Thalia Graves, the latest woman to sue Sean “Diddy” Combs for allegedly “violently” raping her in 2001, detailed in an emotional press conference Tuesday the trauma she continues to live with to this day.
“It’s a pain that reaches into your very core of who you are,” the accuser explained as she cried during a press conference held by her attorney, Gloria Allred, in Los Angeles.
Graves, who wore a white blouse, black skirt and hoop earrings, wiped away her tears with a tissue as she further explained how the “shame” and “guilt” she still feels affects her ability to “function properly.”
AFP via Getty Images
AFP via Getty Images
She said she has often blamed herself and felt responsible for what allegedly happened to her back in 2001, when Combs and his then-head of security, Joseph Sherman, sexually assaulted her in a Bad Boy Records studio in New York City, as stated in her recently filed complaint.
Allred told press that Combs and his co-defendant allegedly recorded their alleged assault on Graves without her consent and then sold it “as pornography.”
However, the high-powered lawyer — who often represents alleged victims of sexual abuse — explained that although she can’t speak to her current client’s “degree of consciousness” during the alleged rape, she “would never have consented to the video taping and did not consent.”
In the complaint, they allege that Combs gave Graves a drink “likely laced with a drug that eventually caused her briefly to lose consciousness.”
Allred added in the press conference, “[She] did not authorize the video taping in the same way that she alleges she would have never consented to being victimized in the way that she was.”
Graves further detailed the negative impact the alleged incident has had on her life, including putting a strain on her “selection of men and relationships.”
“Many relationships became aggressive and abusive, which has made me feel even more alone in my struggles,” she said.
“I go through spells of being distant and withdrawn. It is so hard leaving my house. The trauma of the assault has taken a toll on my mental health.”
Graves said that when the alleged rape first took place, she was going through a divorce so she did not have the right support system around her even back then.
As a result, she now deals with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.
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“I am emotionally scarred,” Graves admitted in the press conference. “It has been hard for me to trust others …or even feel safe in my own skin.”
She said she still deals with “flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts,” which have also resulted in lasting physical effects on her body such as “chronic” pain and “sexual discomfort.”
It has created a “cycle of suffering,” she added, but pointed out that her lawsuit is part of her “journey of healing.”
“I am glad that he is locked up, but that is a temporary feeling of relief,” Graves concluded.
Allred did not comment on why her client has decided to come forward with her allegations — although in the complaint it was alleged Graves had a fear of retaliation.
The lawyer also noted, though, that her client’s claims are not the same as those pertaining to Combs’ ongoing federal lawsuit.