Sean 'Diddy' Combs files motion to dismiss some claims in a sexual assault lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs pushed back against a woman's lawsuit that accused him of sexual assault, filing a motion on Friday to dismiss some claims that were not under law when the alleged incident occurred.

The motion filed in a New York court claims Combs cannot be sued because certain laws didn't exist when Joi Dickerson-Neal made the allegations against him in 1991.

The music mogul's lawyers want certain statutes from Dickerson-Neal's claims such as revenge porn and human trafficking to be dismissed with prejudice.

In a filing last year, she said Combs “intentionally drugged” her, then brought her home and sexually assaulted her after a date in Harlem when she was a 19-year-old college student.

Without her knowledge, Combs videotaped the assault and later shared it with several friends in the music industry, the lawsuit alleges. He denied the allegations, accusing her of seeking to exploit the New York law that temporarily extended the statute of limitations.

While Friday’s motion seeks to dismiss the case on legal grounds, Diddy’s attorneys and the mogul “vehemently deny” what they called “numerous false, offensive, and salacious accusations” in the lawsuit.

Dickerson-Neal’s claim came nearly three decades after his alleged misconduct, and the New York State Revenge Porn Law was not codified until 2019, Combs’ lawyers said. His attorneys also pointed out a few others including the New York Services for Victims of Human Trafficking Law, which came into effect in 2007.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Dickerson-Neal has done.

Last month, Combs' properties in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by federal authorities in a sex trafficking investigation. The criminal investigation is a major escalation in the scrutiny of Combs, who has been the defendant in several recent sexual abuse lawsuits.

In a lawsuit Combs settled the day after it was filed in November, his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, sued him alleging years of sexual abuse, including rape. The lawsuit said he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them.

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said he raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

Combs and his attorneys have denied all of the allegations in the lawsuits.

This story corrects the spelling of Joi Dickerson-Neal's surname.

FILE - Music mogul and entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the Billboard Music Awards, May 15, 2022, in Las Vegas. Combs pushed back against a woman’s lawsuit that accused him of sexual assault. Combs’ lawyers filed a motion Friday, April 26, 2024, to dismiss some claims that were not under law when the alleged incident occurred. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Italy’s president told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can’t be solved by rewarding its aggression and peace can only come when Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are restored.

Sergio Mattarella said Italy, which now heads the G7 meetings, and many international partners have come to Ukraine’s defense to support the principle that solidarity must be given to nations attacked by acts that violate international law and the U.N. Charter.

“No state, no matter how powerful or how equipped it is with a menacing nuclear arsenal can think of violating principles, including the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of another country without facing sanctions,” he said.

Mattarella said the end of two world wars and the collapse of the Soviet Union had brought new hope to Europe, and that “Russia has taken on the great historic responsibility of having brought war back to the heart of the European continent.”

The Italian president stressed that Russia's invasion of Ukraine isn’t merely a regional conflict since Moscow wants to exercise global influence. Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, which is charged with ensuring international peace and security.

The war in Ukraine, once one of the world’s main bread baskets, has created food and energy scarcities, especially in parts of Africa, he said.

Mattarella added that the peace dividends that incentivized the allocation of resources to development instead of arms after the end of the Cold War have been wasted as Russia turns back time and starts a new arms race.

With the war in Ukraine now in its third year, he said Italy, its international partners and people everywhere are committed to achieving a peaceful and long-lasting solution to the conflict.

“Not just any solution, though, let alone a solution which would reward the aggressor and humiliate those being attacked, setting a dangerous precedent for everyone," Mattarella said.

“If peace is to be fair and long lasting, it must be based on the noble and inalienable principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” he added.

FILE - Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy, right, addresses journalists at the end of the Arraiolos Group meeting in Porto, Portugal, Oct. 6, 2023. Italy’s president told the General Assembly on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can’t be solved by rewarding its aggression and peace can only come when Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are restored. (AP Photo/Miguel Angelo Pereira, File)