NOTE: The following article contains disturbing content. Please read at your own discretion.
In a new lawsuit that names Sean “Diddy” Combs as a defendant, Diddy’s youngest son Christian “King” Combs has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman while she worked onboard a yacht chartered by Diddy in 2022.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, comes after Diddy’s homes were raided as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities. During the raid, Christian and Diddy’s older son, Justin Combs, were both handcuffed and detained but not arrested.
Beyond the federal investigation, Diddy’s legal troubles extend to several sexual assault and rape lawsuits, which Diddy has dismissed as “character assassination” and an attempt at “a quick payday.”
Now, Christian, 26, is facing allegations of his own made by Grace O’Marcaigh, who said the rapper’s son drugged and sexually assaulted her in December 2022 during a yacht trip organized by Diddy.
According to NBC News, which obtained the legal filing, Christian has been accused of sexual assault, sexual harassment and infliction of emotional distress. Diddy has also been sued for premises liability, as well as for allegedly aiding and abetting Christian in the assault.
O’Marcaigh is seeking unspecified damages.
A lawyer for Christian called O’Marcaigh’s lawsuit “manufactured lies and irrelevant facts.” The lawyer maintained Christian and Diddy’s innocence and said they would file a motion to dismiss “this outrageous claim.”
In her lawsuit, O’Marcaigh said she’d been hired to work onboard the yacht, believing it was “a wholesome family excursion.” Instead, O’Marcaigh claimed the voyage quickly evolved into a “hedonistic environment” with drug use and a “constant rotation of suspected sex workers.”
The email you need for the day’s
top news stories from Canada and around the world.
O’Marcaigh said she was 25 years old when the incident took place. She was hired as a yacht steward to serve dinner and drinks throughout the night.
She said she suspected some bottles of alcohol onboard had been laced with drugs. O’Marcaigh alleged she saw several women fall over, panic or become unconscious after only one drink.
At one point in the night, O’Marcaigh claims Christian, who she said arrived at the yacht “heavily intoxicated,” insisted she take shots of tequila with him. O’Marcaigh said she suspected the tequila was spiked with drugs, as she felt strange after consuming the liquor.
In her lawsuit, O’Marcaigh provided the court with transcriptions of audio clips she maintains are evidence of Christian groping her despite O’Marcaigh not consenting. The audio, according to the lawsuit, was recorded in the yacht’s makeshift music studio, where Christian and producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones were working the night of the party.
(Jones has filed his own lawsuit against Diddy, whom he has worked with, accusing him of sexually harassing, drugging and threatening him over the span of a year. In the lawsuit, Jones said he recorded hours of Diddy and his associates “engaging in serious illegal activity.”)
According to the transcriptions, O’Marcaigh asked Christian to stop touching her and declined to drink any more alcohol. After continued pestering from Christian, O’Marcaigh told him in the transcript that she had to leave to perform other duties.
O’Marcaigh exited the makeshift studio but was later approached by Christian again, who asked for her to arrange somewhere for him to sleep onboard. When she brought him to the yacht cinema to sleep, O’Marcaigh alleges Christian blocked her inside the room, groped her again and removed his clothing.
O’Marcaigh said Christian attempted to force her to perform oral sex, and the alleged assault only stopped when another person entered the room.
The lawsuit includes photos of bruises on O’Marcaigh’s forearms, allegedly from when Christian grabbed her in the cinema.
O’Marcaigh said the yacht company failed to investigate when she reported the alleged assault to the ship’s captain. She was terminated in May 2023, following several months of apparent retaliation from the captain. She told the court she developed anxiety, suicidal ideation, an eating disorder and seizures following the alleged incident with Christian.
O’Marcaigh’s lawyer used news of the compounding allegations against Diddy to bolster the lawsuit against Christian.
“Like father, like son,” Tyrone Blackburn said after the lawsuit was filed. “It gives us no joy or pleasure in filing this suit against Christian Combs, who has clearly adopted his father’s pattern and practice of depravity.”
Her lawsuit is the first to accuse Christian of sexual assault.
In a statement to Global News, lawyer Aaron Dyer, who is representing Christian and Diddy, took aim at Blackburn specifically.
“This is just another lewd and meritless claim from Tyrone Blackburn — just like what he filed in the Rodney Jones lawsuit, which he still has not served,” the statement reads. “This complaint is filled with the same kind of manufactured lies and irrelevant facts we’ve come to expect from Blackburn. This is exactly why the federal judge in New York slapped him two days ago for a ‘pattern of behavior’ in ‘improperly [filing] cases in federal court to garner media attention, embarrass defendants with salacious allegations, and pressure defendants to settle quickly,’ and why he was referred to the disciplinary committee in the Southern District of New York.”
Diddy has been at the centre of five sexual assault lawsuits in as many months. The first saw Combs’ longtime partner, R&B singer Cassie Ventura, accuse the I’ll Be Missing You rapper of repeated rape and physical assault spanning nearly a decade.
The suit was settled the day after it was filed, though Combs’ lawyer released a statement claiming the settlement did not mean admission of any wrongdoing.
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
