Sean “Diddy” Combs has received a new lawsuit from 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 sweeping complaint filed Wednesday (July 3 ). in New York federal court.
According to the lawsuit filed by attorneys Ariel Mitchell-Kidd and Stephen Metcalf, English was sexually trafficked at the hands of Combs along with co-defendants Tamiko Thomas, who was allegedly an employee of Bad Boy Entertainment at the time, and a man named Jacob Arabov (aka Jacob The Jeweler) . It claims the trio was “aided and abetted” by several companies also named as defendants in the complaint, including Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs Global Enterprises, Sean John Holdings, PULSE magazine and its current parent company, Penske Media Corporation (PMC). (PMC did not own PULSE when the alleged events occurred.)
Specifically, the complaint alleges that the actions of all defendants amounted to a violation of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) laws, which historically have been used to target the Mafia, drug cartels and other organized crime rings (similar in level to state law in Georgia has formed the basis of prosecutors' case against rapper Young Thug, who they allege leads a violent Atlanta street gang known as Young Slime Life). These types of racketeering laws make it easier for prosecutors to wipe out members of alleged criminal enterprises based on many individual actions.
English claims she first came into contact with Combs in 2004 — when she says she was working as a dancer at Larry Flynt's Hustler Club in Manhattan — after she accompanied her then-boyfriend, model Anthony Gallo, to an audition for a modeling campaign for Sean John. While at the audition, she says Gallo and another model were asked to perform fellatio on Combs as a condition of booking the position. After Gallo refused, he claims he was later told he could shut down the campaign if he ordered English to work as a dancer at Combs' Labor Day White Party in the Hamptons, New York “In an effort to help Mr. Gallo's desire to become a model, Plaintiff agreed to what she believed was legitimate employment,” the complaint states.
While working at the event, English says she was instructed to dance around and “sexually flirt” with guests and was “forced to consume alcohol and illegal drugs,” including bottles she claims were laced with ecstasy. She claims she was then invited to appear at additional White Parties, where Combs and Thomas – whom she compares to Ghislaine Maxwell, the former associate of the late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein – eventually “groomed” her into sex trafficking.
In the third White Party, English claims that Combs and Thomas asked her to have sex with guests, using knowledge of her previous work in adult films “to coerce” her into doing so. This activity, he claims, continued until 2009 at White Parties held at Combs' residences in the Hamptons and Miami.
One of the men English says she was forced to have sex with during this time was Jacob Arabov (Jacob The Jeweler) at Combs' behest, as he feared he might lose her job along with his future opportunities her modeling boyfriend. “The plaintiff, fearing not only for her safety, but also for her and her then boyfriend's job security, did as instructed and went with the defendant Jacob where she had forced sexual intercourse with the defendant Jacob at the defendant's demand and order Combs,” the complaint states. .
English further claims that Combs kept hidden cameras in every room of his Hamptons and Miami homes and believes that her sexual assaults were captured on tape, even while she was “unconscious.”
During this period, English also claims that PULSE The magazine published an image of her in a November 2006 story about Combs' White Parties without her consent, arguing that its use violated her “privacy rights through abuse.” It claims it “did not discover the infringing use” until April 2024. It further alleges PULSE and parent company PMC “deliberately and falsely marketed and promoted” the White Combs Party “as a high-profile networking and social event in an attempt to disguise and deceive the true intent of the event … and further the goals of the defendants' illegal and criminal enterprise.”
English says she continued to put up with Combs' demands in part because of promises that he would help her break into the music industry by putting her in an all-female music group. She says she finally distanced 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 earlier trauma of the assault and trafficking, along with her career.
According to the lawsuit, English's victimization at the hands of Combs and his alleged associates has caused her to suffer constant “extreme emotional distress” that has affected every aspect of her personal life.
In a statement sent to Advertising signattorney for Combs Jonathan Davis said, “No matter how many lawsuits are filed, it will not change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually abused or trafficked anyone. We live in a world where anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason and without any proof. Fortunately, there is a fair and impartial judicial process to find the truth, and Mr. Combs is confident that he will prevail against these and other baseless claims in court.”
Advertising sign reached out to Thomas and Araboff for comment, but had not heard back by press time. PMC declined to comment.
This is the 10th sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Combs since his ex-girlfriend, pop star Cassie, made waves with her sexual assault lawsuit against the mogul in November, which was settled less than 24 hours later. He has categorically denied all the cases against him. Combs' homes in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by federal agents in March, though no arrests were made.
In May, disturbing footage obtained by CNN showed Combs abusing Cassie in an elevator bank at a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016. Shortly after the video was released, Combs apologized for his actions, which he says he was “disgusted.”
“I was upset. I mean, I hit rock bottom. But I'm not making excuses,” he said in the since-deleted Instagram video. “My behavior in this video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in this video. loathe. I was disgusted when I did it, I am disgusted now.”
In the wake of the allegations, the fallout for Combs continued to reverberate. Last month, Revolt's media company announced that the employees would become the company's largest shareholders after Combs sold his stake to an unnamed buyer. Also in June, Combs' Miami Day honor was revoked and Howard University withdrew its honorary degree.
Editor's note: PMC is its parent company Advertising sign.
