EXCLUSIVE: Diddy Scores Massive Legal Win As Judge Tosses Case Over Alleged Drugs, Secret Tapes & Sexual Assault

Diddy landed another major legal win after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing the jailed music mogul of drugging, raping, sexually assaulting and trafficking an aspiring entertainer for years.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon granted Diddy’s motion to dismiss the case filed by Las Vegas entertainer Julian Sapp. The September 18 ruling closed the federal case and eliminated all 15 claims.

Sapp alleged he met Diddy in 2007 after an agency booked him to perform as an adult entertainer at a Las Vegas hotel.

According to the complaint, Diddy later persuaded Sapp to work directly with him by offering to help launch his music career. Sapp claimed those promised business meetings repeatedly turned into forced sexual encounters.

He accused Diddy of drugging him, confiscating his phone, blocking exits and displaying firearms. Sapp also alleged Diddy secretly recorded sexual activity and threatened to release the footage if he refused additional encounters or exposed the alleged abuse.

Diddy denied the allegations and argued that Sapp waited too long to sue.

Judge Rochon agreed that nearly all the claims were barred by their statutes of limitations. Sapp said his last in-person encounter with Diddy occurred around November 2012, but he did not file the lawsuit until February 2025.

“The limitations period therefore expired no later than approximately November 2022, more than two years before Sapp commenced this action,” Rochon wrote.

Sapp argued that Diddy’s alleged threats and continued influence prevented him from filing sooner. However, the judge found that the complaint failed to show he pursued his legal rights with reasonable diligence during the decade after their contact ended.

“Sapp has not satisfied that prerequisite here,” Rochon wrote. “That extended delay despite an absence of contact demonstrates a lack of due diligence.”

The judge dismissed Sapp’s forced-labor and sex-trafficking claims, along with allegations of sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, emotional distress, invasion of privacy, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

Rochon also rejected a California privacy claim because Sapp alleged the recordings occurred inside Diddy’s home and hotel rooms, not on property belonging to Sapp.

One claim under New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law was dismissed without prejudice. That means Sapp can attempt to pursue the claim in state court while New York’s highest court considers whether the city’s special revival window conflicts with state law.

“The Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Count I, which is dismissed without prejudice to filing in state court,” Rochon wrote.

The corporate entities originally named in the case, including several Bad Boy companies, had already been voluntarily dismissed after Sapp amended his complaint. The judge also dismissed the remaining unidentified corporate and individual defendants at Sapp’s request.

The ruling follows the June dismissal of former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard’s federal lawsuit. A different judge found that most of Richard’s claims involving alleged abuse, retaliation and unpaid wages were also filed too late. Richard retained the option of pursuing one claim in state court.

Diddy recently scored another victory when a judge allowed his $100 million defamation lawsuit against Courtney Burgess, attorney Ariel Mitchell and Nexstar Media to continue. The lawsuit accuses them of spreading false claims about alleged recordings involving celebrities and minors.

His biggest legal victory came during his 2025 criminal trial. A jury acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and two sex-trafficking charges that could have sent him to prison for life.

However, jurors convicted Diddy on two counts of transporting people across state lines for prostitution. Judge Arun Subramanian sentenced him to 50 months in federal prison, imposed a $500,000 fine and ordered five years of supervised release.

As of September 18, 2026, Diddy’s projected federal release date is in February 2028.