Diplo accused of distributing 'revenge porn' by LA woman, hit with restraining order for trying to silence her
A woman from Los Angeles has filed for a restraining order against DJ Diplo claiming he distributed revenge porn "designed to humiliate her and scare other women out of coming forward". The news about the woman filing for a restraining order was first reported by the Daily Beast which quoted a Twitter thread accusing Diplo of "grooming" and filming her engaging in sexual activity without her permission. The thread, which starts with the tweet saying, "Diplo hired a Private investigator to contact me after an argument/fight that we had with each other in an attempt to scare me into not speaking out on the disgusting details I know about him," can be read in full below.
Diplo hired a Private investigator to contact me after an argument/fight that we had with each other in attempt to scare me into not speaking out on the disgusting details I know about him
— Shelly (@ThatsSoShellyy) October 26, 2020
According to the Twitter thread, the woman, who calls herself Shelly on her profile, said a user shared a nude photo of her on the micro-blogging site after she posted about the restraining order. She also claimed that the unnamed user was acting on behalf of Diplo, a point reiterated by her attorney Lisa Bloom, who said she found her client's claim 'credible'.
In Shelly's Twitter thread, which was posted on October 26, she alleged that Diplo took explicit footage of her without her consent saying, "I SPECIFICALLY asked him not to and his reply was 'f**k it. I'm recording this.'" She further explained that Diplo wanted to "scare" her so she wouldn't share the "disgusting details" she knew about him. She wrote, "The private investigator stated to me that he knew my address, he knew my parents' address, he knew my place of work, as well as my parents' place to work". She also tweeted, "Take that as you may but most people will take that as a threat." In another tweet, she wrote, "I never had the will or intention to expose Diplo being that I did not want all the years I invested into speaking & hanging out with him to go in vain...or end nasty but I slowly started to realize he is a huge manipulating liar/gaslighter who PREYS young women of ALL races (to be honest) but primarily young naive women of color."
Bloom, attorney for the alleged victim, said she has reason to believe that Diplo released the intimate photo of her in retaliation for her thread. Talking to the Daily Beast, Bloom said, "The only person that had that picture other than her was [Diplo]," and that, according to her, the photo came from a "front account and a fake account" operated by Diplo or someone acting under his direction. Bloom added, "I'm very proud to represent [Shelly]. As with all clients, we put her through an elaborate vetting process which she cleared. I find her to be very credible and to have corroborating evidence in support of her claims. Bloom then said, "We are happy to speak for free and confidentially to any girls or women who also may have something against Diplo. We have spoken to a number of them so far and we're continuing our investigation." Bloom has represented many women against powerful men. She's sued Bill Cosby's estate, helped remove Bill O'Reilly from Fox News and won cases for celebrities like Mischa Barton. But her latest and most famous case was when she became one of disgraced Hollywood director Harvey Weinstein's legal advisors, something which she received a lot of backlash for.
A hearing in Diplo's case has been scheduled for December 7, 2020.
Diplo recently courted controversy over his relationship with 19-year-old TikTok star Quenlin Blackwell who revealed that she was living with the DJ who is 23 years older than her. She later defended herself by saying that Diplo was more of a father figure to her than a romantic pursuit after he insisted that they are only friends.
Diplo's response
According to Rolling Stone Australia, Bryan Freedman, an attorney representing Diplo, has denied the allegations saying, "To be clear, in no way has my client violated any law. In fact, he has repeatedly made it clear that he wants nothing to do with this person."