Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs calls prisoner’s $400m lawsuit “fantastical fabrications”
A prisoner named Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith is suing Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs for $400million in damages over alleged sexual assault. Cardello-Smith claims that the Bad Boy boss assaulted him at a party in Detroit, Michigan in 1997, but Combs’ legal team has called his comments “fantastical fabrications.”
The rapper’s lawyers have described his actions as a “decades-long onslaught of frivolous and vexatious lawsuits,” asking the court to stop Cardello-Smith from filing lawsuits without judicial approval. Not only that, but they want Cardello-Smith to cover his growing legal expenses.
“This barrage of fabricated claims must come to an end,” Combs’ attorney, David Fink, recently said in court documents obtained by AllHipHop. “Plaintiff’s frequent filings clearly indicate he has no intention of stopping his meritless attacks.”
51-year-old Cardello-Smith is currently serving a decades-long sentence for convictions of sexual misconduct and kidnapping. In September, Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, called out Cardello-Smith for being a sexual predator and breaking the law from behind bars.
“This man [Cardello-Smith] is a convicted felon and sexual predator, who has been sentenced on 14 counts of sexual assault and kidnapping over the last 26 years,” he said. “His resume now includes committing a fraud on the court from prison, as Mr Combs has never heard of him let alone been served with any lawsuit. Mr. Combs looks forward to having this judgment swiftly dismissed.”
They allege that Cardello-Smith has filed at least 173 federal lawsuits over the years while trying to draw in celebrities, listing Jennifer Lopez as a planned witness; Combs’ team claims that the accusations have no basis. Cardello-Smith even claimed Combs once visited him in prison to work out a settlement, but prison records contradict his statement.
Combs is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center after being arrested in September on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. His trial is set to begin on May 5th, 2025 after being denied bail three times. The ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ rapper is facing dozens of sexual assault lawsuits, with Jay-Z recently being named in one alongside him, accusing them of raping a 13-year-old girl in New York City in 2000.