Liza Gardner‘s lawsuit alleging gang rape involving Sean “Diddy” Combs and singer Aaron Hall has been expanded to include additional charges and named DeVanté Swing as a co-defendant.
Gardner, who was 16 years old at the time of the alleged gang rape, filed the original lawsuit in November 2023. She accused Diddy and Hall of raping her while she was intoxicated and incapacitated at Hall’s New Jersey residence in 1990.
According Rolling Stone, Gardner has now amended the lawsuit to include DeVanté Swing, a member of the R&B group Jodeci, as a co-defendant. She alleges that Swing was present during the assaults and aided and abetted Diddy and Hall.
This is not the first time DeVanté Swing has been accused of aiding and abetting Sean “Diddy” Combs in a sexual assault. In Joi Dickerson-Neal’s lawsuit, she alleged that Swing informed her that Diddy had circulated revenge porn of the alleged rape, stating that “everybody” had seen the tape. According to Dickerson-Neal, Swing refused to come forward as a witness when she filed a police report, leading to the dismissal of her claims and allowing Diddy to allegedly continue a 30-year crime spree.
According to the amended complaint, Swing was Gardner’s “co-guardian” at the time and invited her on a trip to New York. The lawsuit claims he coerced Gardner into traveling across state lines and provided her with drugs before forcing her to have sex with Diddy.
Gardner also alleges that after the assaults, Diddy came to her residence and choked her until she passed out. Intriguingly, Gene Deal, Combs’ former bodyguard, recently suggested that if Diddy killed Kim Porter, his former romantic partner, it’s likely he would have smothered her.
A fellow minor, Mona Case, who accompanied Gardner that night, corroborated Gardner’s allegations in a sworn statement. Case stated that she witnessed Swing “leaning against the wall or furniture or something, watching whatever Puffy was doing to Liza.” Case also claimed that she began to protest after seeing Swing and Combs in the same room as Gardner and that Swing grabbed her and took her upstairs when she threatened to call the police.
Gardner’s lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, has filed a separate lawsuit against Combs on behalf of music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who alleges that Combs sexually assaulted and harassed him. Another client, April Lampros, a former Arista Records intern, alleges that Combs sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions.
In September 2024, Combs was charged with federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently in jail. A trial date for his federal case has been set for May 5, 2025.
Hall has not appeared in the lawsuit, either in New York or New Jersey. Swing has not yet responded to the allegations.
The ever-increasing lawsuits against Sean “Diddy” Combs continue to raised questions about the pervasive rape culture in the entertainment industry.
Photos via Youtube and Deposit Photos.