Diddy's Anonymous Accusers Face Deadline To Reveal Identities Or Risk Their Cases Being Thrown Out

Sean "Diddy" Combs has seemingly scored another win in his mounting legal troubles as judges agree that his anonymous accusers reveal their identities or risk having their cases tossed out.

Several alleged victims have brought a case against the embattled rapper since his September arrest, but many have had to refile or withdraw their case.

Ahead of his trial in May, Sean "Diddy" Combs' ex-partner Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura is set to testify against him using her real name following a resurfaced hotel clip that saw him violently hit her.

Several individuals who have filed civil lawsuits against Diddy have been given an ultimatum.

According to Business Insider, Diddy has asked judges to unmask his accusers and force them to reveal their identities rather than hide under the cloak of anonymity, and so far, the judges seem to agree with him.

The "Finna Get Loose" rapper, who has been hit with more than 55 lawsuits in New York federal and state courts since his September arrest by Homeland Security officers, had been accused of sexual assault, rape, drugging, and other forms of violence.

About 40 of those cases were filed under "Jane Doe" or "John Doe" pseudonyms, which allows the accusers to remain anonymous while publicly detailing allegations of sexual misconduct in court filings.

"The defendants who oppose the 'Jane Doe' status — I think are doing it primarily as a means to intimidate the victim," Douglas Wigdor, an attorney who represents several of Diddy's accusers, said.

The development poses a dilemma for Diddy's accusers as they must decide between withdrawing their case against the Bad Boy Records founder or moving forward with it and exposing themselves to public scrutiny, unwanted attention, and potentially even legal counteractions.

Diddy's lawyers have opposed the plaintiff's anonymity in court in several cases. Judges ruled that five "Doe" accusers must reveal their names to the public if they want their cases to proceed.

Four of such accusers, Anna Kane, Anthony Tate, Candice McCrary, and Dexter Withers, have refiled their federal lawsuits under their real names following orders by judges.

So far, only one accuser has been permitted to proceed anonymously, but the plaintiff later withdrew the case.

"It takes a lot of courage to come forward as an alleged victim in a high-profile case like this," Tony Buzbee, an attorney representing Tate, McCrary, and Withers, told Business Insider. "I admire the courage."

Another of Buzbee's "Doe" clients has an April 10 deadline to decide whether they want to refile under their real name or drop their lawsuits against Diddy.

"This is a reoccurring issue in these types of cases that we always deal with," Buzbee said, adding that one of his clients is still "making up her mind" about whether to use her real name.

Diddy remains locked behind bars at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn with less than one month before his criminal trial commences.

He stands accused of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution but has vehemently maintained his innocence.

Prosecutors in the case reportedly filed a motion stating that "Victim-1" wouldn't testify anonymously in the trial.

People Magazine then confirmed with sources that "Victim-1" was Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, who dated Diddy from 2007 to 2018.

Meanwhile, three other alleged victims would testify against the 55-year-old rapper but are choosing to remain anonymous, with the prosecution requesting that they be addressed using pseudonyms during the trial.

"This case has already received an exceptional amount of media coverage, which will presumably only increase as trial proceeds," the prosecution wrote.

They continued, "Permitting these measures will prevent unnecessary public disclosure of the victims' identities, and the harassment from the media and others, undue embarrassment, and other adverse consequences that would almost certainly follow if these women were forced to reveal their true names publicly at trial."

Cassie notably sued Diddy in a now-settled lawsuit filed in November 2023. However, the rapper found himself under scrutiny in May 2024 when CNN released a hotel surveillance clip that seemingly confirmed her allegations in the case.

In the clip, Diddy can be seen chasing Cassie down the alley at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, after which he then grabbed her by the neck and tossed her to the floor before violently kicking her and grabbing her purse and suitcase.

Although he later apologized for his actions, his lawyers claimed in a March filing that CNN altered the footage by purchasing the only known copy of the surveillance footage, uploading it to free editing software, and editing the original video.

Diddy's lawyers argued that the clip CNN shared was sped up "to make it falsely appear that the actions in the video are taking place faster than they are. As a result, the CNN videos do not fairly and accurately depict the events in question."

However, Cassie's lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, fought back in a statement to People, saying it is "not surprising that Combs would make a disingenuous argument to exclude the disturbing video from being shown to the jury in the upcoming trial."

"I am confident that the video fairly and accurately represents what happened, will be admitted into evidence, and that Combs will be held accountable for his depravity," Wigdor added.