Sean “Diddy” Combs is celebrating what his legal team is calling a significant win in one of the civil sexual assault lawsuits brought against him. This development comes just a week after he avoided conviction on major federal charges related to sex trafficking and racketeering.

On Tuesday, July 8, New York State Supreme Court Justice Leslie Stroh issued a ruling that effectively trimmed down the scope of a civil case filed by April Lampros in May. Lampros had accused Diddy of a series of sexual assaults and violent encounters during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Court documents show that Justice Stroh sided with Diddy's motion to dismiss any allegations tied to incidents prior to December 19, 2000. 

That date is significant because it marks when the Gender-Motivated Violence Act (GMVA) was enacted in New York City. As a result, any alleged misconduct before that date is no longer admissible under that law.

Lawsuit Narrowed Amid Ongoing Legal Battles

Lampros initially accused the Bad Boy mogul of four separate sexual incidents: rape in 1995, assault in 1996, coerced sexual activity in 1998, and an additional assault that she claims happened in late 2000 or early 2001. Diddy’s legal team moved to dismiss the lawsuit last August, labeling it “baseless” and pointing to the long passage of time since the alleged events occurred.

While this ruling doesn’t dismiss the entire case, it does reduce the scope significantly a strategic win for Diddy amid mounting legal troubles. Just a day earlier, on July 7, another lawsuit surfaced. In it, an anonymous man referred to as John Doe claimed Diddy performed an inappropriate act involving a Biggie Smalls T-shirt in 2020, allegedly throwing the shirt at him with semen landing on his body.

Diddy’s attorneys strongly denied the new allegations in a statement to TMZ, reaffirming his innocence and pledging to "fight for full vindication" against what they called “false and uncorroborated” claims.