An 11-year-old matter between Sean "Diddy" Combs and a North Carolina man claiming he was beaten by his bodyguards has finally been settled out of court.
"We amicably settled, and that's all we can say," said Herman Stephens, an attorney for Cedrick Bobby Lemon, who filed the lawsuit in May 2002.
According to the lawsuit, Lemon was employed as a limousine driver and wore an identification badge that allowed him to hang out backstage during a concert by Mary J. Blige in June 1995. Combs was Blige's manager at the time.
As two of Diddy’s bodyguards tried to clear the backstage area of Joel Coliseum for Blige to exit following the concert, they punched Lemon in the head, kicked him in the back and broke his right ankle, according to the lawsuit. Combs was negligent because he failed to properly train the bodyguards, the lawsuit said.
Diddy’s attorneys Jack Strauch and Jonathan Davis had planned to start a hearing Monday on a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. But after a lunch recess, Davis told Superior Court Judge Ron Spivey the two parties had reached a settlement. Details were not disclosed.
In 2002, Judge William Z. Wood Jr. entered a default judgment against Combs for $2.45 million because he failed to answer the allegations outlined in Lemon's lawsuit within the time allowed. The judge later reduced the settlement to $450,000.
In June 2004, the North Carolina Court of Appeals voided Wood's judgment and sent the case back to Forsyth County Superior Court.
"We amicably settled, and that's all we can say," said Herman Stephens, an attorney for Cedrick Bobby Lemon, who filed the lawsuit in May 2002.
According to the lawsuit, Lemon was employed as a limousine driver and wore an identification badge that allowed him to hang out backstage during a concert by Mary J. Blige in June 1995. Combs was Blige's manager at the time.
As two of Diddy’s bodyguards tried to clear the backstage area of Joel Coliseum for Blige to exit following the concert, they punched Lemon in the head, kicked him in the back and broke his right ankle, according to the lawsuit. Combs was negligent because he failed to properly train the bodyguards, the lawsuit said.
Diddy’s attorneys Jack Strauch and Jonathan Davis had planned to start a hearing Monday on a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. But after a lunch recess, Davis told Superior Court Judge Ron Spivey the two parties had reached a settlement. Details were not disclosed.
In 2002, Judge William Z. Wood Jr. entered a default judgment against Combs for $2.45 million because he failed to answer the allegations outlined in Lemon's lawsuit within the time allowed. The judge later reduced the settlement to $450,000.
In June 2004, the North Carolina Court of Appeals voided Wood's judgment and sent the case back to Forsyth County Superior Court.
