Thalia Graves accuses rapper of 2001 sexual assault

(This story was updated to add new information and a photo.)

A woman is suing Sean “Diddy” Combs for an alleged sexual assault that took place in the early 2000s, as the embattled hip-hop mogul remains in federal custody for a sex trafficking indictment.

Thalia Graves filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY. Graves, who says she was dating one of Combs’ employees at the time, alleges Combs and his then-bodyguard, Joseph “Big Joe” Sherman, “viciously raped her” at the Bad Boy Records studio in New York City around the summer of 2001.

The woman is suing Combs and Sherman on charges of gender-motivated violence and violating New York law by allegedly recording and sharing footage of her assault.

Aside from Combs and Sherman, several of Combs’ companies, including Bad Boy Records, are named in Graves’ 26-page complaint.

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USA TODAY has reached out to Combs’ representatives for comment.

Combs, who was the subject of a sex trafficking investigation and a pair of federal raids, was arrested on Sept. 16 and charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was ordered to remain in federal custody after his appeals for bail were denied twice.

Diddy accuser Thalia Graves speaks out: ‘I’m glad that he is locked up’

Graves held a press conference with her lawyer, famed attorney Gloria Allred, on Tuesday following her lawsuit. An emotional Graves appeared to gain her compose before making her statement.

“The internal pain after being sexually assaulted has been incredibly deep and hard to put into words,” Graves said while crying. “It goes beyond just physical harm caused by and during the assault.”

She continued: “It’s a pain that reaches into the very core of who you are and leaves emotional scars that may never fully heal.”

The press conference marked one of the first public statements from an alleged victim of Combs.

“Some of the hardest parts of this pain are the shame and guilt I have experienced that plays a negative part in my day-to-day ability to function properly,” she added. “Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me.”

Graves said that she feels waves of withdrawal and “that it is sometimes hard to leave my house” or “even feel safe in my own skin.”

She added: “I’m glad that he is locked up, but that’s a temporary feeling of relief.”

Thalia Graves says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs drugged her before violent rape

In her complaint, Graves claims Combs “exploited” his relationship with Graves’ then-partner, an executive at Bad Boy Records, to get her to meet with Combs and Sherman and discuss Graves’ boyfriend’s “performance issues.”

During the meeting, the men allegedly gave Graves a glass of wine, which she says was “likely laced with a drug” as she subsequently lost consciousness. Graves claims she later woke up to find herself “bound and restrained.”

The woman, who was 25 at the time, alleges Combs, then 32, “mercilessly raped her, anally and vaginally,” while Sherman “forcefully slammed” her onto a table and proceeded to slap her and “repeatedly thrust his penis into her mouth.” Despite her “cries for help throughout the attack,” Graves says the men remained “undeterred.”

Graves refrained from reporting the alleged assault at the time because she feared Combs and Sherman “would use their power to ruin her life, as they had repeatedly, explicitly threatened to do,” according to the lawsuit.

Graves experienced suicidal ideation in the aftermath of her rape and has undergone “extensive psychological treatment” since the incident, according to the lawsuit. She allegedly continues to suffer from “severe depression, anxiety and panic attacks.”

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs filmed Thalia Graves assault, per lawsuit

In November 2023, Graves reportedly learned that Combs and Sherman had recorded their alleged assault of her, according to her lawsuit. She claims they showed the footage to “multiple men, seeking to publicly degrade and humiliate both (Graves) and her boyfriend,” as well as sold it as pornography.

The woman alleges that when she reached out to Sherman in an attempt to convince him to destroy the sex tape or give it to her, he did not respond.

Graves “could not believe that” Combs and Sherman “would record themselves committing such a gruesome crime and then proceed proudly and widely to disseminate the recording of it,” the lawsuit reads.

“She was distraught and sunk into a deep depression. She again considered ending her life.”

Graves’ attorney claims Combs and Sherman’s filming of the alleged assault violates New York Civil Rights Law 52-B, as Graves was “depicted in a video image unclothed and with intimate body parts exposed and engaging in sexual conduct with another person.”

Meanwhile, the alleged distribution of Graves’ rape video without her consent constitutes a violation of New York City Administrative Code 10-180, according the lawsuit.

As compensation, Graves is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a court order that would require Combs and Sherman to destroy all copies and images of the video of her alleged sexual assault and refrain from distributing the footage in the future.

Graves is also requesting a trial by jury.

“This action seeks redress for” Combs and Sherman’s “brutalizing, misogynistic and violent attacks on (Graves), starting in 2001 with their rape and continuing in the subsequent years as they compounded her humiliation by showing the video of the sexual assault to others,” the lawsuit reads.

Suicide Lifeline: If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 any time, day or night, or chat online.

Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they text “HOME” to 741741.

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman and KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY