Dawn Richard of Danity Kane sues Sean Combs for sexual abuse

Former Danity Kane Member Dawn Richard has sued Sean “Diddy” Combs. She claims that the music mogul groped her on several occasions, was physically violent towards women, locked her in a locked car for two hours as punishment and threatened to kill her.

Richard, who was also in the group Diddy-Dirty Money alongside Combs and singer Kalenna Harper, filed suit in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday. She has also sued former Bad Boy Entertainment CEO Harve Pierre, who faces two sexual harassment claims dating back to his time with Combs.

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From the time Richard met Combs at the audition for his hit MTV series The founding of the band in 2004 until her music career with Combs ended abruptly in 2012, she claims in her lawsuit, which was filed by Rolling StoneThe music manager “manipulated her with mantras that submission to his depraved demands was a necessity for career advancement and instilled in her the belief that such abuse and exploitation were necessary for female artists to succeed in the music industry.”

In her filing, she lists dozens of disturbing encounters she observed while in Combs's circle, including drug-fueled parties with young women who appeared “lethargic or unconscious” while “Combs and his friends performed sexual acts on them.”

Richard claims she believes Combs invited her to these parties as a “test” before he began barging into her dressing room and “groping” her “bare butt” and “attempting to touch her breasts” between 2009 and 2011. In one awkward moment, Combs allegedly groped Richard's breasts to guess her bra size and offered to “[fake] Tits for Christmas” in 2010. However, the more Richard resisted Combs' sexual advances, the more violently he retaliated against her, she claims. Combs allegedly refused to let her sing and turned off her microphone during performances.

Richard's suit also supports allegations made by Combs' ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, against Combs in her sex trafficking and abuse lawsuit filed in November. (Combs privately settled with Ventura a day after the suit was filed.) Richard claims she personally observed Combs choking and strangling Ventura, and once saw him throw a scalding hot pan of eggs at Ventura before dragging her up the stairs of his Los Angeles home.

When Richard said she tried to intervene and persuade Ventura to end the relationship, Combs threatened that he would “make n— disappear” and “I'm going to screw people over,” the lawsuit says. (Representatives for Combs and Pierre did not immediately respond to requests for comment.)

Richard's lawsuit comes 10 months after Ventura's, making her the seventh woman – other than a man – to sue Combs since then. The allegations range from sex trafficking to sexual assault. (Combs has denied any wrongdoing in each case.) Richard said in the lawsuit that Ventura's bravery made her realize that “her own personal suffering was related to the many years of abuse by Mr. Combs that had become normal for her.”

Even Richards' first encounter with Combs was disturbing, her lawsuit claims, with the music manager allegedly showing a “blatant disdain” for young women who The founding of the bandand called them “fat,” “ugly,” “sluts,” and “bitches.” During her time in Danity Kane and later in Diddy-Dirty Money, Combs made demeaning comments about her body and appearance, according to Richard.

Being on the show was intense and exhausting, Richard claims. Combs subjected the group to long days of rehearsals that sometimes began in the middle of the night. Richard claims Combs sometimes held meetings in her underwear. In 2008, she was once summoned to his Miami home, where Combs refused to put on any more clothes, saying, “This is my damn house.”

After splitting up with Danity Kane in 2009, Combs chose Richard to be part of Diddy-Dirty Money, a new trio he formed with singer-songwriter Kalenna Harper.

During the recording of their album Last train to ParisRichard claims she and Harper were there when Combs yelled at his then-girlfriend Ventura while he was “on drugs” because she apparently didn't cook eggs the way he liked them. “I asked you for my stuff; I can't stand you, bitch, you never do it right,” Combs allegedly yelled before pushing Ventura against a wall and choking her. Combs then threw the hot pan at Ventura, who fell to the floor in the fetal position, the lawsuit says.

The next day, Combs allegedly gave Richard and Harper flowers and spent 20 minutes trying to explain himself before threatening them. “This is normal, this was just a lover's quarrel and no one was hurt,” Combs told them, the lawsuit says. “I'm giving you one chance. If you want to take it, you're going to keep your mouth shut… if you say anything, there will be consequences.”

There were several other occasions, Richard claims, in which Combs physically assaulted, choked and punched Ventura. During a dinner with Ne-Yo, Usher and then-Interscope Records CEO Jimmy Iovine, Combs punched Ventura in the stomach, causing her to cry and “double over in visible pain,” the lawsuit states. She was later escorted out of the restaurant while Combs chatted. Combs later warned Richard to “shut up” and not interfere in his relationship after she encouraged Ventura to leave Combs, Richard's lawsuit claims.

Combs also tried to use physical violence against Richard, her suit claims. The mogul once lashed out at her when she told him not to call her a bitch. “Before Mr. Combs could hit her, Mr. Combs' bodyguard grabbed her, escorted her out of the studio and forced her into the Bad Boy Records Bentley that was parked outside,” the suit says. Richard claims she was locked alone in the freezing cold car for two hours, unable to get out because there were no door handles inside. She was only allowed out after calling her father, who raced to the studio and told Combs to let her out. Later, Combs allegedly told Richard, “You don't call your father unless you're in the hospital.”

Other women were also allegedly abused in Richard's presence. Around 2005, Richard claims she observed the mother of Combs' children, Kim Porter, crying as she came out of Combs' recording studio with visible facial injuries, including a split lip. Combs regularly hosted parties where illegal drugs were sold and young women – some of them minors – were knocked unconscious while men performed sexual acts on them, the lawsuit alleges. “This is a buffet, enjoy yourselves,” Combs allegedly told his guests. “This is what we do, this is how we party.”

Richard is seeking restitution, compensatory and punitive damages, with the amount of the damages to be determined at trial.

Combs' fall from grace began with Ventura's lawsuit, in which she alleged that during their decade-long relationship, Combs regularly physically assaulted her and forced her to have drug-fueled sex with male sex workers during arrangements he called “freak-offs.” She also described a 2016 physical attack at a Los Angeles hotel after a freak-off, which was later confirmed by unearthed hotel surveillance video showing Combs chasing the fleeing Ventura. He is seen throwing her to the ground, kicking and stomping on her before attempting to pull her away, and later throwing a glass vase in her direction.

Although Combs' attorney had previously called Ventura's 35-page lawsuit an extortion that was “filled with baseless and outrageous lies,” Combs issued a video apology after the video surfaced. He said he had “hit rock bottom” and was “sincerely sorry” for his behavior in the disturbing footage. Ventura's attorneys called Combs' mea culpa “pathetic.”

In May, Rolling Stone released its six-month investigation into the mogul, uncovering a previously undisclosed allegation of violence against a woman on the Howard campus, new details of the alleged physical aggression and allegations that Combs sexually harassed a freelance employee at a party in 2001. Several people who have spoken to Rolling Stone described Combs as a serial offender who for decades used his fame, fortune, industry status and reputation as a fun-loving party host to hide his short temper and disturbing, narcissistic behavior.

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