Don Richards, a former member of two groups formed by Sean “Diddy” Combs, was “absolutely terrified” of the rapper, his lawyer has said.
The singer sued Mr. Combs in SeptemberAccused him of threatening her life and “keeping her in inhumane working conditions for years, including molestation, assault and false imprisonment”.
Ms Richards, Danity Kane and Diddy – a former member of Dirty Money – are among more than two dozen people who have filed a lawsuit against him. He also faces criminal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.
He has denied the allegations, and his lawyer has called Ms Richard’s claims “fabricated” and “false”.
Speaking to BBC’s Newsnight On Thursday, lawyer Lisa Bloom said her client alleged that “he touched and grabbed her body parts, sexually assaulted her, he not only failed to give her the money he was promised, but actually I prevented him from eating and sleeping during those years – just treated him very badly”.
Ms. Bloom also claimed that the singer witnessed “some serious acts of violence” by Mr. Combs against his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura and other women.
“And when she spoke, she said she was threatened with more physical violence. She said Shawn Combs had an evil temper and she was absolutely afraid of him.”
‘Violent environment’
Ms. Ventura, also a singer, sued Mr. Combs a year ago, accusing him of rape and sex trafficking, and then settled the case a day later.
Later in 2016, a video surfaced of him being attacked in a hotel corridor.
Ms. Richard’s lawsuit says she saw him “brutally beat” Ms. Ventura and tried to intervene several times, encouraging her to leave him.
“Each time, Mr. Combs became aware of Ms. Ventura’s efforts to help her and became angry, threatening Ms. Richard’s life,” the document states.
He allegedly told her there would be “consequences” if she told anyone, and warned that “people would go missing”.
Ms Bloom said: “My client Dawn Richard says that when she spoke about it, he tried to motivate Cassie to speak out… When she complained about it, she was subjected to physical violence That’s why threats were made. [it was] “Just a very violent, tumultuous environment.”
Mr Combs’s lawyer Erica Wolfe said the rapper was “shocked and disappointed” by Ms Richard’s lawsuit and had “made a series of false claims in the hope of getting a payday”.
“He confidently stands by the truth and is eager to prove it in court,” he said.
‘Different memories’ of bandmate
On Thursday, Ms Bloom also told Newsnight that she had another client preparing to come forward with allegations related to parties hosted by Mr Combs, who were branded “freak-abusive”.
He added, “But several other people have already come forward with allegations that people were drugged, forced to engage in sexual activity in order to make business deals with Sean Combs.”
Mr Combs is due back in court on Friday to make a new request for bail in his criminal case. Judges had earlier rejected his bail requests, saying he could tamper with witnesses.
Earlier this week, prosecutors alleged he broke prison rules by contacting potential witnesses using other inmates’ telephone accounts.
According to the New York TimesProsecutors have focused on a witness named Kalenna Harper, who was the third member of Diddy – Dirty Money, along with Mr. Combs and Ms. Richard.
Prosecutors say Mr. Combs contacted Ms. Harper by phone 128 times shortly after Ms. Richard filed the lawsuit, American media reported,
Ms Harper issued a statement saying Ms Richard’s allegations “do not represent my experiences, and some do not match my own truth”.
On Newsnight, Ms Bloom did not name Ms Harper, but said there was a woman with whom Ms Richard had worked who “came out publicly and essentially called my client a liar”.
She continued: “The strong implication is that she talked him into making these statements, perhaps paid him. We don’t know.
“But that would be witness tampering. That’s what the government argued. The judge agreed and as a result he was denied bail, which he should have been.”
However, Mr Combs’s lawyers have argued that Ms Harper’s statement is “the furthest thing from witness obstruction that I can think of”, and that it was merely “two witnesses having different recollections of the same events.” ” Was.
