DeVante Swing, a member of Jodeci, has been temporarily withdrawn from a lawsuit initiated last year against him and Diddy.
In the lawsuit, Swing faced allegations of “assisting” Diddy in the purported rape of a 16-year-old girl in 1990.
On Wednesday (January 15), the purported victim, Liza Gardner, submitted a notice of voluntary dismissal concerning Swing, indicating that all allegations against him are now dropped.
The notice was submitted without prejudice, indicating the possibility to re-file the charges in the future.
Diddy and vocalist Aaron Hall were likewise mentioned in the lawsuit for purportedly sexually assaulting Gardner in 1990.
Garnder stated then that Swing, who was in his early 20s at that moment, was there during the event.
The revised complaint states: “At the time, Ms. Gardner was unaware that Defendant Swing was present during this attack and took no actions to stop this abuse from happening.”
A witness had previously asserted in a sworn declaration that Swing was “propped against the wall or some furniture, observing whatever Puffy was doing to Liza.”
Swing purportedly acted as Gardner’s “co-guardian at the time”, as he extended an invitation to her for the trip to New York where the claimed assault occurred.
The lawsuit asserted that Swing “was obligated to safeguard [Gardner] since her parents relied on him for her safety. He smuggled and/or forced the child to move across state lines from North Carolina to New York and New Jersey with the concealed plan of supplying the child with alcohol and marijuana and exploiting the child for his A&R Combs [Diddy].
Gardner was among the first to allege that Diddy committed rape after the mogul’s former girlfriend Cassie lodged her first lawsuit claiming he engaged in sex trafficking and sexual assault.
In her initial lawsuit, Gardner alleged that Diddy and Hall alternated in raping her and a friend after encountering them at the MCA Records office in New York.
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“When Combs attacked Ms. Gardner, she remembers experiencing the effects of the alcohol.” The complaint states, “She remembers Combs climbing on top of her, lifting her skirt, moving her underwear aside, and aggressively penetrating her.”
Gardner further alleged that Puffy was physically aggressive towards her in the days following the supposed assault.
At that time, Diddy refuted all accusations leveled against him, stating via his representatives: “These are invented allegations wrongfully claiming misconduct from over 30 years ago and submitted at the last moment. “This is merely an attempt to make money.”
