A Michigan inmate has been awarded $100 million for a sexual assault lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs, based on a default judgment after the hip-hop tycoon failed to show up in court or file any response to the case.
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Judge Anna Marie Anzalone ordered Combs to pay $10 million each month beginning Oct. 1 for 10 months.
A plaintiff can receive a default judgment when the defendant doesn’t formally respond to the case or appear in court. Combs did not appear at a virtual hearing on Monday, according to court records, which led to the judge’s order. At a hearing in August, a judge said that Combs was served.
Attorneys for Combs contest that he never received notice of the lawsuit and will look to have the case dismissed.
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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,” Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Combs, said in a statement to The Washington Post. “His [résumé] 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. Mr. Combs looks forward to having this judgment swiftly dismissed.”
According to multiple reports, Cardello-Smith’s lawsuit claims that Combs drugged and sexually assaulted him at a party in 1997. Cardello-Smith claimed in an August hearing that Combs offered him $2.3 million to drop the lawsuit, but he declined to accept it and opted to take legal action against the entertainment mogul.
Cardello-Smith claimed in the hearing that Combs came to see him twice in the two weeks prior. He alleges that Combs told the inmate that he would not respond to the lawsuit or appear in court, adding, “You know how we get down.” Cardello-Smith claims he then told Combs, “I disagree with how you get down.” Court records show Cardello-Smith was granted a temporary restraining order against Combs.
This is the first sexual assault judgment against Diddy since R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura first sued the media mogul in 2023 over accusations of rape, sex trafficking and physical abuse. Ventura and Combs settled their lawsuit one day later.
Cardello-Smith, who is reportedly a self-taught student of civil and criminal law, has filed civil lawsuits from prison before. Last year, he sued a Catholic archdiocese near Detroit and alleged he had been sexually abused by a priest, according to Billboard. That case was dismissed in August by an appeals court, which ruled that his accusations were barred by the statute of limitations.
Combs, one of the most powerful men in entertainment for decades, has been wrapped up in multiple lawsuits alleging abuse, sexual violence and sex trafficking. In March, the Department of Homeland Security raided multiple homes owned by Combs. He remains under federal investigation but has not been charged with any federal crimes. Combs has mostly denied any wrongdoing. He apologized after video footage leaked of an incident with Ventura at a hotel in 2016.
