According to the suit, Richard tried multiple times to intervene, offered Ventura support and encouraged her to leave Combs. Each time Combs learned of her efforts to help Ventura, the suit alleges, he became enraged and threatened Richard’s life, telling her that he had the ability to make people disappear and could “end people.”
In May, Combs admitted that he beat Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016 after CNN released video of the attack, saying in a video apology posted to Instagram that he was “truly sorry” and his actions were “inexcusable.” The video was later removed from his page.
Richard, who lives in California, was employed by Combs from 2005 to 2012, first as a member of Danity Kane and then the group Diddy — Dirty Money, the lawsuit says. It describes a hostile work environment, in which Diddy would allegedly berate and threaten his employees, attend meetings in his underwear, make unwanted advances and withhold earnings.
In her suit, which also names Harve Pierre, a former longtime president of his record label, and various record labels as defendants, Richard alleges that she is owed $3.3 million in unpaid wages, salaries and royalties from her time with Danity Kane and $1.55 million in unpaid compensation from Diddy — Dirty Money. Pierre did not respond to a request for comment.
Like other lawsuits, including Ventura’s, Richard’s suit depicts Combs as violent and controlling. Richard’s suit says that during auditions for “Making the Band,” Combs “spoke to the female contestants in a hostile, condescending manner” and made disparaging remarks, calling them “fat,” “ugly,” “b——” and “hoes.” His hostility and aggression continued after the band was formed, the lawsuit says, and Combs regularly used derogatory terms to refer to the five women and denigrated their physical appearances, including by telling Richard she was too skinny and that she needed to “do something” about her face.
In the lawsuit, it is claimed that she and the members of Danity Kane were denied access to basic necessities like enough food and rest during the “Making the Band” series.
The lawsuit claims that Richard’s extreme demands resulted in extreme weight loss because of his near-constant filming, intense workouts, and 36 to 48 hours of practice without breaks.
According to the lawsuit, Combs insisted on holding meetings while only wearing his underwear in order to further demonstrate his dominance. In 2008, during a meeting in the living room of his Miami home, Richard asked Combs to change clothes, but he refused, saying, “This is my f——house.” The lawsuit claims that the hour-long meeting “amplified Ms. Richard’s feelings of helplessness and caused her to feel violated and embarrassed.”
According to the lawsuit, Combs regularly made disparaging comments about Richard’s appearance and forced her to strip down to her underwear while she was a member of Diddy — Dirty Money from 2009 to 2011.The complaint also claims that Combs would frequently storm into Richard’s changing room uninvited and grope various parts of her body without permission while posing as a stylist assisting Richard for performances.
Richard claims that in December 2010, or thereabouts, she and her Dirty Money bandmate Diddy locked themselves in one of Combs’ cars without interior door handles for over two hours after Diddy had yelled at them for being late. Richard claims that even though the bandmate was eventually set free, in order to assist with her release, she had to travel from Baltimore to New York by calling her father on her bandmate’s phone. Combs allegedly told Richard’s father to “think about your family” and “think about your daughter’s career” when he was later confronted and threatened to call the police, according to the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, Combs instructed Richard the next evening not to contact her father until she was admitted to the hospital.
Frank Richard could not immediately be reached at numbers listed for him.
The suit also alleges Richard attended parties at Combs’ houses, where she witnessed what she believed were inebriated underage girls being sexually violated by Combs and his guests. At his “drug-fueled parties,” guests were required to surrender their phones, doors were locked and guarded by security, and Combs hired police officers to attend, “sending a clear message to guests that his influence extended to law enforcement officers, and creating a climate of fear and a tacit warning that reporting him to authorities would be both unacceptable and futile,” the suit says.
Richard’s lawsuit alleges that, for decades, following his rise to fame, “Combs’ star-studded, larger-than life persona overshadowed his vicious temper and pervasive acts of violence directed toward those in his inner circle — specifically, women.”
In addition to other compensation and lost wages, Richard is requesting punitive and compensatory damages for emotional distress and suffering.
