After a nearly yearlong saga of back-and-forth allegations between Diplo and a woman who’s accused him of, among other things, the distribution of revenge porn and intentionally giving her a sexual transmitted disease, the producer has spoken out on the situation.
In an Instagram post Wednesday (Oct. 6), the artist born Thomas Wesley Pentz tells his side of the story, writing, “It was my goal to never address a stalker…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.”
In the lengthy post, the producer goes on to recount the interactions he had with the woman via text and in person, noting that she “was not a minor when I had conversations or sexual intercourse with her.” He also shares images of extensive messages sent to him by the woman, along with images of racist and degrading messages sent to Jevon King, the mother of Pentz’s third son, who was born in May 2020. He also notes that many of the woman’s own messages to him contradict accusations she has made against him. (Read the complete post below.)
Diplo goes on to say that a private detective hired by his team to investigate the woman found that she has a previous restraining order against her in Florida and that the Florida judge who issued this restraining order noted that the woman exhibited dangerous behavior.
He also notes that while the woman hired attorney Lisa Bloom (the daughter of famed women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred), Bloom later dropped her as a client when Pentz’s legal team made it clear that they would not pay the woman any of the millions of dollars he says she was demanding. (Lisa Bloom’s office did not immediately respond to Billboard’s request for comment.)
“This is so frustrating and embarrassing,” Pentz writes at the end of the post. “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 two 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.”
This post comes on the heels of Tuesday’s news that the Los Angeles city attorney’s office is considering criminal charges against Diplo related to allegations of sexual misconduct allegations made by the woman in the fall of 2020.
