Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was slapped with a $100 million default judgment after he failed to respond to a sexual assault lawsuit brought against him by Michigan inmate Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith.
Lenawee County Circuit Court Judge Anna Marie Anzalone issued the award on Monday, when 54-year-old Combs failed to show up for a virtual hearing regarding the suit, which accuses him of drugging and sexually assaulting Cardello-Smith nearly 30 years ago, the Detroit Metro Times reported. She also established a payment schedule of $10 million per month, starting October 1.
Anzalone’s judgement marks the latest legal setback for the embattled music producer, who has been named in eight different lawsuits since November 2023, most of them detailing allegations of drug use, rape, sexual assault, and physical abuse. She also established a payment schedule of $10 million per month, starting October 1.
Cardello-Smith said he crossed paths with Combs in 1997 during a party at the Detroit-area restaurant where he worked at the time. According to the lawsuit, reviewed by TMZ, the men enjoyed a night of drinking and weed-smoking before they had sex with a pair of woman they met during the festivities. At one point during the romp, though, Cardello-Smith said he felt a man’s hand — which he claims was Combs — touching him.
Shortly thereafter, Cardello-Smith said the Bad Boy Records founder offered him a spiked drink that caused him to pass out. When he awoke again hours later, he said Combs, who was having sex with a woman at the time, acknowledge him, saying: “I did this to you,” according to the lawsuit.
Since filing, Cardello-Smith noted that Diddy has attempted to get him to drop the suit, at one point offering him $2.3 million to do so. When he refused, Diddy allegedly told him: “You know how we get down.”
“I disagree with how you get down,” he responded, per Variety.
During a hearing back in August, Cardello-Smith, who is an inmate at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility, provided visitation logs with Combs’ name to corroborate the claim. Anzalone in response issued a restraining order aimed at preventing Combs from selling assets that could potentially be used to compensate Cardello-Smith for possible damages.
Cardello-Smith is serving up to 75 years for 2008 and 2019 first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping charges, according to prison records. He was also separately convicted on third-degree sexual conduct charges in 1998 and first-degree sexual conduct charges in 1997.
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“This man (Cardello-Smith) is a convicted felon and sexual predator, who has been sentenced on 14 counts of sexual assault and kidnapping over the last 26 years,” Diddy’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo said in a statement to the Daily News.
“His resume now includes committing a fraud on the court from prison, as Mr. Combs has never heard of him let alone been served with any lawsuit,” he continued. “Mr. Combs looks forward to having this judgment swiftly dismissed.”
Diddy has mostly denied the allegations leveled against him, but he admitted in June to assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura after violent video footage leaked of a 2016 incident in a hotel hallway. The singer filed suit against Diddy in November 2023, and it was settled the following day.
He’s also at the center of an investigation being carried out by Homeland Security and the federal government. Back in March, agents raided Diddy’s homes in Miami and Los Angeles in connection with drug and sex trafficking allegations.
