Diddy has been sued by a man who alleges that the rap impresario attacked him at a pre-Oscars party last week. According to a Reuters report, Gerard Rechnitzer claims in the suit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court that Diddy (born Sean Combs) pushed and punched him during the early-morning scuffle.
In the suit, Rechnitzer, 27, claims he and his girlfriend ran into Combs at the club Teddy’s inside the Roosevelt Hotel in the early morning hours of February 25. When Rechnitzer returned from a trip to the bathroom, he found Combs talking to his girlfriend and when Rechnitzer approached, Combs, 37, yelled at him “in a threatening and ominous matter,” according to the suit.
Los Angeles police have been investigating the incident, but have so far declined to confirm that Combs is the target of the investigation and have not yet filed charges . On Friday, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson said officials are still interviewing witnesses in the case and will not make a decision on any charges until all interviews are completed.
Rechnitzer claims in the suit that after he approached Combs, the rapper/producer shouted an obscenity at him without provocation, leading Rechnitzer to warn his girlfriend that they should leave. That allegedly prompted Combs to yell at him, “I’ll smack flames out your ass!,” according to the Reuters report. It was at that point, the suit claims, that Combs “attacked, assaulted and battered” Rechnitzer, causing him “to fly backwards several feet” into a vehicle behind him. Combs then allegedly pushed Rechnitzer’s girlfriend and attempted to spit on another female member of Rechnitzer’s group, prompting Rechnitzer to call the police.
Combs’ lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, who could not be reached for comment at press time, called the lawsuit “completely baseless.”
“It is just another example of an opportunist seeking to fabricate a lawsuit based on a flat-out lie to try to take advantage of Mr. Combs’ celebrity status,” Brafman said in a statement. “Mr. Combs did not hit anyone, and Mr. Rechnitzer suffered no injuries or damages whatsoever. There is no case. It is that simple.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering and punitive damages.
