Law&Crime Sidebar - P. Diddy Tried to Kill Man Outside NYC Club: $5 Million Lawsuit

Episode Date: November 17, 2024

An Atlanta novelist claims in a new lawsuit that Sean “Diddy” Combs shot at him outside a nightclub in New York City in the 1990s. Combs is behind bars on federal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber spoke with DeWitt Gilmore about why he’s filing the lawsuit now and what led to his beef with Combs decades ago.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Download the FREE Upside App at https://upside.app.link/sidebar to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger and Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. I almost got a race that night. You know, with him playing Grand Theft Auto with my life and the lives of these two others that were with me. An Atlanta novelist is the latest person suing Sean Diddy Combs, claiming the music mogul attacked him outside of a club in New York City back in the 90s. We are going to sit down with him, and we're going to get his side of the story as he releases a book about his experience. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Okay, let's talk about writer DeWitt Gilmore, whose pen name is Relentless Aaron, because he says Sean Diddy Combs,

and his entourage targeted him outside of a nightclub in 1996, allegedly shooting at him and his friends. Now he's filed a $5 million lawsuit against Combs and also bad boy entertainment. And Gilmore, by the way, is actually acting as his own attorney for this. This, of course, comes as Combs is locked up in the Metropolitan Detention Center out in New York facing federal charges in the Southern District of New York. He's accused of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy. The focus of the federal case is Combs' apparent obsession with sex and fulfilling his sexual fantasies. And while that's not necessarily legal, it's the coercion, the threats,

the violence that was allegedly used to facilitate his wishes. That's what becomes a problem. Also allegedly transporting sex workers, sometimes across state lines, for the purposes of performing in these elaborate sexual performances known as freak-offs, that's what becomes the crime. That's what becomes problematic. It's not just sex trafficking that Combs is accused of, because as part of this effort to prove the racketeering conspiracy, prosecutors have listed out other crimes that Combs allegedly committed in furtherance of this criminal enterprise, things like arson, kidnapping, bribery, obstruction of justice.

So to that end, we are starting to hear more and more about alleged physical attacks committed by Sean Combs and his associates. and Combs has been accused on multiple occasions of having a short fuse. In fact, in her sexual assault lawsuit, Combs' ex-girlfriend, Cassandra Ventura, recounts multiple times when Combs had threatened to hurt people that he was in feuds with, like fellow record producer Shug Knight. He even allegedly blew up rapper Kid Cuddy's car because the man had shown interest in Cassandra Ventura. And violence has become a big theme in a number of the lawsuits that he's facing right now.

But remember, by the way, it was Cassandra Ventura. who set all of this off after she filed her suit in November of 2023. But with that in mind, now, the latest claims of physical violence come from DeWitt Gilmore, and that's what we want to talk about. So in addition to his multi-million dollar lawsuit, Gilmore is also taking his story public with a new book called The Night Puff Tried to Kill Me. Now, we have been trying to stay up to date on all the new Diddy developments. And for that, I got to call out our great sponsor, Upside, who helps make shows like this possible.

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Now, at this time, Combs had recently started his own record label. It was Bad Boy Records, now Bad Boy Entertainment. He signed multiple hitmakers like Biggie Smalls, also known as Notorious B.I.G., as well as Small's wife, Faith Evans. So Combs is just starting to build up this reputation, this brand as the head of a rap label. He was getting ready to release singles that would go on to be legendary. And then he encounters Gilmore and two of Gilmore's friends outside of this club. Gilmore says he was walking to his car with two friends when according to his complaint, Defendant Combs and his associates pulled up in a gold convertible

with Defending Combs positioned in the passenger seat and his bodyguard driving. Defendant Combs initiated a verbal confrontation with plaintiff taunting him with derogatory language and escalating the situation with threats of violence. His words were intended to provoke and intimidate plaintiff. The encounter rapidly intensified as defendant Combs' bodyguard and additional vehicles carrying armed associates joined to form an entourage surrounding plaintiff's vehicle. Defendant Combs and his associates blocked plaintiff's car, creating a sense of immediate danger. Defending Combs' associates brandished firearms and shots were fired.

