Entertainment
Grammy-Winning Producer Diplo Sued Over Alleged Distribution Of Revenge Porn – Update
Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
A lawsuit filed Thursday in California accuses Grammy-winning producer Diplo of distributing revenge porn.
Diplo, real name Thomas Wesley Pentz, has produced or collaborated with Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears, Snoop Dogg, Madonna, Shakira, Bad Bunny and Beyoncé, among others.
The suit was filed by a Jane Doe in California and claims that the producer distributed sexual images and videos of her without her consent.
The woman lives in New York and claims she had an ongoing sexual relationship with Diplo between 2016 and 2023.
“During that time, Plaintiff made it known that she did not want Defendant Diplo recording them engaging in sexual activities without her explicit consent, nor did she want him to distribute images and/or videos to third parties and never gave him consent to do so,” the suit states.
In November 2023, a third party “told Plaintiff that she was in possession of images and videos of Plaintiff and Defendant Diplo having sex.”
The court documents claim “Defendant Diplo shared the images and/or videos with the third parties via text messaging and Snapchat.”
Jane Doe says in the lawsuit that she submitted a police report to the NYPD about Diplo in November 2023.
Diplo was previously sued for sexual abuse, distributing revenge porn and other misconduct by a Los Angeles woman, Shelly Auguste, in 2021.
Diplo denied her claims in a 2021 Instagram post, and in 2022, he won a $1.2-million arbitration ruling that Auguste’s social media posts violated the terms of a mutual restraining order.
Auguste’s suit against Diplo is set for a civil trial in January.
Diplo has not publicly responded to the latest allegations. Deadline has reached out for comment.
UPDATE: Bryan Freedman, Diplo’s attorney, has issued the following statement:
“In every case where there has been an allegation of improper conduct made against Wes, the result has been either an immediate dismissal of a bogus lawsuit coupled with an apology, a court-ordered award for Wes in excess of $1.2 million, or the slow demise of an obvious shakedown attempt that has gone absolutely nowhere.
“Time and again, Wes has been targeted by a group of untrustworthy individuals and their unscrupulous lawyers, cobbling together falsehoods in search of a meritless payday. This suit seems to be just more of the same, which is why we have no reason to believe that this will end any differently than all the others.”