Michigan inmate wins $100 million judgment against Sean “Diddy” Combs for sexual assault

A Michigan inmate known for his long history of challenging the justice system with civil lawsuits has been awarded a $100 million default judgment against controversial entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The compensation was awarded Monday by Lenawee County District Court Judge Anna Marie Anzalone after Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, 51, filed a restraining order against Combs in August. Combs, who became the target of several lawsuits and criminal investigations in 2024, drugged and sexually assaulted Cardello-Smith at a party in Detroit in 1997, court records show.

Cardello-Smith, whose path crossed with Combs' when the latter worked in the restaurant and hotel industry in the Detroit area, is self-taught in civil and criminal law and is currently serving another sentence at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights.

Cardello-Smith has a “long” history with Combs, he said recently Metro times.

Cardello-Smith provided detention center information showing Combs' name is on the visitation register and says the Bad Boy Records founder offered him $2.3 million to dismiss the suit, but Cardello-Smith rejected the offer. Anzalone's Aug. 7 order is designed to prevent Combs from selling assets that could potentially be used to compensate Cardello-Smith for potential damages. He is one of a growing number of plaintiffs who have recently accused Combs of violence or sexual harassment.

At the August hearing, Cardello-Smith told the court about a conversation in which he says he spoke directly with Combs about the lawsuit.

“You know how we are,” was Combs' alleged response to Cardello-Smith's threat to proceed with the lawsuit rather than accept an out-of-court settlement, Cardello-Smith told Anzalone.

Cardello-Smith told the judge that he said, “I don't agree with the way you come down.”

The virtual hearing and excerpts from it, in which Anzelone reads the complaint, which refers to Combs as “Sean P. Diddy, aka Diddy” and “Diddy Run the City,” among other things, have generated hundreds of thousands of views on social media. In the comment sections of the videos, some are expressing doubts about Cardello-Smith's claim. One social media user named @jenniferwyllie4033 points to the widely circulated footage from the hotel hallway in which Combs kicks and drags his then-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura.

“Remember… they made Cassie look crazy until she provided receipts,” posts @jenniferwyllie4033.

Combs apologized on social media after footage of the attack was released in the summer.

A default judgment is awarded to a plaintiff when the defendant in a civil case fails to formally respond to proceedings initiated by the court. Combs failed to appear for the virtual hearing on September 9, resulting in the default judgment.

The sentence in the Cardello-Smith case could be the largest ever awarded to a non-lawyer and currently incarcerated inmate.

Combs is known as the founder and producer of a record label that launched the careers of legendary recording artists Notorious BIG, Mary J. Blige and others.