Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of 2003 sexual assault in lawsuit
NEW YORK | A former model accused Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually assaulting her at his New York City recording studio in 2003 in a lawsuit filed Tuesday, the latest in a series of allegations against the embattled hip-hop mogul.
The woman said she was a successful 22-year-old model when she met Combs at a restaurant during Men’s Fashion Week in Manhattan. Combs invited her to his recording studio later that night, according to the federal complaint filed in New York City.
The lawsuit alleges the woman arrived to find Combs drinking and smoking joints with several other men. She smoked some marijuana, which she “later came to understand” was laced with a narcotic or intoxicating substance, the lawsuit says. She felt as though she was floating. Combs led her to the bathroom, where the sexual assault took place, according to the lawsuit.
Combs led her back to the studio and she lost consciousness, the lawsuit says. She later awakened in a taxi and realized that she had been sexually assaulted, according to the lawsuit.
Combs’ representatives did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
The lawsuit was filed days after CNN aired security video that shows Combs attacking singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. Combs on Sunday released a video admitting he attacked Cassie in the hotel hallway, saying he was “truly sorry” and his actions were “inexcusable.”
Combs is not in danger of being criminally prosecuted for the beating because of the statute of limitations.
A lawsuit filed by Cassie in November alleging beatings and abuse was settled a day after it was filed. But it spurred intense scrutiny of Combs, with several more lawsuits filed in the following months, along with a federal criminal sex-trafficking investigation that led authorities to raid Combs’ mansions in Los Angeles and Miami.
The claim on Tuesday was filed under a New York City law that allows accusers to file civil litigation during a limited window even if the events allegedly happened long ago.
Graceland foreclosure sale halted as lawsuit moves forward
MEMPHIS, Tenn. | A judge on Wednesday said Elvis Presley’s estate could be successful in arguing that a company’s attempt to auction Graceland is fraudulent as he halted a foreclosure sale of the beloved Memphis tourist attraction.
Later Wednesday, a statement from someone who appeared to be a representative of the company said it would drop its claim, which the Presley estate has argued is based on fake documents. Online court records did not immediately show any legal filings suggesting the claim had been dropped.
Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins issued a temporary injunction against the proposed auction that had been scheduled for Thursday in Memphis, where the king of rock ‘n’ roll’s former home is located. Jenkins’ injunction essentially keeps in place a previous restraining order issued at the request of Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough.
“Graceland is a part of this community, well-loved by this community and indeed around the world,” the judge said.
A public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 13-acre estate posted earlier in May said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owes $3.8 million after failing to repay a 2018 loan. Keough, an actor, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, last year.
Naussany Investments and Private Lending said Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure sale notice. A lawsuit filed last week by Keough alleged that Naussany presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023.
“Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments and never gave a deed of trust to Naussany Investments,” Keough’s lawyer wrote in a lawsuit.
Neither Keough nor lawyers for Naussany Investments were in court Wednesday. Keough’s attorney, Jeff Germany, said outside of court that he has not had direct contact with representatives from Naussany.
Naussany did file an unsuccessful motion denying the lawsuit’s allegations and opposing the estate’s request for an injunction.
A statement emailed to The Associated Press after Wednesday’s ruling said Naussany would not proceed because a key document in the case and the loan were recorded and obtained in a different state, meaning that “legal action would have to be filed in multiple states.” The statement, which was sent from an email address listed in court documents, did not specify the other state.
“The company will be withdrawing all claims with prejudice,” the statement said.
The court documents included addresses for the company in Jacksonville, Florida, and Hollister, Missouri. Both were for post offices, and a Kimberling City, Missouri, reference was for a post office box. The business also is not listed in state databases of registered corporations in Missouri or Florida.
Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose name is listed on Naussany’s documents, indicated that she never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any documents for her, according to the estate’s lawsuit. The judge said the notary’s affidavit included in the lawsuit brings into question “the authenticity of the signature.”
Paul Golden, a lawyer for New York-based Coffey Modica who handles real estate litigation but is not directly involved in the case, said that affidavit and other inconsistencies in the company’s paperwork appeared to be “extremely strong evidence” to support the Presley estate’s position.
Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982 as a tribute to Elvis Presley, the singer and actor who died in August 1977 at age 42. It draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. A large Presley-themed entertainment complex across the street from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises.
“Graceland will continue to operate as it has for the past 42 years, ensuring that Elvis fans from around the world can continue to have the best in class experience when visiting his iconic home,” Elvis Presley Enterprises said in a statement.
New Big Ten schools will make at least one appearance on FOX’s Friday package
LOS ANGELES | Each of the Big Ten Conference’s new West Coast schools will make at least one appearance this coming season on Fox Sports’ “College Football Friday” package.
The 12-game schedule includes nine Big Ten matchups. Oregon, Southern California, UCLA and Washington will have at least one Friday night home game. The Bruins, Ducks and Huskies, along with Rutgers, Michigan State and Purdue, will make two appearances.
Washington — which got to the College Football Playoff title game before losing to Michigan — visits Rutgers on Sept. 27 in its first conference road game and hosts UCLA on Nov. 15.
The Bruins are the only team playing on back-to-back Fridays. They host Iowa on Nov. 8 before their trip to Seattle to face the Huskies.
Oregon hosts Michigan State on Oct. 4 before going to Purdue two weeks later.
USC will host Rutgers on Oct. 25 at 11 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Pacific. The kickoff is late because Fox has Game 1 of the World Series.
With the exception of the USC game, the other Big Ten games on the West Coast will start at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Five Big Ten schools — Indiana, Penn State, Ohio State, Minnesota and Wisconsin — are not scheduled for Friday night. Ohio State and Michigan have been among the most vehemently opposed to Friday games since the conference started holding them in 2017, with a limited slate on Big Ten Network and FS1.
“It did take us some time and a lot of collaboration between us, the conference office and all the athletic directors to finally get to where we are,” said Mike Mulvihill, Fox president for insights and analytics. “I think our expansion partners, especially Oregon and Washington, understand that Friday night represents an opportunity for them to be in a window and have a chance to have a prime-time game without that much direct college football competition.”
The other Big 10 matchups are Illinois at Nebraska on Sept. 20, Northwestern at Maryland on Oct. 11 and Purdue at Michigan State on Nov. 22. All three start at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Though the package is predominantly Big Ten, it will kick off with a Big 12 matchup on Sept. 13 when Arizona travels to Kansas State. Except it won’t count as a conference game even though this will be Arizona’s first year in the Big 12 because a home-and-home series between the two schools already was scheduled before the latest wave of conference realignment.
Fox also will carry Utah at UCF on Nov. 29 and the Mountain West championship game on Dec. 6.
The only Friday that Fox does not have a game scheduled is Nov. 1 because of the possibility of a World Series Game 6.
The college football package will fill a void for Fox on Friday nights during the fall when WWE’s “Friday Night SmackDown” moves to USA Network. The final “SmackDown” on Fox airs on Sept. 6.
It will not be the first time Fox has tried to stake a claim to what is considered an underutilized time slot. It launched “Big Noon Saturday” in 2019. Last season’s package averaged 6.74 million viewers on Fox, an 8% increase over 2022.
Networks are expected to announce their complete schedules for the first three weeks of the college football season next week. Fox already announced that “Big Noon Saturday” will open the season with Texas at Michigan on Sept. 6, followed by Wisconsin at Alabama one week later.
Barbie will make dolls to honor Venus Williams and other star athletes
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. | Barbie dolls will honor tennis champion Venus Williams and eight other athletes as part of a project announced by Mattel on Wednesday.
The others being depicted as dolls are gymnasts Rebeca Andrade and Alexa Moreno, soccer players Mary Fowler and Christine Sinclair, boxer Estelle Mossely, swimmer Federica Pellegrini, paratriathlete Susana Rodriguez and track and field sprinter Ewa Swoboda.
“Throughout my career, I’ve always been driven by the idea of shattering glass ceilings and staying true to myself, and Barbie’s mission couldn’t resonate more deeply with that ethos,” said Williams, who has won seven Grand Slam singles titles.
The brand wanted to note “the impact of sports in fostering self-confidence, ambition, and empowerment among the next generation,” Mattel’s Krista Berger said.
—From AP reports
