UPDATED 07/16/21 2:07 p.m. ET: The lawsuit against Diplo has been voluntarily dropped by the plaintiff.
“In light of the evidence and after consultation with my attorneys, I have decided to withdraw my lawsuit,” the woman said. “No payment was offered or requested. I regret filing the lawsuit.”
The woman’s lawsuit claimed that the musician coerced her into performing oral sex and filmed it without her consent.
Diplo’s attorney Bryan Freedman released a statement in response to the development.
“As we said when we first learned of this lawsuit, there was absolutely irrefutable evidence that proved that the allegations it contained were false, Freedman wrote. “As soon as we shared that plethora of evidence with the plaintiff’s lawyers, they recognized that they needed to withdraw their suit immediately.”
Freedman continued, “This demonstrably false claim – encouraged by an individual who has stalked, threatened, harassed and attempted to extort Mr. Pentz and his family – has caused great harm,” Freedman wrote. “While that damage can never fully be undone, we are glad to see this lawsuit be dismissed with prejudice. Only because of the swift and irreversible decision to withdraw this lawsuit and to issue a public statement retracting the claims and expressing regret, we will not be pursuing charges of malicious prosecution against them at this time.”
See original story below.
Diplo has been slapped with another sexual assault allegation.
According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, the 42-year-old DJ—legal name Thomas Wesley Pentz—is accused of coercing a woman into performing oral sex in 2019. The lawsuit states the alleged victim was invited to an afterparty for one of Diplo’s Las Vegas concerts. The woman said she and her friends accepted the invitation and met the DJ at the Wynn hotel, where he provided marijuana and alcohol to the already intoxicated group.
Shortly after they arrived at the party, Diplo allegedly asked the woman to join him in his private room. The plaintiff said it was at that point when Diplo’s security began removing people from the party, including one of her male friends who was punched in the face because he didn’t want to leave without her.
Once inside the private room, Diplo allegedly told the woman she couldn’t get out until she gave him oral sex. The plaintiff said she complied because she was scared for her safety and simply wanted to leave. She also said she believes Diplo filmed the entire incident without her consent, and is now seeking unspecified damages.
The artist’s attorney has denied the allegations, and claimed the suit was part of a “shakedown” orchestrated by Diplo’s ex-girlfriend Shelly Auguste, who recently sued the DJ for sexual battery, assault, defamation, infliction of emotional distress, and fraud.
“This complaint is completely outrageous, wildly untrue and yet also entirely predictable, given that it simply repeats the exact same claim already made by the plaintiff’s friend Shelly Auguste, an individual who has been harassing Mr. Pentz and his family for more than a year and already has repeatedly violated the restraining order issued against her,” Diplo’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement to TMZ, “We have irrefutable evidence that this is a completely meritless claim and we will be providing it to a court as quickly as we possibly can to put an end to this shakedown by Ms. Auguste and her accomplices once and for all.”
