{"id":1661,"date":"2024-07-04T16:25:30","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T16:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/diddy-hit-with-sex-trafficking-lawsuit-by-former-exotic-dancer\/"},"modified":"2024-07-04T16:25:30","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T16:25:30","slug":"diddy-hit-with-sex-trafficking-lawsuit-by-former-exotic-dancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/diddy-hit-with-sex-trafficking-lawsuit-by-former-exotic-dancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Diddy Hit With Sex Trafficking Lawsuit by Former Exotic Dancer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\n\tSean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs has been hit with a new lawsuit by exotic dancer Adria English, who claims she was a victim of sex trafficking orchestrated in the 2000s by the Bad Boy mogul and others she named in a sprawling complaint filed Wednesday (July 3) in New York federal court. <\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the lawsuit, filed by attorneys Ariel Mitchell-Kidd<\/strong> and Steven Metcalf<\/strong>, English was a victim of sex trafficking at the hands of Combs along with his fellow defendants Tamiko Thomas, who was allegedly an employee of Bad Boy Entertainment at the time, and a man named Jacob Arabov (a.k.a. Jacob The Jeweler). She alleges that the trio was \u201caided and abetted\u201d by several companies also named as defendants in the complaint, including Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs Global Enterprises, Sean John Holdings, VIBE<\/em> magazine and its current parent company, Penske Media Corporation (PMC). (PMC did not own VIBE<\/em> when the alleged events occurred.)<\/p>\n

\n\tNotably, the complaint alleges that the actions of all defendants amounted to a violation of federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) laws, which have historically been used to target the mafia, drug cartels and other organized crime rings (a similar state-level law in Georgia has formed the basis of prosecutors\u2019 case against rapper Young Thug, whom they allege leads a violent Atlanta street gang known as Young Slime Life). These types of racketeering laws make it easier for prosecutors to sweep up members of alleged criminal enterprises based on many individual actions.<\/p>\n

\n\tEnglish claims she first came into contact with Combs in 2004 \u2014 when she says she was working as a dancer at Larry Flynt\u2019s Hustler Club in Manhattan \u2014 after accompanying her then-boyfriend, model Anthony Gallo, to an audition for a Sean John modeling campaign. While at the audition, she says Gallo and another model were asked to perform fellatio on Combs as a condition of booking the job. After Gallo refused, she claims he was later told he could book the campaign if he commanded English to work as a go-go dancer at Combs\u2019 Labor Day White Party in the Hamptons, N.Y. \u201cIn an effort to assist Mr. Gallo\u2019s desire to become a model, Plaintiff agreed to what she believed to be legitimate employment,\u201d the complaint reads.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile working the event, English says she was instructed to give lap dances and be \u201csexually flirtatious\u201d with guests and \u201cforced to consume liquor and illicit narcotics,\u201d including bottles she claims were laced with ecstasy. She alleges she was subsequently invited to perform at additional White Parties, where Combs and Thomas \u2014 whom she compares to Ghislaine Maxwell, the former associate of late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein \u2014 eventually \u201cgroomed\u201d her into sex trafficking.<\/p>\n

\n\tBy her third White Party, English claims that Combs and Thomas demanded she partake in sexual intercourse with guests, using knowledge of her past work in adult films \u201cto coerce\u201d her into doing so. This activity, she claims, continued through 2009 at White Parties thrown at Combs\u2019 Hampton and Miami residences. <\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the men English says she was forced to have sexual intercourse with during this period was Jacob Arabov (Jacob The Jeweler) at the behest of Combs, as she feared she could lose her job along with her boyfriend\u2019s future modeling opportunities. \u201cPlaintiff, fearing not only her safety, but her and her then-boyfriend\u2019s job security, did as instruct and went with Defendant Jacob where she engaged in forced sexual intercourse with Defendant Jacob at the demand and behest of Defendant Combs,\u201d the complaint reads.<\/p>\n

\n\tEnglish further alleges that Combs kept hidden cameras in every room of his Hamptons and Miami homes and believes her sexual assaults were caught on tape, including when she was \u201cunconscious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring this period, English also alleges that VIBE<\/em> magazine published an image of her in a November 2006 story about Combs\u2019 White Parties without her consent, claiming its use violates her \u201crights to privacy via misappropriation.\u201d She claims she \u201cdid not discover the infringing use\u201d until April 2024. She further accuses VIBE <\/em>and parent company PMC of \u201cintentionally and falsely marketing and promoting\u201d Combs\u2019 White Parties \u201cas a high-profile networking and social event in an effort to disguise and deceive the real intent of the event\u2026and to further the goals of the Defendants illegal and criminal Enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEnglish says she continued putting up with Combs\u2019 demands in part due to promises that he would help her break into the music business by putting her in an all-female music group. She says she finally detached herself from Combs when she returned to California in 2009, at which point she claims she suffered from deep depression and anxiety in response to the past trauma of being assaulted and trafficked, along with her unraveling career. <\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the lawsuit, English\u2019s victimization at the hands of Combs and his alleged co-conspirators has led her to suffer continued \u201cextreme emotional distress\u201d that has impacted every aspect of her personal life. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement sent to Billboard<\/em>, Combs\u2019 attorney Jonathan Davis<\/strong> said, \u201cNo matter how many lawsuits are filed it won\u2019t change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone. We live in a world where anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason and without any proof. Fortunately, a fair and impartial judicial process exists to find the truth and Mr. Combs is confident he will prevail against these and other baseless claims in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBillboard<\/em> reached out to Thomas and Arabov for comment but had not heard back by press time. PMC declined to comment.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is the 10th sexual misconduct lawsuit to be filed against Combs since his ex-girlfriend, pop star Cassie, made waves with her sexual abuse suit against the mogul in November, which was settled less than 24 hours later. He has vehemently denied all cases against him. Combs\u2019 Miami and Los Angeles homes were raided by federal agents in March, though no arrests were made. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn May, disturbing footage obtained by CNN<\/em> showed Combs abusing Cassie in an elevator bank at a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016. Soon after the footage came out, Combs apologized for his actions, which he says he was \u201cdisgusted\u201d by. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was f\u2014ed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses,\u201d he said in the since-deleted Instagram clip. \u201cMy behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I\u2019m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, I\u2019m disgusted now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the wake of the allegations, the fallout for Combs has continued to reverberate. Last month, his media company Revolt announced<\/a> employees would become the company\u2019s largest shareholders after Combs reportedly sold his stake to an anonymous buyer. Also in June, Combs\u2019 Miami Day honor was revoked and Howard University withdrew an honorary degree it bestowed upon him.<\/p>\n

\n\tEditor\u2019s Note: PMC is the parent company of <\/em>Billboard.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs has been hit with a new lawsuit by exotic dancer Adria English, who claims she was a victim of sex trafficking orchestrated in the 2000s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2340,296,2339,1067,303,461,2338],"class_list":["post-1661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lawyers","tag-dancer","tag-diddy","tag-exotic","tag-hit","tag-lawsuit","tag-sex","tag-trafficking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}