Diddy Seeks Sanctions Against Woman Who Sued Him and King Combs Over Yacht Assault Claims

Theo Wargo/Getty Images for MTVSean Combs performs at 2023 MTV Video Music Awards – Show at Prudential Center on September 12, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey.

Theo Wargo/Getty Images for MTV

Sean Combs is pushing a federal judge to sanction Grace O’Marcaigh, the woman who sued him and his son Christian “King” Combs in 2024 over an alleged assault on a yacht. In a filing obtained by XXL on Tuesday (July 21), Combs argues the case is so lacking in merit that O’Marcaigh and her lawyers should be made to pay his legal bills.

His legal team says O’Marcaigh filed a revised complaint after a judge had already determined that California courts did not have personal jurisdiction over him. According to his attorneys, the amended version did little more than restate the same jurisdictional arguments that had already been rejected, rather than meaningfully responding to the court’s concerns.

That, Combs claims, forced him to keep spending money on a case his team describes as baseless. He is now asking the court to impose sanctions that would require O’Marcaigh and her attorneys to cover his attorneys’ fees and court costs.

O’Marcaigh’s lawyers are pushing back. In response letters, they say the amended complaint added new allegations they believe tie Combs to California through the yacht charter at the center of the dispute. They also point out that the court gave them permission to amend the complaint and argue that Combs’ sanctions request is itself without merit.

O’Marcaigh first filed suit against Combs and King Combs in 2024, alleging that King sexually assaulted her while she was working as a steward on a yacht they had chartered, and that Combs aided and abetted him by arranging the yacht.

Both Combs and King deny wrongdoing. In 2024, their attorney Aaron Dyer told XXL, “This is just another lewd and meritless claim from Tyrone Blackburn — just like what he filed in the Rodney Jones lawsuit, which he still has not served. This complaint is filled with the same kind of manufactured lies and irrelevant facts we’ve come to expect from Blackburn. This is exactly why the federal judge in New York slapped him two days ago for a ‘pattern of behavior’ in ‘improperly [filing] cases in federal court to garner media attention, embarrass defendants with salacious allegations, and pressure defendants to settle quickly,’ and why he was referred to the disciplinary committee in the Southern District of New York. We will be filing a motion to dismiss this outrageous claim.”

Combs, who is currently serving a 50-month sentence on prostitution-related charges, is also dealing with dozens of civil cases.

See the Current Status of Every Murdered Rapper's Case

XXL takes a look at the current status of the cases of hip-hop murders that have occurred over the past 39 years.