang rape

What does the lawsuit against Sean 'Diddy' Combs allege?

The suit alleges Pierre approached the 17-year-old in 2003 at a lounge in Michigan, telling her he was "best friends" with Combs. After calling Combs to prove their relationship, the woman alleges Pierre and Combs convinced her to take a private jet to Daddy’s House Recording Studio, owned and operated by Diddy.

An unidentified "third assailant" is also named as a defendant. The suit seeks unspecified compensatory damages for lost wages, as well as "mental pain and anguish and severe emotional distress."

Combs, Pierre and the unnamed third assailant then plied the plaintiff with drugs and alcohol, the suit claims, and "viciously" gang raped her.

Combs and Pierre "preyed on a vulnerable high school teenager as part of a sex trafficking scheme that involved plying her with drugs and alcohol and transporting her by private jet to New York City where she was gang raped by the three individual defendants at Mr. Combs’ studio," the plaintiff's attorney Douglas H. Wigdor said in a statement at the time. "The depravity of these abhorrent acts has, not surprisingly, scarred our client for life."

A series of lawsuits filed in court in November were subject to New York under the Adult Survivors Act, which expired on Nov. 23. The gang rape allegations filed in this particular case constitute a "crime of violence motivated by gender" under New York's Violation of the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, the suit says.

In November, Combs' ex, the model and actress Cassie Ventura, alleged the record label exec raped her in 2018 and subjected her to years of sexual and physical abuse in a lawsuit, which the two settled one day after it was filed.

The parties said that a resolution had been reached in the case in a release sent by attorney Wigdor, who represents the plaintiff in the gang rape case. Ventura, known professionally as singer Cassie, filed a sex trafficking and sexual assault lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to court documents.

Contributing: Anika Reed, Jay Stahl

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE & online.rainn.org).