Gilmore even says there was a car chase at one point, but he was able to get away. In his lawsuit, he is naming three or citing three claims or causes of action for relief, assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress. His complaint states, defending Combs and his associates through threats and displays of violence willfully placed plaintiff in imminent fear of bodily harm, leading to significant emotional distress and mental anguish. Defending Combs and his associates intentionally engaged in harmful and offensive contact with plaintiff by surrounding him with an armed entourage, firing a weapon in his presence,

and creating a physically dangerous situation, and defendants' actions, including threats, the brandishing of firearms, and a deliberate attempt to intimidate and harm plaintiff were extreme, outrageous, and intended to inflict severe emotional distress. I'm seeking $5 million in compensatory damages for emotional distress, physical harm, lost opportunities, reputational damage. According to the complaint, Gilmore also has a sworn statement about that night in the summer of 1996 from a witness. The plaintiff Gilmore recently reconnected with a key witness.

Lance Calfee after years of no contact. This reconnection brought forth new insight and testimonial evidence surrounding the events of that night underscoring the intensity of the encounter with Sean Combs. Calfe's account serves as recently discovered evidence significant enough to reopen the case beyond the usual statute of limitations due to the unique circumstances of intimidation and safety concerns that delayed earlier action. Mr. Calfi's statement obtained in September 2024 corroborates plaintiff's experiences of the attack and identifies defending Combs primary instigator providing essential new information to his filing. So essentially he's saying because this new information came to light, maybe the statute of limitations doesn't apply.

Now I want to take a look at this sworn statement. Again, it gives you insight into Gilmore's claims. And it comes from this guy named Lance Calfee, who says that he was one of the people with Gilmore that night. And in the filing, he says, I sense the situation escalating rapidly and felt a distinct unease about what might happen next. Gilmore attempted to diffuse the situation encouraging Combs to avoid negativity. However, Combs continued provoking him. When Gilmore responded, challenging Combs to settle it verbally, Combs instead instructed the driver to maneuver the vehicle behind us where several additional cars arrived, blocking our exit and creating an intimidating, threatening scene. As Combs' entourage surrounded us, his associates exited their vehicles. The tension reached

a climax when I heard gunshots. My initial thought was that they were fireworks, but it became clear that firearms were being discharged. Acting instinctively, I shouted gun to alert Gilmore to the seriousness of the situation. Gilmore quickly reacted, starting the Jeep, and we fled through traffic in what felt like a life or death escape. The chase was chaotic, with Gilmore maneuvering through red lights and other vehicles as Combs' entourage pursued us, fully reinforcing my belief that we were in imminent danger. I've reflected on that night countless times over the years. It was not merely a brief conflict or power play. It was a deliberate intense confrontation that appeared personal and life threatening. That night serves as a stark

reminder of the traumatic experience, one that I will never forget. Okay, so with that, I had a chance to sit down with DeWitt Gilmore. And he is, by the way, going to reference something called the CCNY event. So this was back in 1991. It was a celebrity basketball game that was held at the City College gym in Harlem that Combs had sponsored. And it was a tragedy because there was a stampede that broke out. Nine people died. Almost 30 people were injured. He references that in relation to why this feud might have started. So with that in mind, here you go, DeWitt Gilmore. All right. So I'm joined right now by DeWitt Gilmore. First of all, thank you so much for coming on. Very nice to meet you. Thank you so much for taking the time. You know, when I was reading the complaint, the first question

that I had was, did you know Sean Combs at all? I was trying to understand why he might have done this, why he might have targeted you, as you say. What was the relationship? If you can start there. Yes, Andre Hirel introduced us. I am 59 and been in the hip-hop game since the beginnings. Russell Simmons was my first business partner. So when I was introduced to Sean Combs, aka Puff Daddy,

I was at a bar that my friend owned in New York called Bentley's. and Andre and I had been doing business. I contracted him to perform for me on numerous occasions as well as I bought radio time through him. He used to also double, he was a rapper by night and by day he sold radio time. So this is Andre Hiro, we're talking about. Right. The later president of Bad Boy or uptown. I think it was uptown records.

