Grammy-winning producer Diplo sued for alleged distribution of revenge porn

Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify

A lawsuit filed Thursday in California accuses Grammy-winning producer Diplo of distributing revenge porn.

Diplo, real name Thomas Wesley Pentz, has produced or collaborated with Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears, Snoop Dogg, Madonna, Shakira, Bad Bunny and Beyoncé, among others.

The complaint was filed by a Jane Doe in California and claims the producer distributed sexual images and videos of her without her consent.

The woman lives in New York and claims to have had an ongoing sexual relationship with Diplo between 2016 and 2023.

“During this time, Plaintiff indicated that she did not want Defendant Diplo to record them engaging in sexual activity without her express consent, nor did she want him to distribute images and/or videos to third parties and never gave her consent to do so,” the lawsuit states.

In November 2023, a third party “represented to Plaintiff that she was in possession of images and videos of Plaintiff and Defendant Diplo having sexual intercourse.”

Court documents allege that “Defendant Diplo shared the images and/or videos with third parties via text messaging and Snapchat.”

Jane Doe states in the lawsuit that she filed a police report to the NYPD about Diplo in November 2023.

Diplo was previously sued for sexual abuse, distribution of revenge porn and other misconduct by a Los Angeles woman, Shelly Auguste, in 2021.

Diplo denied his claims in a 2021 Instagram post, and in 2022 he won a $1.2 million arbitration award that Auguste’s social media posts violated the terms of a mutual restraining order.

The lawsuit filed by Auguste against Diplo is expected to take place in civil court in January.

Diplo has not publicly responded to the latest allegations. Deadline asked for comment.

UPDATE: Bryan Freedman, Diplo’s attorney, released the following statement:

“In every case where there has been an allegation of inappropriate conduct against Wes, the result has been either an immediate dismissal of a false suit coupled with an apology or a court-ordered compensation for Wes of more than 1.2 million dollars, a slow end to an obvious shakedown attempt that led absolutely nowhere.

“Wes has been repeatedly targeted by a group of untrustworthy individuals and their unscrupulous attorneys, who have fabricated lies in pursuit of an unfounded payday. This trial appears to be a repeat of the same story, so we have no reason to believe it will end any differently than the others.”