Sean Combs’ ex-bodyguard says he has never met a woman who filed a sexual assault lawsuit against him and his former boss. Thalia Graves appeared at a press conference last week with her attorney Gloria Allred.
Graves said she was 25 in 2001 when Combs and his then-bodyguard, Joseph “Big Joe” Sherman, drugged and bound her before assaulting her at Bad Boy Records in NYC.
Sherman said he wasn’t working for Combs or Bad Boy Records in 2001 when Graves claimed the assault took place.
“I’m not questioning her integrity,” Sherman told News 4 New York. “I’m questioning her claims against me. I wasn’t head of security. You’ve got the wrong man,” he added.
“Her and whoever that she’s in cahoots with was orchestrating a money grab. She wanted me to be a part of her money grab — it says it right in her texts. She wanted to get Diddy,” Sherman said.
Sherman showed News 4 I-Team reporter Sarah Wallace DM messages that Graves sent to him on Instagram last November.
In one message, Graves asked Sherman if he was a security guard for [Combs]. “She confused me because she kept saying, “Are you Big Joe?”
Sherman said her inquiries proved she didn’t know who he was.
In another message, Graves accused Sherman of showing videos of her to people in a studio.
“Did you work for Bad Boy?” Graves asked Sherman. “Did you show a video to people in the studio of Conrads? That’s why I asked you to call so I can make sure it’s the right person.”
She went on to say, “If you will be my witness against Diddy then my attorneys will leave you out of any proceedings…”
“It’s a money grab,” said Sherman. “She knows that what she did to me destroyed my family, destroyed my livelihood. I can’t get a job.”
“I’m nothing but a scapegoat for this BS. Because I wouldn’t get Puffy and lie on Sean Combs,” said Sherman.
News 4 New York reached out to Allred and asked about Sherman’s denials, Allred responded in an email: “The complaint speaks for itself. Our client looks forward to her day in court.”
Sherman said that he and his attorney plan to file a countersuit in the near future. He said the lawsuit will likely include defamation.
Watch the news report below.
"It's a lie on me!"
Diddy's ex-bodyguard, Joseph Sherman (Big Joe), pleads for his innocence in an emotional interview and calls Thalia Graves' lawsuit a money grab.
(? @NBCNewYork ) pic.twitter.com/YeOJJZQwuk
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) October 4, 2024