Yeah. So anyway, we're at the bar talking. right. And then Puffy walks up and he says, hey, this is Puffy, my intern. And that's how our relationship began. And what was that relationship like? Well, I'm a concert promoter for many years since I was 18. And we, so that's where we connected initially on that, on those grounds. So we wanted to do some parties together. And so what happened was we planned a basketball game. You've no doubtedly heard about CCNY and the stampede. Well, that was actually initially my idea. And so my basketball game was scheduled for Friday. And what Puffy was

supposed to play on my team, we were going to play against the Kiss cards, which was a radio station basketball team for fundraising, for fundraising, for fundraising, for not. nonprofits. So while I'm setting all that up, while I have flyers out, while he's on my squad, and while we're promoting on the radio on Kiss FM, he goes to Wendy Williams, which is on the same radio station. And he says, hey, I got an idea for a basketball game. And he schedules a basketball game at a gymnasium at CCNY, which is a college basketball stadium. And so basically that was scheduled for the day after. So basically, he took my idea, went ahead, did his own.

He didn't plan it well enough. He oversold the tickets, you know, the whole thing. He had all of the names because he was a performer. He had the relationships. I'm not mad at him for, you know, using unfair advantage. I think at the time I was mad at him for taking my idea and blocking me out. But knowing what happened, I'm actually glad he did. So that's how that happened.

Now, because I was a connector and I was known at the time, Curtis Slee will call me the next morning after the stampede. He was live on the air with Lisa. It was Curtis and Lisa in the morning on ABC Radio. They literally woke me up. Hey, who's this guy, puff daddy? You know how Curtis talks. Who's this guy puffed daddy?

And so I was a thought leader, as I am today. And they asked me questions, and I answered the questions. I wasn't attacking him on the radio. I wasn't coming for him on the radio. I didn't even drop the tea that I'm giving you right now. I didn't say, hey, we had a basketball game schedule for yesterday. I didn't even say that. I just basically said, well, yeah, he's a promoter.

And this is how we make money. We put artists on shows. We do my clubs. And I was giving him the details. And so that's how that was. But what happened thereafter was I started getting calls from my good America and different people, different entities that wanted to have me on their platform. And Richard Bay was the first mover.

He sent to limousine, and I took my security. I went to his show. It was called Nine Broadcast Plaza. And that was our, that was our Mori Povich of the day. You look young. You might have missed that era. Well, no, I mean, who's the father? I remember that, but maybe the shows before.

That's Mori Povic. That's Mori Povic. This is the show before. Yeah, I got it. This was the era before. Yeah. which was Richard Bay and nine broadcast plaza. And so I went on that stage and Jesse,

I was sitting there with William Cuncelor on one side, Doug Eiffresh on the other, and a couple of the families of the victims that had been lost. And so I was I was called to task to answer questions to be the glue in the situation, to explain why this happened and what could have, you know, and I did. And again, didn't attack him.

but I'm sitting in his seat, be clear. I'm sitting in a seat that he would otherwise be sitting in. So I understand the angst, but there was something else that triggered that, that, by the way, that was five or six years before. So he held that on his shoulders for a long time. Oh, I was going to ask you about the time frame between when you say this happened. And we had seen each other on numerous occasions in between. He had tried to come in my parties. I had to turn him away because he brought 10 people.

