Florida man revealed as John Doe in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex assault lawsuit
Published in News & Features
A music producer living in Pinellas County, Florida, revealed this week that he is the “John Doe” in a civil complaint filed in California’s Los Angeles County accusing music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual assault.
Largo resident Jonathan Hay was contracted in 2020 to work on a covers album reworking music by the Notorious B.I.G. as instrumental house and techno tracks. He claims that unreleased project, “Ready to Dance,” put him in contact with Combs in Los Angeles on two occasions.
The first time, Hay says, was at a shoot in February 2020 where Hay was photographed wearing a jersey once owned by the Notorious B.I.G.
While they were alone in a room with racks of B.I.G.’s clothes, Hay claims, Combs watched pornography on his phone and masturbated under a different shirt once owned by the late rapper before throwing it at him.
“He said, ‘Rest in peace Big,’ ” Hay told the Tampa Bay Times, “and he kind of laughed and walked out.”
Hay told others working on the project about the encounter in January of 2021, he said, which threatened to derail production of the album.
That March, Hay said, he was invited to a home in Los Angeles for what he thought was an interview for “Ready to Dance.”
Instead, the complaint describes how Hay arrived at the home and was “grabbed by two guys that roughed him up and put something over his head.” He says an enraged Combs then came into the room and sexually assaulted him.
The lawsuit also names as defendants two additional men, managers of Think Big, a business entity formed by the estate of the Notorious B.I.G. and which spawned the “Ready to Dance” project.
A lawyer for the Notorious B.I.G.’s son, one of those named in the lawsuit, called the allegations “absurd and baseless.” He said the “frivolous” case would soon be dismissed with Hay being ordered to reimburse his client’s legal costs.
Combs’ attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.
Combs, who’d faced federal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, was ultimately convicted in July of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
In addition to the lawsuit, Hay told the Times he wants Combs to face state criminal charges in California for the alleged sexual assault.
Hay reported the incident to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in September. Later that month, Largo police assisted the Los Angeles sheriff with the investigation by interviewing Hay in Florida.
A sheriff’s spokesperson referred the Tampa Bay Times to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office for information on the case. The district attorney’s office did not respond to inquiries.
Combs has faced more than 30 lawsuits in recent years brought by accusers who said the mogul drugged or sexually assaulted them.
Hay’s civil lawyer told him that he shouldn’t be surprised if he was followed. “They can do that now,” she told him via email.
Hay’s address at the time he filed the lawsuit was in Port Richey. His daughter still lives in the same townhome there.
In October, a concerned neighbor posted a photo of a car parked outside the home on a Facebook neighborhood group, pointing out that the driver was taking photos. Someone called Port Richey Police and reported the suspicious vehicle.
The driver told police he was a private investigator, working a job.
_____
©2025 Tampa Bay Times. Visit at tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.







Comments