Singer’s lawsuit adds to growing claims against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

NEW YORK — A singer who achieved success in bands put together by Sean “Diddy” Kammen has sued the music producer, detailing years of psychological and physical abuse, including groping, she says she endured as he helped her career get off the ground.

With her lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, Dawn Richard added her voice to who now say The music mogul exposed those around him to an explosive temper, violent threats, and sexually charged and drug-ridden environments as they tried to do his bidding.

Richard, who rose to prominence after appearing on the MTV reality show “Making the Band,” is suing for unspecified damages and millions of dollars in earnings that she claims she has been denied. She claims damages, including punitive damages, are warranted because she has suffered economic harm, bodily injury, pain and suffering, and severe mental and emotional distress.

Combs’ representatives said in a statement that Combs was “shocked and disappointed” by the lawsuit. They said Richard “attempted to rewrite history” by “fabricating a series of false claims, all in the hopes of collecting a paycheck — conveniently timed to coincide with the release of her album and press tour.”

They added that if her experience had been so negative, Richard would not have continued to work directly with Combs for so long, including her return in 2020 for a reboot of “Making the Band” and her agreement to appear on “The Love Album” last year.

“It is unfortunate that Ms. Richard put aside their 20-year friendship to try to get money from him, but Mr. Combs is confident in the truth and looks forward to proving it in court,” they said.

According to the indictment, Richard witnessed Combs’ repeated beatings of his girlfriend and endured threats that left her in fear for her life as Richard worked on songs, often going without food or sleep for days or two. Meanwhile, he rose to fame in the music world as a member of the girl group Danity Kane and later as a member of Combs’ band Diddy — Dirty Money.

She says in the lawsuit that Combs would frequently fly into a rage and throw cell phones, laptops, food and studio equipment across the room or at people. At other times, the lawsuit says, Richard saw him strangle his protégé and longtime girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura. The incidents occurred from 2004 to 2011, the lawsuit says.

In May, CNN aired a 2016 hotel security video showing Combs… punching, kicking and dragging the R& B-singer Cassie. The incident closely matched a description in a lawsuit in which Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed in November and that was arranged the next day but Combs was under heavy surveillance, including a federal criminal investigation.

A few days after the video aired, Combs has posted an apology video on social media in which he says he is “truly sorry” and that his actions are “unforgivable.”

In her lawsuit, Richard says she “is now adding her voice to the growing chorus of victims who are bravely sharing their harrowing stories. Together, they are seeking justice and standing in solidarity as the latest victims of the music industry’s #MeToo movement.”

In court documents, she accuses Combs of asking, “Do you want to die today?” and alleges he bragged that “I kill people,” while withholding her earnings, stealing her copyrighted works and subjecting her to groping, sexual assault and false imprisonment, at one point locking her in a car for hours.

Richard alleges in the lawsuit that between 2009 and 2011, while she was recording, rehearsing and performing, Combs repeatedly demanded that she strip down to her underwear and made demeaning comments about her body. At times, he called her “lazy, fat, ugly and skinny,” even in front of his friends, producers and bodyguards.

On numerous occasions, the complaint alleges, Combs entered Richard’s dressing room while she was undressed and fondled her bare buttocks and chest area near her breasts. During an October 2010 performance in Glasgow, Scotland, Combs made overt sexual advances toward Richard, the complaint alleges.

She also named people close to Combs and the record companies that supported him as defendants, claiming that Combs carried out his abuse so often in public and in front of record company employees that they could be held liable.

Normally, the Associated Press does not name people who say they were sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Richard and Cassie have done.