Diplo speaks out against sexual misconduct allegations
Diplo has issued a lengthy statement to deny allegations of sexual misconduct.
It was reported on Wednesday that the DJ, real name Thomas Wesley Pentz, may face criminal charges in relation to allegations made by a 25-year-old woman, who accused him of raping her, recording sexually explicit videos of her without her permission, and knowingly infecting her with chlamydia.
Diplo's lawyer Bryan Freedman denied the claims to the New York Post's Page Six, calling them "yet more lies from the same disturbed individual who has been stalking and menacing Wes, his family and his friends for years," and the music star elaborated on this further in a lengthy Instagram post which detailed his alleged history with his accuser, whom he referred to as "SA".
"She was an obsessed fan of mine, and after I relinquished all contact with her, it appears that her only purpose in life has been to disrupt my work, my business, harass me and my close friends and attack me and threaten my family. To be clear, SA was not a minor when I had conversations or sexual intercourse with her," he wrote. .
After their "night of consensual sex", the 42-year-old went on to state that they exchanged flirty texts and pictures for a few months before he "stopped contact with her when I realized she had started to become obsessed with me, it began a nightmare of almost three years of her harassing and threatening me my family and my friends."
He claimed SA had fake accounts and different numbers to contact him "day and night", turned up at his house when he wasn't home and sent threatening messages to the mothers of his children.
The EDM star admitted to having sex with SA once more, with her friends in Las Vegas. He then accused SA of encouraging one of those friends to file a lawsuit against him earlier this year in which she claimed he forced her into performing oral sex. He allegedly discovered videos proving otherwise and the case was dropped less than 10 days later.
Diplo also shared texts and tweets which appear to show SA denying that he raped her or gave her the sexually transmitted disease.
"Culture is quick to follow unsubstantiated claims," he concluded the post. "I'm a public figure and this comes with the territory and I understand that. I want to add also these previous claims have been dropped or abandoned and those facts go unreported. This is so frustrating and embarrassing. I am not this person and I won't be extorted by anyone no matter how stinging the press can be.
"Even over the past 2 years I've never been bothered by these rumors if anything it has made me stronger and smarter, all of my friends and partners have never questioned me and that was what has been important to me. The people in my life know me for who I really am. I will continue to do everything I can to end this in the most respectful way but I will not give in to lies and harassment."
