Entertainment
American DJ Diplo sued for distributing revenge porn: Not the 1st time he has allegedly ‘shamed and violated a woman’
An unidentified woman referred to as Jane Doe has sued American DJ and producer Diplo for distributing revenge porn. This isn’t the first time he’s been accused of the misconduct.
The lawsuit filed on Thursday in California marks the second accusation against Diplo for the same transgression in less than a year. Jane Doe’s suit states that she and the DJ were entangled in an intimate relationship from June 2016 to October 2023. They first struck out a conversation on Snapchat in April 2016 when she was 21 years old.
Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz, reportedly invited Doe to his Manhattan hotel room in June 2016, beginning their years-long intimate relationship.
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In November 2023, she found out that Diplo had been allegedly distributing personal videos and pictures of their sexual encounters without her consent, states Doe’s complaint.
However, Doe remarks that she’d firmly established that she didn’t want Diplo filming or sharing their sexual interactions without consent. Doe presumably discovered Diplo’s alleged actions when a woman reached out to her last November, claiming she’d received explicit videos of her via Diplo over Snapchat in October 2018. Consequently, Doe reported the case to the New York Police Department and a warrant was issued for Diplo’s arrest.
Jane Doe’s legal representatives respond
“Tragically, this is not the first time the defendant has shamed and violated a woman by disseminating intimate images without her consent,” Doe’s attorney, Helene Weiss, said via Variety. “Diplo’s alleged illicit pattern of behaviour illustrates the harm he’s caused Jane Doe and other young women just like her. Our client deserves justice, and she’s hopeful that this litigation may serve as a catalyst in ending the defendant’s repeated victimization of women once and for all.”
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Margaret E Mabie, Weiss’ colleague and partner at Marsh Law Firm, also called out the “rampant repeated sexual abuse by the rich and famous” from the entertainment industry. Lauding Doe’s bravery, she added, “Our brave client’s story is one of Diplo’s many worst-kept secrets, and the filing this case is her first step at forging a path to civil justice.”
Diplo’s alleged promiscuous history
In 2020, another woman named Shelly Auguste came forth with the allegations that the DJ had not only distributed revenge porn without her consent but also sexually assaulted her.
Counter-attacking her, Diplo slapped his own suit. On Instagram, he dismissed her as a “stalker” whose groundless claims merely sought to smear his name.
Three years later, in August 2023, Auguste reported Diplo to the Los Angeles Police Department, suggesting he had disseminated nude pictures of her.