Why a popular Dallas pastor's name appears in lawsuit against Diddy
DALLAS — World-renowned Dallas pastor T.D. Jakes is named in a federal lawsuit against musician Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Jakes is a bishop at his church, The Potter's House, a non-denominational American megachurch.
Filed by a producer who worked with Combs, the suit alleges how the singer planned to leverage his relationship with the bishop to soften the impact on his public image of Cassie Ventura's lawsuit.
Ventura is a former girlfriend of Combs who filed her own lawsuit in November alleging abuse, violence and sex trafficking.
Combs' lawyer is criticizing the raids at two of the hip-hop mogul's homes in a federal sex trafficking investigation, calling them a "gross misuse of military-level force," and an "unprecedented ambush."
Combs has faced multiple sexual assault allegations recently. Two women accused him of sexual abuse in November 2023 just one week after he settled with Ventura. The women's lawsuits were filed on the eve of the expiration of the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law giving victims of sexual abuse a one-year window to file civil action regardless of the statute of limitations. In December 2023, another woman accused Combs and two other men of gang raping her in 2003 when she was 17 years old, according to civil court documents filed in United States District Court Southern District of New York.
CBS News Texas reached out to Jake's church for comment. We haven't heard back.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to clarify that while Bishop Jakes' name appears in the lawsuit, he is not a named party.