Sean “Diddy” Combs must pay $100 million to a contentious Michigan inmate who sued him for sexual assault, a judge ordered Monday.
Lenawee County Circuit Judge Anna Marie Anzalone ruled that Combs will have to pay $10 million a month for 10 months to accuser Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith beginning in October. The order is part of a default settlement reached during Monday's virtual hearing, which the Bad Boy Records founder was absent from.
Cardello-Smith, 51, is currently serving time at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility for numerous sex crimes, according to a Michigan inmate database. In June, he filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Combs, 54, drugged and sexually assaulted him while he was working as a “restaurant and hospitality industry employee” during a party in Detroit in 1997, according to the Detroit Metro Times, citing court documents.
According to TMZ, Cardello-Smith accused Combs of touching her left buttock and allegedly offering her a spiked drink. After accepting the drink, Cardello-Smith passed out, according to TMZ. She claimed that when she came to, she saw Combs having sex with a woman. According to the lawsuit, the rapper allegedly said, “I did this to you, too.”
“This man is a convicted felon and sexual predator who has been sentenced on 14 counts of sexual assault and kidnapping over the past 26 years,” Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said of Cardello-Smith in a statement to The Times. “His resume now includes committing fraud on the court from prison, as Combs has never heard of him, much less been served with a lawsuit. Combs hopes this sentence will be quickly dismissed.”
There are questions about whether Cardello-Smith gave Combs proper notice, or notice at all, in connection with this lawsuit.
The Times was unable to reach Cardello-Smith, who filed her case against Diddy without an attorney.
Cardello-Smith is “a self-taught student of civil and criminal law” and is also “known for his long history of challenging the court system with civil lawsuits,” the Detroit Metro Times reported. From 2020 to 2024, Cardello-Smith has been a plaintiff in more than 30 civil lawsuits, some involving prisoners’ rights, according to legal documents.
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. His most recent sentence, imposed in May 2019, calls for a sentence of 17 1/2 to 35 years.
Five of the crimes occurred in September and October 1997, the same year as the alleged incident with Combs. The inmate database indicates that Cardello-Smith will be released in July 2036 at the earliest and, at the latest, in May 2086, when he would be 113 years old.
Earlier this week, Combs' Los Angeles mansion (which was the subject of a Department of Homeland Security raid in March) was put up for sale for a reported $61 million, Page Six reported. The property comes on the market a decade after Combs purchased it for $40 million and after many legal issues.
Combs has largely stayed out of the public eye after allegations of sexual assault, sex trafficking and other accusations surfaced beginning late last year. Singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones and former model Crystal McKinney are among a handful of accusers who have filed civil complaints against the rapper.
Times researcher Scott Wilson contributed to this report.
