Jodeci member DeVante Swing has been removed — for now — from a lawsuit filed last year against both him and Diddy.
In the suit, Swing was accused of “aiding” Diddy in the alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl back in 1990.
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On Wednesday (January 15), the alleged victim, Liza Gardner, filed a notice of voluntary dismissal regarding Swing, meaning that all charges against him are now dismissed.
The notice was filed without prejudice, which means there is the option to re-file the charges at a later date.
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Diddy and singer Aaron Hall were also named in the suit for allegedly sexually assaulting Gardner in 1990.
Garnder claimed at the time that Swing, who was in his early 20s at the time, was present during the incident.
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The amended lawsuit says: “Unbeknownst to Ms. Gardner at the time, Defendant Swing was in the room when this assault took place and did not take any steps to prevent this abuse from occurring.”
It was previously claimed in a sworn statement from a witness that Swing was “leaning against the wall or furniture or something, watching whatever Puffy was doing to Liza.”
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Swing allegedly served as Gardner’s “co-guardian at the time” as he invited her on the trip to New York where the alleged rape took place.
The lawsuit claimed Swing “had a duty to protect [Gardner] as her parents entrusted him with her safety. He trafficked and or coerced the child [to] travel across state lines from North Carolina to New York and New Jersey with the hidden intention of providing the child with alcohol, and marijuana and prostituting the child to his A&R Combs [Diddy].”
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Gardner was one of the first people to accuse Diddy of rape after the mogul’s ex-girlfriend Cassie filed her initial lawsuit accusing him of sex trafficking and sexual assault.
Gardner claimed in her original suit that Diddy and Hall took turns raping her and a friend after meeting them at MCA Records’ offices in New York.
“At the time Combs assaulted Ms. Gardner, she recalls feeling the side effects of the alcohol. She recalls Combs mounting her, and forcing up her skirt, pulling her underwear to the side and forcefully penetrating her,” the complaint reads.
Gardner also accused Puffy of being physically violent towards her in the days after the alleged assault.
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At the time, Diddy denied all allegations against him, saying through his representatives: “These are fabricated claims falsely alleging misconduct from over 30 years ago and filed at the last minute. This is nothing but a money grab.”
