A man who sued American rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs over alleged sexual assault has been awarded ₹8.24 billion after Combs failed to respond to the lawsuit. Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, 51, accused Combs of drugging and sexually assaulting him at a party in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. Combs’s legal team has denied the allegations.
Cardello-Smith, who is currently serving a prison sentence for unrelated crimes and has a history of filing civil lawsuits, claimed in court that Combs had not properly addressed the lawsuit. His conviction history includes sexual misconduct and kidnapping.
According to local sources, Combs’s lawyers argued that Cardello-Smith was committing “fraud on the court” and stated that the rapper plans to challenge the ruling. They contend that Combs was unaware of the lawsuit due to improper service of notice and are seeking to overturn the judgment.
The default judgment was issued by Judge Anna Marie Anzalone of the Lenawee County Circuit Court after Combs failed to attend a hearing scheduled for September 9. Cardello-Smith reportedly rejected an offer of ₹189 million from Combs to drop the lawsuit and produced evidence of Combs’s name in prison visitation logs as proof of their past connection.
Combs’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, denied any knowledge of Cardello-Smith and insisted that the rapper is innocent. Cardello-Smith, who has taught himself law while in prison, has a reputation for challenging the judicial system through numerous lawsuits.
This lawsuit is part of a broader series of allegations against Combs, who has faced accusations of sexual and physical abuse from several individuals, including his former partner Casandra “Cassie” Ventura. Combs settled with Ventura out of court for an undisclosed amount, although he has consistently denied the allegations.
In March, federal agents conducted raids on two of Combs’s properties as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation. Combs’s legal team condemned the raids as an “unprecedented ambush” and maintained his innocence.