We were already sold out. He came to another party of mine that, again, a line of people outside. But the promoter's respect is that, you know, you let the promoter in because they let you win their parties. I couldn't let him in. Every time he came, he came with 10 people. I couldn't let you in. So, so then came the night of the event and or this this nonsense, this random act of violence. And coming out of a club, I'm in there doing.

business. I'm in there promoting. And I have a Deferro East T-shirt on. And let's be clear, that was a hot time between him and Shub Knight, East Coast, West Coast. We know the stories. I'm heading downtown to the to the end of the night. It's about midnight at the time. I go into the club. I'm in there for an hour, promoting my magazine, getting shoutouts on the loudspeaker, you know, the whole thing. And we walked out and we headed to my vehicle across issue, me, Lance, and one of my interns. And by the way, just, just if you could explain who Lance is, because my understanding is Lance is now a key witness for you to corroborate what happened.

So who's Lance? Lance has just been security for me for years. On this night, he wasn't carrying. And, you know, he was just sitting side saddle. He was in the passenger seat. I was in the driver's seat. And Rico was in the back. And Sean Combs was in the passenger seat of a sports car convertible.

And his driver, which we believe is wolf, the late wolf, was driving. And he took Sean's instruction, and he pulled up to my car. And so if you can picture it, Lance is on the passenger side, which is the curb and the sidewalk and I'm on the street side. And they pull up there about a foot and a half away. And he basically, he's in my face. What's up? And, and, and, and, you know, now in hindsight, I know that the T-shirt triggered him. I know that our untoward relationship triggered him. But, but be clear, probably years back, me and him are at the Palladium. Biggie and Pocker on stage doing a live version of party and bull s it's it's it's like a big deal and i see him walking in

on the on the floor and i and i passed him i say hey puff let's you know bygones be bygones and so he weighs me off first but then he's like no no no no no no cook and then and it's by the way he's alone and and so we we we kind of hug it out shake hands we squash now when i say squash i'm talking about the stuff from the cc and y and being on richard bay And it's coming to a head this night because he sees this t-shirt. And I really believe that this triggered it because it was broad. It's a DeFro East. It looks like I'm promoting DeFro East, which I was, but wasn't, you know, wasn't getting paid for that.

Anyway, what's up, and I'm like, look, Puff, I don't want nothing to do with your drama, man. Just keep your drama over there. We're doing our thing. It was the end of the night for me, Jesse. I was headed home. a long day just headed home and I lived up in Westchester you know so we have a drive and and he's like no you're a so he's basically inciting and triggering and you know trying to get me to react and so he pulls his they pull a car back to let me out of my parking space and so we pull out

we're we're close to Harrow Square now by the way Harrow Square for those you don't know is where the Macy's Day parade is staged every year for decades. But it's one in the morning. And we pull up to a traffic light and like, Lance is like, you know, he's behind you. And I shrugged. I'm like, I didn't think anything of it. But the light changed. I turn.

Now we're heading towards Harold Square, heading uptown direction. And his car pulls in front of mine. and pulls and forces me to an island. And they have planters now there. There weren't planters then. It was just like a little embankment island, you know, a little cement divider in the road. Jump out of the truck.

Lance jumps out of the truck. What the hell is going on? But the moment we jump out of the truck, we see he's not alone. It's not just him in a sports car and wolf. and it's like these hooligans that are in four other cars that are with him so they're like they got us ambush surrounded and puff is coming towards me wolf is right behind him i hear pop lance at the same time is yelling gun gun and immediately i jump back into my truck

yeah how all of that happened how so close and how quickly it happened, it just fell on me, thank God, to immediately, like, you know, fight or flee, right? Right. Right. So I jump in the truck, and now I'm in a stick shift. So it was, it was, it was, for whatever reason, I was able to jump over the island. Go ahead. I'm sorry. No, no, my question to you is this is a harrowing situation. And I think a lot of us are learning about it for the first time in this complaint. Why come out now in 2024 with this? Did you? had you reported this to police, had you said something about this in the past, why come out now with this?

So, first of all, I almost got a race that night. Yeah. You know, with him playing Grand Theft Auto with my life and the lives of these two others that would turn into a car chase, you know, and that was even probably more death-defying then the bullets, you know, just, just escaping him and then eventually running towards traffic and, and escaping, getting hit by 18 wheeling. So the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, I'm, the, I'm, I'm, I'm, I lived in Neuroschelle at the time, and Misa and Puffy's kids also lived in New Rochelle, and we actually lived on the same street on North Avenue.

