Four months after testifying at Sean Combs’ criminal trial in New York, celebrity stylist Deonte Nash has filed a lawsuit claiming that the music mogul forced him into a “dark world” filled with repeated sexual assaults, physical violence, stalking, and threats. Nash says what began as a childhood dream to work in entertainment turned into “a nightmare.”
In the complaint, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles, Nash alleges Combs pinched his nipples, grabbed his buttocks, pressed against his groin, and on one occasion forced his hand onto Combs’ penis. Nash says these incidents took place while he worked for Combs and his former girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, between 2008 and 2018.
Revisiting parts of his testimony from Combs’ New York trial, Nash also accuses Combs of violent physical attacks. He says that in 2013, Combs became enraged and “severely strangled” him after Nash tried to stop Combs from beating Ventura inside her apartment. Nash recalls attempting to call the police, but Combs intervened, leaving him “in imminent fear for his life.” In another incident, around 2013 or 2014, Nash says Combs drove to a music video set where Ventura was filming and assaulted him again after discovering that Nash and Ventura had gone to dinner the night before. According to the lawsuit, Combs “threw [Nash] up onto the car and violently strangled him.” (At trial, Nash testified that he was smoking a cigarette when Combs appeared and “started choking me out.”)
Nash also describes years of threats, intimidation, and what he calls “psychological manipulation.” He says that in 2014, Combs slapped the back of his head while Ventura, frightened by another outburst, tried to escape through a window. Nash alleges that Combs and a driver later chased him on the freeway at nearly 100 miles per hour, leaving him “terrified.” He also claims Combs bragged about punishing those who crossed him and that staff were aware Combs kept “guns and weapons around.”
“After enduring years of abuse, I finally found the courage during the criminal trial, and I am now ready to take action,” Nash said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “Sean Combs has never taken accountability for the years of harm he inflicted on me and so many others. Today, I am free from the confinement his abuse imposed, and I have reclaimed my voice. It is time for the world to confront the truth about the horrific abuse I endured and the lasting impact of Mr. Combs’ actions on my life. His abuse has consistently affected every part of my life, from my personal well-being to my career, and the damage cannot be ignored. I am reclaiming my story and demanding the justice I deserve.”
In response, Combs’ attorney Erica Wolff dismissed the claims. “Mr. Nash is another opportunist looking to profit off his proximity to celebrity. This complaint is riddled with falsehoods and stands in stark contrast to the record that has already been established in court,” Wolff said. “Mr. Combs has dedicated his life and career to uplifting artists, creating opportunities, and building one of the most influential cultural enterprises in the world. Mr. Nash’s tabloid-style accusations are insulting not only to Mr. Combs, but also to the countless individuals who worked honorably and professionally within his companies. In court, the truth will prevail, as it did in his criminal trial: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman. Mr. Combs looks forward to clearing his name again in a court of law where truth matters.”
Nash says he was too afraid to speak out earlier but felt compelled to testify at Combs’ trial after receiving a subpoena. During his two days on the witness stand, Nash recounted the violent 2013 incident at Ventura’s apartment. He described how Combs attacked Ventura while Nash was helping her pack for a trip. Ventura testified that Combs shouted at her for sleeping too long and threw her into the corner of her bedframe, leaving her with a deep cut near her eyebrow that bled heavily and required stitches.
Nash told jurors that Combs was so out of control that day, he jumped on Combs’ back to try to restrain him. “He threw me off,” Nash testified. “[He] continued to hit Cassie until her head hit the edge of the bed frame. … When he noticed the blood, he just panicked.”
At trial, Combs, now 55, was convicted of two counts of transporting women for prostitution but acquitted of the more serious racketeering and sex trafficking charges tied to Ventura and another former girlfriend. In closing arguments, defense attorney Mark Agnifilo admitted to Combs’ history of domestic violence toward Ventura. “We own it. It happened,” Agnifilo told the jury on June 27. “If he was charged with domestic violence, we wouldn’t all be here having a trial, because he would have pled guilty — because he did that.”
Nash’s new lawsuit goes beyond his testimony, detailing more alleged sexual assaults. He claims Combs exposed himself to him at a party in 2013 or 2014, and about a year later pinched his nipples after cornering him in a bathroom in Las Vegas. He also says that in 2016, Combs “forcibly” grabbed his hand and placed it on his penis while laughing and wearing only underwear. Nash alleges Combs then grabbed his buttocks and made a lewd gesture.
The complaint continues with an allegation from 2017, when Combs allegedly groped him during a Bad Boy Reunion Tour party in Los Angeles, saying, “You need to be out there slangin’ that dick baby.” In 2018, Nash says Combs pressed against his groin in a sexually charged way during a fitting with Ventura in New York, telling him, “This is how I make love to my lady,” which left him feeling “violated and offended.”
“Combs sexually assaulted Mr. Nash in this manner over and over for more than a decade,” lawyers Brett Schreiber, Meagan Verschueren, Katie Llamas, and Kristina Aiad-Toss allege in the filing. They also argue that Combs targeted Nash’s homosexuality as a way to demean and control him. “Degrading comments about Mr. Nash’s homosexuality were a way Combs manipulated and controlled him,” the lawsuit reads. “He used it as a weapon to belittle Mr. Nash, as if being openly gay made him inferior.”
The filing includes claims of human trafficking, assault, battery, sexual battery, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, gender violence, sexual orientation violence, and constructive discharge, alleging Combs created such toxic conditions that Nash had no choice but to resign. It also names Combs’ companies, including Bad Boy Entertainment and Combs Global, as defendants.
“Combs used his power and threats of harm to compel Mr. Nash to do his bidding and prevent him from leaving defendants’ control. Even after his employment ended, threats continued, and Mr. Nash has not felt safe, even to this day,” the complaint states. “Though defendants have silenced him for years, Mr. Nash is no longer willing to give in to this fear for his life and is now standing up to demand justice.”
Combs is currently being held in federal custody in New York, awaiting sentencing on Oct. 3. He is also facing numerous civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct, although he has argued that many of them are too old to be heard in court.
In a recent decision, a federal judge dismissed 21 out of 22 claims in a $60 million lawsuit filed by Making the Band 2 contestant Sara Rivers earlier this year. The judge indicated he also plans to dismiss the final claim, which alleged Combs sexually assaulted Rivers at his recording studio in the early 2000s, but is waiting for an appeals court ruling on whether New York City’s Gender Motivated Violence Protection Act can extend the window for expired claims, even though the state’s Adult Survivors Act has already closed that window.
Rivers is currently appealing the judge’s ruling.
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