Houston Woman Claims Sean 'Diddy' Combs and Bodyguard Drugged, Assaulted, and Filmed Her

Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of sexual abuse that some readers may find distressing.

Hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who was arrested on multiple charges including sex trafficking, was recently accused of drugging and sexually abusing a woman in 2001 and filming the act. Thalia Graves has filed a lawsuit against Combs in a federal court suing him for raping her in a New York City recording studio more than 20 years ago.

Along with Combs, Graves's lawsuit also mentions 'Big Joe' Joseph Sherman, who was reportedly Combs' bodyguard and head of security. However, Sherman denied any allegations and stated that he was not Combs' employee at the time of the alleged assault. “I categorically — a trillion times — deny it,” Sherman said. “Not only do I deny it, I don’t know who she is. I’ve never seen this woman.”

Graves, who was 25 at the time, met Combs in early 2000 through her then-boyfriend. The boyfriend, not identified in the complaint, was an executive at Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, in NYC, and had a close relationship with Combs, the suit says. Graves often visited her boyfriend at the studio and attended events hosted at Combs’ residence. In 2001, she was invited by Combs to discuss her boyfriend's performance. Upon arrival, Combs offered her a glass of wine, which she claims was spiked as she started to feel "lightheaded, dizzy, and physically weak." Subsequently, Combs and Sherman allegedly took her to the studio and raped her.

Graves fleeted in and out of consciousness as Combs assaulted her. Regaining consciousness at one point, she claims she eventually rushed out of the studio as quickly as possible, "disheveled, crying uncontrollably, and suffering from agonizing pain," the lawsuit stated. According to HuffPost, Graves stated that her then-boyfriend asked her not to report the incident as it could ruin his career. She also claimed Combs and Sherman threatened her multiple times, saying she would lose the custody of her child if she reported the alleged crime. 

Graves stated that she had reasons to believe Combs had shown the video to other people. “Any progress Plaintiff had made in healing from the attack over the years was dramatically reversed on or around November 27, 2023, when she learned for the first time that Combs and Sherman had video-recorded the horrific rape twenty-two years before and had shown the video to multiple men, seeking to publicly degrade and humiliate both Plaintiff and her boyfriend,” the complaint alleges. As per the New York Post, during a press conference addressing the lawsuit, Graves sobbed and expressed that she was 'happy' the musician was behind bars. “It’s a pain that goes to the very core of who you are, leaving emotional scars that may never fully heal,” she said.

If you are being subjected to sexual assault, or know of anyone who is, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673)