In the latest development of the legal tempest swirling around Sean "Diddy" Combs, former Da Band member Sara Rivers has come forward to file a lawsuit detailing the disturbing legacy of her time spent in Diddy's mentorship. Rivers, who gained worldwide fame on Making the Band 2 in the early 2000s, is suing the music mogul for $60 million, alleging years of abuse, harassment, and calculated career sabotage.
Rivers said Diddy's behavior during her time on the MTV reality show (2002-2004) fostered an inhumane and humiliating atmosphere. She says he sexually harassed her, trapped her against walls, touched her inappropriately, and made unsettling comments about her appearance. Rivers says Diddy also manipulated her eating and sleeping patterns, made fun of her battle with bulimia, and set her up for public embarrassment.
One of the most notorious scenes from Making the Band 2, commonly referred to as the "cheesecake incident," was referenced in the suit as a prime example of the brutal treatment she received. Fans of the show will recall when Diddy had Rivers and her bandmates walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn to get a slice of Junior's cheesecake, which she now described as public humiliation.
But her allegations have much more to do with reality TV stunts. According to Rivers, she and the other women in the group were always at risk of violence and even went so far as to say that Diddy threatened to kill someone. In addition to the emotional and physical price, Rivers is claiming that Diddy purposely sabotaged her music career by closing down Da Band and with a blacklist from the industry.
Rivers says her compensation, money-wise, paid an insult. Though Making the Band 2 was a grueling experience, she claims she was paid only $5,000 per episode and later received just one lump sum of $25,000 for signing a publishing agreement she claims to have been pressured to enter into. For a person who had dreams of breaking out, it became a nightmare.
Rivers has not been shy about her painful past, opening up recently in the Peacock documentary Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy. Still, she offered a chilling description of an alleged assault, adding, "I was alone and he touched me in a place you shouldn't have; so that was inappropriate."
Rivers is also suing several major players, such as MTV, Viacom, Universal Music Group, Diddy's mother, Janice Combs, and former assistant Fonzworth Bentley, who was also assigned to watch over the accuser. Her lawsuit comes as New York's Gender-Motivated Violence Act lookback window, which allows survivors of gender-motivated violence to file claims without being constrained by the timing of the alleged incidents, closes in its final days.
Diddy's legal team has already filed an answer, calling the allegations "false and opportunistic." They say Rivers' claims are part of a wave of lawsuits filed just before the legal deadline with ulterior motives.
Rivers' case is the latest in a string of lawsuits made against Diddy by more than a dozen people who have previously come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. As legal fights mount, the formerly untouchable mogul has become the centerpiece of a reckoning that could forever change his legacy.
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