A man that sued American rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs over an alleged sexual assault has won $100m (£76.6m) by default after Combs failed to respond.
Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, 51, accused Combs of drugging him and sexually assaulting him at a party in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. Lawyers for Combs have denied the allegations.
Cardello-Smith is a convicted felon currently serving a prison sentence and is known for his long history of filing civil lawsuits, according to a local newspaper.
Lawyers for Combs said Cardello-Smith was committing “fraud on the court” and told the BBC that the rapper will fight the ruling.
Courts issue default judgements against people when they do not respond to a lawsuit.
Combs and his lawyers told the BBC they had not been aware of the lawsuit because Combs was not properly served notice of it, and that they will be seeking to vacate Monday’s judgement.
The lawsuit is among a string of sexual assault allegations that have been recently made against Combs, one of the most successful moguls in the history of rap music.
The award to Cardello-Smith was issued on Monday by Judge Anna Marie Anzalone of the Lenawee County Circuit Court, after Combs failed to appear for a 9 September hearing over the lawsuit.
According to the local newspaper, the Detroit Metro Times, Cardello-Smith crossed paths with Combs in the 1990s while he was working in the restaurant and hospitality industry in Detroit.
He told the court that Combs recently offered him $2.3m to drop the lawsuit, but he rejected that offer. He also said that he continues to know Combs, and had produced documents showing Combs’s name in a prison visitation log.
Combs’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, denied that the rapper ever knew Cardello-Smith in a statement to the BBC.
Cardello-Smith is serving time for unrelated convictions of sexual misconduct and kidnapping, according to court documents.
The Detroit Metro Times reported that he taught himself criminal and civil law during his time in prison, and had since developed “a long history of challenging the judicial system” by filing multiple lawsuits.
Others have sued Combs for sexual and physical abuse, including his long-time partner, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura.
Combs paid Ventura an undisclosed sum of money, which settled the matter outside of court.
The rapper had repeatedly denied the allegations, but later apologized after CCTV footage from 2016 was released in May appearing to show Combs throwing and kicking Ventura in a hotel hallway.
In March, federal agents raided two houses owned by the star “as part of an ongoing investigation” into sex trafficking.
At the time, Combs’ lawyer had called the raid an “unprecedented ambush” and said his client was innocent.
