Thalia Graves, the most recent woman to sue Sean “Diddy” Combs for allegedly “violently” raping her in 2001, spoke emotionally during a press conference on Tuesday, revealing the ongoing trauma she endures.
“It’s a pain that reaches into the very core of who you are,” Graves shared, tearfully addressing the media alongside her attorney, Gloria Allred, in Los Angeles.
Dressed in a white blouse, black skirt, and hoop earrings, Graves wiped away her tears with a tissue as she elaborated on how the “shame” and “guilt” she still experiences hinder her ability to “function properly.”
Graves revealed that she has often blamed herself and felt responsible for what allegedly happened to her in 2001, when she claims that Combs and his then-head of security, Joseph Sherman, sexually assaulted her in a Bad Boy Records studio in New York City, as outlined in her recently filed complaint.
Allred informed the press that Combs and Sherman allegedly recorded their assault on Graves without her consent and subsequently sold the footage “as pornography.”
While Allred, known for representing victims of sexual abuse, acknowledged that she cannot speak to her client’s “degree of consciousness” during the alleged incident, she emphasized, “I would never have consented to the videotaping and did not consent.”
The complaint alleges that Combs gave Graves a drink that was “likely laced with a drug,” causing her to briefly lose consciousness.
Allred further stated at the press conference, “[She] did not authorize the videotaping in the same way that she alleges she would have never consented to being victimized in the way that she was.”