A Michigan inmate has been awarded $100 million for a sexual assault lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs by default judgment.
A court issues a default judgment for a plaintiff when the defendant fails to respond to a summon.
Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith had accused Diddy of drugging and sexually assaulting him at a party in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997.
Cardello-Smith reportedly met the rapper in the 1990s while working in Detroit’s restaurant and hospitality industry.
He had testified to the court that the 54-year-old singer offered him $2.3 million to drop the lawsuit but rejected the money.
Cardello-Smith, who will be in prison until at least 2036 for first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping in unrelated cases, argued that he produced documents showing Combs’s name in a prison visitation log.
Anna Marie Anzalone, the Lenawee County Circuit Court judge, awarded the $100 million to Cardello-Smith after Diddy failed to appear for the lawsuit hearing on September 9.
Anzalone also ordered the rapper to pay $10 million each month beginning from October 1 for 10 months.
Speaking with BBC, Diddy and his legal representatives denied knowing about the lawsuit’s existence, adding that they were not properly served notice of it.
They also maintained that the rapper never knew Cardello-Smith and accused him of committing “fraud on the court”.
The rapper’s legal representatives also vowed to fight against the ruling.
Diddy has been in the public eye since November after several women, including Cassie Ventura, the rapper’s ex-girlfriend, took him to court, claiming they were sexually assaulted.
Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, Diddy’s former producer, also filed a lawsuit alleging that the rapper sexually harassed, drugged, and threatened him for over a year.
In March, the United States Department of Homeland Security raided two properties linked to Diddy.
In May, a video surfaced showing Combs assaulting Cassie in 2016.
Diddy, who had denied Cassie’s claims, however, apologised. He said he was “truly sorry” and that his actions were “inexcusable”.
He recently sold his entire stake in Revolt, the media company he co-founded in 2013.
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