A judge is granting Diddy his wish, at least for one of the sexual assault lawsuits from an anonymous accuser.
According to new legal documents obtained by TMZ on Wednesday, Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil ruled that a woman suing the music mogul for an alleged rape that happened 20 years ago must reveal her real name. And if she doesn’t? She will take a massive loss and have her suit dismissed! Whoa!
The lawsuit in question was one of the six filed on October 14 by Tony Buzbee, the Texas-based attorney who said he is representing 120 alleged victims of Diddy. She sued the rapper as a Jane Doe, claiming a security guard took her and a pal into a private room at a Diddy party at a Marriott hotel in Brooklyn in 2004 when she was a 19-year-old college freshman. When they asked where they were going, the guard allegedly replied:
“You know what you are here for.”
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When Diddy came into the room, he told the two women to drink alcohol and do cocaine. He then allegedly demanded they perform oral sex on him, or else he would kill them. Jane Doe said her friend agreed, as Diddy refused to let them leave. He then allegedly forced the plaintiff to undress and sexually assaulted her. Awful. Jane Doe also sued Bad Boy Corporations and Marriott International, with Buzbee claiming the hotel management knew about Diddy’s conduct but “looked the other way.”
Per ABC News, the woman asked to keep her identity hidden, arguing she could be harmed if her name came out. However, Judge Vyskocil did not agree. She found her arguments “wholly meritless,” saying:
“Combs has had no contact with Plaintiff for the approximately 20 years since the alleged rape and Combs is currently detained pending trial. As such, counsel has not identified any present threat of physical harm to Plaintiff.”
Uhh.. Considering the feds won’t even reveal the victims’ identities from the sex trafficking and racketeering indictment — most likely out of concern for their safety — we would say this woman has a legit reason to be worried and not want her identity revealed…
Despite the sensitive nature of the accusations, the judge argued Jane Doe has not proved she is entitled to remain anonymous, noting she is an adult who “decided to file a lawsuit in which she accuses a famous person of engaging in heinous conduct approximately 20 years ago.” The judge went on to say Diddy has a right to investigate the woman and her accusations:
“The Court appreciates that Combs is a public figure and, therefore, Plaintiff is likely to face public scrutiny if she proceeds in her own name. The Court is not oblivious to the potential toll of such scrutiny on any litigant. However, Plaintiff’s interest in avoiding public scrutiny, or even embarrassment, does not outweigh the interests of both Combs and the public in the customary and constitutionally-embedded presumption of openness in judicial proceedings.”
As TMZ reported, Judge Vyskocil said the woman must file a complaint in her own name by November 13, or the case will be thrown out.
Wow.
Can you believe this happened? We mean, this is a big deal. This ruling could have a huge impact several lawsuits filed by anonymous accusers! And what about those unnamed people in the indictment?
As we previously reported, Diddy asked the federal judge to order the US Attorney’s Office to disclose the names of the victims so he could adequately prepare to defend himself in the trial next year. The federal prosecutors refused to do so “at this time,” most likely to keep the witnesses a secret and protect them as long as possible. We haven’t heard about a decision on this matter yet. But in light of the recent ruling with Jane Doe’s lawsuit, could the federal judge decide to follow in the same footsteps and force the feds to reveal the names of the victims in the indictment? If you ask us weeks ago, we would have said no. At that point, Diddy was not getting his way. Now, we aren’t so sure… We certainly hope not, for the sake of the safety of the victims.
Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via FayesVision/WENN]
