EXCLUSIVE: Sean 'Diddy' Combs Judge Rejects Rapper's Assault Defense Argument as Male Accuser's Gender-Violence Claim Moves Forward
Sean 'Diddy' Combs has suffered another loss.
Aug. 7 2026, Published 7:20 p.m. ET
Sean 'Diddy' Combs has suffered a legal setback in a lawsuit brought by a male accuser after a New York judge rejected an argument that the pair being the same gender undermined the alleged victim's gender-violence claim, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
In a bombshell six-page ruling obtained by Radar, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arlene Bluth refused to dismiss a claim brought against Combs under New York City's Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs Suffers Legal Setback
The anonymous plaintiff accused Combs of drugging and s-xual assaulting him.
The anonymous plaintiff accused Combs of drugging and s-xually assaulting him during an alleged February 2020 encounter at a Manhattan hotel.
According to the lawsuit, the man previously worked for Combs running errands while the music mogul served as CEO of Bad Boy Records. The plaintiff claimed the two met at the hotel to discuss outstanding payments allegedly owed to him before the purported assault took place.
Combs and several Bad Boy corporate entities moved to dismiss multiple claims in the lawsuit, including the plaintiff's gender-motivated violence cause of action.
Anonymous Male Accuser's Claim Moves Forward
The judge found Combs' same-gender argument was 'not supported by any caselaw.'
Attorneys for the defendants argued, among other things, that the plaintiff had failed to sufficiently allege the gender-based "animus" required under the law.
But the judge rejected the argument as it applied to Combs personally. Bluth pointed to an earlier appellate ruling finding allegations of r-pe and s-xual assault sufficient to plead gender-based animus before taking aim at the defense’s same-gender argument.
Bluth wrote that the defendants' contention that Combs and his accuser being the same gender somehow made a difference was "not supported by any case law."
She further declined to carve out an exception suggesting that alleged same-s-x r-pe could not establish the necessary animus.
The John Doe Previously Worked for Bad Boy
The judge found a business connection to the alleged 2020 encounter.
The judge added: "There are many conceivable theories under which the violent act of r-pe perpetrated against someone of the same gender could satisfy animus towards that gender."
However, Bluth dismissed the gender-motivated violence claim against the corporate defendants, finding a 2022 amendment expanding liability to parties who allegedly enable or participate in such violence could not be retroactively applied to the alleged 2020 incident.
The court also dismissed s-xual assault and battery claims against the corporate defendants, while those claims remain against Combs. An intentional infliction of emotional distress claim was dismissed after the plaintiff did not oppose that portion of the defendants' motion.
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Combs' male accuser's lawsuit will now move forward.
But the judge refused to throw out the negligence and negligent hiring claims. Combs' side argued the alleged encounter occurred at a third-party hotel and lacked a sufficient connection to the corporate defendants. Bluth disagreed, pointing to allegations that the meeting concerned "missing job payments" and that business was discussed before the alleged assault.
Bluth ruled discovery was necessary to explore the exact role of each corporate defendant, stressing that the plaintiff was not required to prove his entire case at the pleading stage.
The case will now move forward, with the defendants ordered to answer the complaint and a tentative discovery conference scheduled for September 16.
