Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ former bodyguard sues rape accuser over ‘outrageous’ statements
The drama surrounding Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ continues to unfold with his former bodyguard striking back at a woman who accused him of rape. Joseph Sherman has sued Thalia Graves and her attorneys for defamation after being accused of raping the woman with Diddy in 2001.
Graves filed a lawsuit against Combs and Sherman in September, but the latter claims she made “outrageous, disgusting, and life-altering statements and publishings… without any regard for the truth.” In fact, the suit went as far as saying he never even met the woman.
At the heart of Sherman’s lawsuit is that he couldn’t have been involved in the alleged incident due to the fact that he stopped working for Combs in 1999, which was two years prior to the assault, having left Bad Boy Records for Def Jam Recordings.
“Plainly said, the Plaintiff, Joseph Sherman, was not even allowed into Bad Boy Records studios or near Sean Combs after 1999. Consequently, he could not have videotaped or raped Thalia Graves,” the suit reads.
The lawsuit includes alleged Instagram direct messages, in which Graves told Sherman: “If you are willing to give me a statement about my rape against Puffy then the attorneys won’t go after you for revenge porn or distribution of a sexual act without consent.”
Graves’ suit claimed that her former boyfriend allegedly told her that Diddy and Sherman had shown him video footage of the assault. “These statements imply that Defendant, Thalia Graves, is aware that Plaintiff, Joseph Sherman, is innocent of any alleged sexual assault but is attempting to leverage baseless allegations as part of her broader litigation strategy,” the lawsuit reads.
Sherman previously denied the charges during an interview with NBC New York, claiming he had never met Graves in his life. “It’s a lie on me,” he told NBC New York. “I don’t know this lady from anywhere. I am not questioning her integrity. I am just questioning her claims against me. You got the wrong man. I wasn’t even in the same room with you. I have never seen you. I wasn’t even in New York that I recall at the time.”
He added, “Her and whoever she’s in cahoots with was orchestrating a money grab. And she wanted me to be part of that money grab… She wanted to get Diddy.”
After filing the lawsuit, Sherman took to Instagram to state, “Let the war begin I want [$100] million.” He added that there would be “more lawsuits on the way for the bloggers and people that thought they slander my name with no repercussion.”