Not that she knew that, but I definitely knew that. And a switch had been flipped in my mind that there was going to be street justice. I'm so glad it didn't happen that way, but a switch in my mind was street. justice, not police. And I'm sorry that that's not everybody's mentality and state of mind, but for me, because it was one in the morning and, you know, you don't have cameras around. It's not like the world we're in today. There's no receipts. So it could have gone either way. So you're asking me why now, and I'm getting to that, right? I was, I was at the same time I'm doing the nighttime gig, I'm doing a daytime hustle. And the daytime hustle caught up with me.

I was, this guy had introduced me to, well, he had actually brought checks into my business and deposited them into my bank account. And I ended up going away for seven years. And while I was away, I had to come to terms with changing my life and my lifestyle. and I had to come to terms with what had happened with Puffy. And I had to come to terms with the way I was living. And I had to change my life. And so that's where I wrote 30 novels. And one of the books was also derelict, which I sold a 50 cent in G-unit books.

I'm one of the original G-unit authors. And that was actually a fictional version of what I'm telling you right now. But it's also just part one of it. And so I was getting these things off of my chest off of my shoulders. by writing them, if that makes sense. I'm trying to make sense of my life. And so when I came home in 2003, of course, he was popular. The J-Lo thing had gone down.

You know, he was making more money. But also, there was unfinished business. Don't get me wrong. But there also been some deaths, right, with Biggie and Pock. And so a lot, I was in kumbayam mode anyway when I came home. I wasn't like, okay, let's go back to the, you know. Right. So just to be clear, would you say, though, it's everything that's happened with Sean Combs in the past year,

in a way made it easier for you to come forward and tell what happened to you? Absolutely. I feel in allegiance with all of the people that he's harmed and he's hurt. I feel that I, like I said, I could have been arrested. that night, Jesse, and I feel like I'm, you know, this being able to tell my story, I dropped this book, The Memoir, The Nightpuff Tried to Kill Me. I dropped it in December. So all of these things that recently happened just basically keep piling on, and they probably

will pile on more. But just like Shine said in his Hulu doc and with ABC, like, this is who he is. He is a bad boy. He is a menace and a predator and a menace to society. And it serves me. I have to stand up because I'm standing up for the people Jesse that can't speak. There's people he flew in to have his fun with. There's people that are afraid to speak. After I dropped the book, some people came to me and said, hey, he barricaded me in the office and tried to, you know, get in my pants. And these are people that didn't want to speak. That, you know, they don't want to be banished from the industry. There's a lot of hush, hush going on out there because of the power and influence. that he was afforded all these years. So for sure, like I'm speaking up because I can. I'm not held down by any corporation.

Nobody's gonna stop my checks. You know, I can speak. So I'm unfiltered at this point with the unbridled truth. This is just what the truth is. And look, DeWitt, I actually would love to continue this conversation because I wish we had a little bit more time. So can you, you have an open forum here. As all the developments happen with Sean Combs,

as your case develops, please, you have an open forum come back on here and we can talk more about it but look i appreciate you taking the time i know this must be a busy time for you but thank you so much uh for sharing what is a really harrowing experience i know it must not be easy for you to talk about it hold these people accountable jesse not just the people you know that were a side of him but also the people that have amplified him and that are hush hush at this moment they're hush it's an interesting uh that's an interesting moment too to see what how big this and expansive this criminal case will be in all the uh lawsuits that he's facing too, but you can't amplify somebody on one end and then go hush, hush after you see

the CNN beat down. You just can't. That changed everything. That video changed everything. That validated a lot for people. Well, thank you so much. Thank you, DeWitt. Really appreciate it. So nice, so nice meeting you. Thank you. So there you have it, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us here on Sidebar. And as always, please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. Speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this Law and Crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.