A woman who accused Sean Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall of raping her after an MCA Records party in 1990 filed an amended complaint Tuesday, alleging for the first time that she was 16 the night of the alleged attack.
In her updated filing signed by attorney Tyrone Blackburn, plaintiff Liza Gardner also claims she has a letter from her therapist and an affidavit from a friend who says she recounted the alleged assault during conversations in 2014 and 2019, respectively. Full statements from the third parties were not released Tuesday, but Blackburn says Rolling rock they will be revealed “as the case begins to unfold.”
“As my records show on 2/18/2014, my client disclosed that she was raped by two men in New York when she was 16 years old,” the therapist allegedly wrote in the letter contained in the first amended complaint. “My professional opinion is that the trauma of being raped by two men is responsible for many of the ongoing symptoms of hypervigilance, anxiety, panic attacks and depressive episodes, all symptoms indicative of PTSD.”
The new complaint also adds more details to the original lawsuit first reported by Rolling rock on Thanksgiving 2023, the deadline for lawsuits filed under New York's Adult Survivors Act — legislation that opened up a year for survivors to sue their abusers and institutions that sheltered sexual predators. In her new paperwork, Gardner reveals that the previously unknown musicians who allegedly brought her to the MCA party were members of the R&B group Jodeci. Gardner states that she was “close friends” with the group and that Combs was assigned to help develop Jodeci during his tenure at MCA's Uptown Records. Gardner claims that in addition to Combs and Hall, she also met music legends Mary J. Blige and Queen Latifah at the event.
The new filing reiterates the broad outlines of the alleged assault, including Gardner's claim that Combs forced and raped her during an “afterparty” at Halls' apartment. It also adds more detail, describing what Gardner was wearing that night — a black skirt and button-down top — and how Combs allegedly “forced” her into sex after giving her alcohol despite her young age. “She remembers Combs putting her on and forcefully lifting her skirt, pulling her underwear to the side and forcefully penetrating her,” the amended complaint states. “After Combs finished his business, Mrs. Gardner lay in bed, shocked and traumatized. As she was in the process of getting dressed, Hall entered the room, pinned her down and forced Ms. Gardner to have sex with him.”
In both complaints, Gardner alleges that Combs and Hall also took turns having sex with her friend in another room. The friend has not been identified. “Upon information and belief, when Combs finished with Ms. Gardner, he and Hall switched and began intercourse with Ms. Gardner's friend,” both complaints state. The new complaint updates the timeline after that, saying it was the “next day” that Combs allegedly arrived on Gardner's doorstep and “began assaulting and choking Mrs. Gardner to the point where she passed out.”
Efforts to reach representatives for Combs and Hall were not immediately successful late Tuesday. Combs previously denied Gardner's claims in a spokesperson's statement.
“These are fabricated allegations falsely alleging wrongdoing over 30 years ago and filed at the last minute. This is nothing but a money grab. “Because of Mr. Combs' reputation and success, he is an easy target for anonymous accusers who lie without conscience or consistency for financial gain,” the spokesman said in November. “The New York Legislature certainly did not intend or expect that the Adult Survivor Act could be exploited by fraudsters. The public should be skeptical and not rush to accept these bogus claims.”
Gardner is one of five plaintiffs who have sued Combs with sexual assault allegations in recent months. The first to come forward was Cassie Ventura, the R&B singer who filed a complaint against blockbusters on Nov. 16, alleging rape, sex trafficking and repeated beatings. (Didi reached a private settlement with Cassie a day later.)
A second accuser who also filed a lawsuit on Thanksgiving Day alleged that Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1991 and then showed videos of the assault to others. In early December, a fourth accuser alleged that Combs, former Bad Boy frontman Harve Pierre, and a third man raped her at Combs' recording studio in New York in 2003 when she was 17. Two weeks ago, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed a lawsuit accusing Combs of sexual assault, harassment and failure to compensate him for his work on the Grammy Awards. The album of love.
Combs has denied any wrongdoing in all cases against him. However, he stepped down as chairman of media company Revolt last year as more than a dozen companies left his e-commerce platform. He did not attend February's Grammy Awards despite his nomination for Best Progressive R&B album.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sean-combs-aaron-hall-rape-accuser-amended-complaint-1234986392/