A judge has ruled that the New York woman who accused Diplo of revenge porn must reveal her name to proceed with the lawsuit.
US District Court Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani said the woman did not meet the requirements to proceed anonymously with a Jane Doe pseudonym, either in terms of privacy concerns or potential danger.
“Plaintiff has not made a sufficient factual showing as to the severity and reasonableness of threatened harm and her vulnerability to justify the need for anonymity,” the judge said in this week’s ruling (via Rolling Stone).
It continued: “The court appreciates that plaintiff’s allegations in her complaint are ‘sensitive and [of a] highly personal nature,’ [and] that she may face some public scrutiny if she were to proceed in her own name because Pentz is a public figure. However, absent a demonstrated need for anonymity, there is a prevailing public interest in open judicial proceedings.”
NME has reached out to Diplo’s representatives for comment.
The DJ was sued by Jane Doe last June, with his accuser claiming he sent sexually explicit videos and photos of her to another woman. She went on to allege she was 21 when she met Diplo (real name Thomas Wesley Pentz), who had invited her to his Manhattan hotel room in June 2016 after beginning their relationship by sending sexual images two months earlier.
Doe claimed that during their casual seven-year relationship, the ‘Heartless’ artist would occasionally and consensually record their sexual encounters. However, the woman also claimed she made it clear that all photos and footage were to remain private.
In November 2023, the lawsuit claimed that Doe received a message from a third party saying they were in possession of sexual videos and images of Doe, which they alleged had been sent via Snapchat in October 2018.
“Upon information and belief,” the lawsuit added, “defendant Diplo has continued to disclose and/or distribute [Doe’s] intimate images and/or videos from 2018 through present.”
Diplo later took to his official Instagram account to address the allegations made against him, sharing a carousel post with a caption that read: “Don’t believe what you read in the news.
“I don’t own a 100 million dollar mansion, I didn’t pay 450k euros to rave in Ibiza and I didn’t send dirty snapchats in 2017.. let’s talk about how lucky I am to party with you guys and how good the raves are here in Europe .. (Athens Croatia Prague done .. París up next)”.
This is not the first time Diplo has been accused of distributing revenge porn. In 2020, an accuser claimed the DJ had groomed her and circulated footage of their sexual encounters without her consent.
She was subsequently granted a restraining order against him after an explicit photo of her made its way onto Twitter, and he was ordered to delete any remaining photos of her. Diplo requested his own restraining order against his accuser claiming she tried to “stalk and harass” him.
Diplo strongly denied the accusations in 2021 and later won $1.2million against the accuser in fees, damages, costs and expenses.
A separate lawsuit was also filed by another woman in July 2021 accusing Diplo of sexual assault, which was then eventually dropped. Diplo denied all allegations.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.