Diddy Bodyguard Claims He's Being "Crucified" With New Lawsuit

Diddy and his former bodyguard, Joseph “Big Joe” Sherman, were sued earlier this week over an alleged sexual assault.

A woman named Thalia Graves claims the duo raped her at New York’s Bad Boy studios in 2001, when she was just 25 years old. She also alleged they drugged her, filmed the encounter and tried to sell the footage as pornography. But according to Sherman, who spoke to the Daily Mail, Graves’ accusations hold no merit.

“I know for a fact that this is a money grab,” Sherman confidently stated. “I’ve never seen this lady. Don’t have any tape of her like she says I have. I’ve never seen her. I never did anything with her. I don’t know, none of this. I don’t even know this lady.”

Sherman also downplayed his relationship with his former boss despite his close affiliation to Diddy at one time.

“I’m being crucified and tortured for something I had nothing to do with me and me and [Diddy] was not even friends,” he said. “We had no relationship whatsoever. I have not been around Diddy for 24 years.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joe Sherman (@rhymesndimes.brand)

Diddy was arrested on September 16 and charge with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution in New York. He pleaded not guilty and remains behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Sherman believes anyone remotely connected to Diddy is under heavy scrutiny, himself included. He volunteered to take a lie detector to prove his innocence.

“I’ve never seen this person before in my life,” he added. “I can swear on it, but my word means nothing. The problem with this right now is, no matter what people like me say, Diddy is in such turmoil and everybody who was ever around him is being blamed for anything he did. Anyone who was around him is automatically guilty.

“So, I understand that no matter what I say out my mouth, the public and people in the media is going to say I’m guilty and I’m a monster and I did this. But as long as I know in my heart and eyes that I had nothing to do with this, I’m fine. I can take a lie detector test any day of the week with any office of the law.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joe Sherman (@rhymesndimes.brand)

Sherman founded the pornographic magazine Rhymes N Dimes, which Graves mentions in the complaint: “On information and belief, he has often distributed videos of his and/or his friends’ sexual assaults through his pornography company.”

The complaint alleges Sherman “forcefully slammed Graves onto a table, slapped her and repeatedly thrust his penis into her mouth.” Sherman denied the allegation and instead, called himself the victim of a “shakedown.” He thinks he’s “being used as a pawn” because of his skin tone.

Sherman further addressed the situation in an Instagram post of his own on Wednesday (September 25). He wrote in the caption: “Some of you may not understand there’s two sides to every story. It sad that the world is so one-sided right now ,my publicist and lawyers are not allowing me to put up my side. They said they want to hold my evidence and everything for bigger days so I’m hoping you’ll can be patient.”

Sherman included a press release that asserted he was not employed by Diddy at the time of the alleged incident. Sherman’s attorney, Antoinette Williams, said, “We stand by Mr. Sherman’s innocence and are taking swift legal action to address this fraudulent claim. This false accusation is clearly an attempt to exploit the current situation involving [Diddy]. We are pursuing a defamation lawsuit against all parties involved in these allegations and will ensure that Mr. Sherman’s rights are fully protected under the law.”