Hip Hop mogul Diddy wants his accuser, Jane Doe unmasked ahead of the upcoming trial where the victim claims that she was raped by him, former Bad Boy Boy President Harve Pierre, and another man while she was a high school student visiting his studio in New York.
According to AllHipHop, the victim has asked the court to allow her case to proceed anonymously, but Diddy’s lawyer, Jonathan D. Davis, has filed documents asking the court to reject that request and allow the trial in open court.
The defense filed a brief this week and asked U.S. District Judge Jessica G.L. Clarke to seal the opposition response because it could reveal the woman because she has a “public facing identity.”
“The Opposition Brief does not reveal Plaintiff’s name, but it does refer to certain facts about Plaintiff that the Combs Defendants have learned because her identity was disclosed by Plaintiff’s counsel… The facts included are pertinent to the Motion, but the Combs Defendants want to disclose them under seal to avoid any possibility that a third party could recognize Plaintiff’s identity before the Motion is decided. Plaintiff has a public-facing identity that could be potentially determined from the content of the Opposition Brief,” the letter to the judge read.
It continued that the victim’s identity should be made public.
“The Combs Defendants request this relief only for so long as the Motion is sub judice. If the Court denies Plaintiff’s Motion, the Combs Defendants submit that the Opposition Brief should be unsealed and made part of the public docket. If it is granted, then it should remain sealed in the Court’s discretion.”
Harve Pierre’s lawyer, Scott Leemon, is supporting the request by Diddy’s lawyer.
Diddy's lawyers say the woman suing him for sexual assault "has a public-facing identity" that could become obvious if a new legal brief isn't sealed from public view. https://t.co/XDGRRc2zVH pic.twitter.com/rnKnClZDS0
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 18, 2024
In the meantime, Jane Doe’s lawyer also responded to the request by Diddy and Pierre’s lawyers. In a statement to the media, Attorney Douglas Wigdor decried the move by the defendants.
“It is disgraceful that Combs and Pierre would seek to publicly expose the identity of a woman who alleges they raped her when she was a seventeen year old high school student. It is clear that Combs and Pierre’s only defense to these allegations will be to shame our client, cause her to be saddled with unwanted public attention about a horrific event in her youth, and will discourage her from pursuing justice. This is exactly why courts allow plaintiffs like Ms. Doe to proceed under a pseudonym, and we will vehemently fight to protect the privacy interests of our client,” the attorney wrote.
Diddy faces two other lawsuits, while Harve Pierre faces a separate one filed by an intern.
The lawsuits were filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act, which expired on Thanksgiving Day last year.
