Sean “Diddy” Combs may be facing the heat of a damning sex trafficking charge, but the disgraced music mogul also scored a legal victory in Michigan.
A Lenawee County circuit judge on Wednesday decided to vacate a default judgment requiring the Bad Boy Records founder to pay $100 million to a Michigan inmate who sued Diddy for sexual assault. Last week, Judge Anna Marie Anzalone had ordered Combs, 54, to pay accuser Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith $10 million a month starting in October after the mogul failed to appear at a civil court hearing.
On Sept. 13, Combs’ attorneys filed an 83-page motion to vacate the judgment, alleging that Cardello-Smith, 51, failed to properly notify Combs in accordance with Michigan law. The motion also claimed that the rapper had learned of the lawsuit only from reports about the large default settlement.
A legal representative for Combs did not comment to the Times on Wednesday. The Times was unable to reach Cardello-Smith, who filed her case against Combs without an attorney.
This week, Combs' defense team alerted the court to alleged inconsistencies with Cardello-Smith's proof of service, alleging that she had altered documents necessary for the court to issue the default judgment, The Times was told.
Cardello-Smith is serving time at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility for numerous sex crimes. In June, he sued Combs, alleging that Diddy drugged and sexually assaulted him during a June 1997 meeting at a Holiday Inn in Michigan.
In her complaint, Cardello-Smith alleged that Combs touched her left buttock and offered her a drugged drink. After accepting the drink, Cardello-Smith said she passed out. She alleged that when she came to, she saw Combs having sex with a woman. The rapper allegedly told her, “I did this to you, too,” according to the suit.
Prior to filing this lawsuit, Cardello-Smith had been sentenced three times in Minnesota criminal court, each time after reaching a plea agreement or pleading guilty. The charges against him range from third-degree criminal sexual conduct to kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual conduct during the commission of a felony. Five of the crimes occurred in September and October 1997, the same year as the alleged incident with Combs.
In last week’s motion, Combs’ attorneys described Cardello-Smith’s allegations as “objectively incredible” and added that the complaint provides a “narrative that is impossible to follow.” Before that, Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, called Cardello-Smith a “convicted felon and sexual predator” in a statement shared with The Times.
In addition to the costly default settlement, Anzalone also vacated a temporary restraining order Cardello-Smith had sought in August against the embattled businessman. A hearing in the case is scheduled for next month.
Still, Diddy's legal troubles are far from over.
The rapper, whose alleged history of sexual assault came to light last year, was arrested Monday amid a wide-ranging federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations. He pleaded not guilty to all charges — three counts of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation for prostitution — in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.
Combs will remain in a federal jail in Brooklyn, New York, awaiting trial, despite his lawyer's requests for house arrest and $50 million bail.
Times staff writers Richard Winton and Hannah Fry contributed to this report.
