6/5 – A federal judge has dismissed a $100 million defamation lawsuit filed by Joseph Sherman, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former bodyguard, against Thalia Graves. Sherman sued Graves after she accused him and Diddy of drugging and raping her in 2001 in a lawsuit filed in September 2024. He denied the allegations, asserting he had never met Graves and had ceased working for Diddy in 1999. However, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Sherman’s defamation claim is barred by New York’s absolute litigation privilege, which protects statements made in the course of legal proceedings. The judge also rejected Sherman’s other claims, including intentional infliction of emotional distress, abuse of process, vexatious litigation, and malicious prosecution, calling them “patently frivolous” or unsupported under New York law. The decision reinforces the legal principle that individuals cannot be sued for defamation over allegations made in the context of formal legal action, even if those allegations are contested.