Diddy forced to pay inmate $100M in sexual-assault case: Details
Sean 'Diddy' Combs has been ordered to pay a Michigan inmate $100 million following allegations of drugging and sexually assaulting him.
According to Detroit's Metro Times and court documents, a Lenawee County Circuit Court Judge issued the award on Monday.
Combs failed to attend the Sept. 9 virtual hearing, resulting in the default judgment.
This is just one of many sexual-misconduct allegations against the music mogul over the past year.
SEE LIST OF DIDDY'S LEGAL TROUBLES HERE
Diddy and Michigan inmate
Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, 51, an inmate with a lengthy history of filing civil lawsuits against the judicial system, was granted $100 million after alleging that Combs drugged and assaulted him.
Cardello-Smith claims that Combs, who has become the target of multiple lawsuits and criminal investigations in 2024, sexually assaulted him at a 1997 party in Detroit, according to court records.
TMZ reports that Cardello-Smith claims the two were at a party drinking and smoking before "getting naked with a bunch of women."
He then claims that Diddy offered him a spiked drink and he passed out.
Diddy lawsuit
He tells the Metro Times that he and Diddy go "way back," and that they met while he was working in Detroit's restaurant and hospitality industry.
Cardello-Smith is currently serving an unrelated sentence at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights.
At the August hearing, Cardello-Smith claimed he and Combs discussed the lawsuit directly.
When he threatened to move forward with the case rather than accept an out-of-court settlement, Combs allegedly responded, "You know how we get down," according to Cardello-Smith's testimony to Judge Anzalone.
Cardello-Smith says he told the mogul, "I disagree with how you get down."
Cardello-Smith's award may be the largest ever granted to a non-attorney and an incarcerated individual.
In March, Combs' homes were raided by Homeland Security in connection with a human trafficking investigation. (Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Combs’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, issued a statement to Metro Times denying Cardello-Smith's accusations.
"This man is a convicted felon and sexual predator, who has been sentenced on 14 counts of sexual assault and kidnapping over the last 26 years," the statement reads. "His resume now includes committing a fraud on the court from prison, as Mr. Combs has never heard of him let alone been served with any lawsuit. Mr. Combs looks forward to having this judgment swiftly dismissed."