A Michigan judge as entered a default judgement of $100 million against Sean “Diddy” Combs after the hip hop mogul failed to respond to a sexual assault lawsuit filed by an inmate at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights.
Derrick Lee Cardell-Smith, 51, filed the lawsuit against Combs in June, claiming the rapper drugged and sexually assault him at a party in Detroit in 1997, USA Today reported. The lawsuit claims that Combs paid police officers not to report the incident.
After the judgement, Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, provided a statement accusing Cordello-Smith of defrauding the court from prison.
“Mr. Combs has never heard of him let alone been served with any lawsuit,” Agnifilo wrote. “Mr. Combs looks forward to having this judgment swiftly dismissed.”
Cardello-Smith testified at a motion hearing on August 7 that Diddy visited him in prison and offered him $2.3 million to drop the lawsuit. Cardello-Smith said he rejected the offer.
A hearing on Cordello-Smith’s lawsuit had been scheduled on Monday. Combs did not appear for the hearing and his attorneys did not respond to the filing, leading to the default judgement.
Cardello-Smith has been representing himself in the case. He is serving up to 75 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping charges in 2008 and 2019.
Combs is facing multiple lawsuits claiming sexual assault and sex trafficking and has denied all the claims, as CrimeOnline reported. He settled a lawsuit filed by his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura a day after it was filed, however, and apologized after video leaked showing him assaulting her in a hotel hallway.
Combs is also under investigation by the federal government for drug and sex trafficking. Agents raided his homes in Miami and Los Angeles in March in connection with the investigation.
