Photo Credit: MTheory LLC / CC by 3.0
Diplo has reportedly been awarded a $1.2 million judgement as part of a high-stakes legal battle with a former partner who accused him of distributing “revenge porn.”
Diplo (full name Thomas Wesley Pentz) fired off multiple tweets about the more than million-dollar verdict, and the individual on the other side of the courtroom confrontation (one Shelly Auguste) uploaded a rambling video response to the development to Instagram.
The DJ previously faced a restraining order for allegedly “distributing revenge porn” featuring Auguste, and Diplo in December of 2020 sought a restraining order against her for the same alleged crime as well as harassment. Then, Diplo in April of 2021 sued Auguste for stalking and more, whereas Auguste in June of the same year levied a battery, assault, and defamation complaint.
Today’s decision resulted from an alleged violation of their ultimately joint restraining order, with the involved parties (and/or their counsel) having consented to arbitration.
In brief, the convoluted dispute initiated way back in 2014, according to Auguste, who maintains that she and Diplo began exchanging messages when she was a minor. These purported messages culminated with the two having “a night of consensual sex” years later, when the alleged victim was no longer a minor, Diplo said in a verbose explanation of the situation.
Diplo “stopped contact with her when I realized she had started to become obsessed with me,” per his account of the sordid episode, which likewise includes a series of text messages that the former partner ostensibly sent him. Nevertheless, the “Wish” artist rather inexplicably added the accuser and “a group of friends that wanted to hook up” to a guest list at one of his Las Vegas shows after the fact, according to his own description.
“We all ended up having sex that night and as one of the girls left,” wrote Diplo, “she said (about SA) ‘You need to stop talking to this girl she’s crazy and has it out for you.’” Diplo also communicated that Auguste had repeatedly contacted his family members from various social media handles, “sending them screenshots of my text messages and unsolicited nude pictures and videos of me.”
An arbitrator decided upon the aforementioned $1.2 million judgement, though the sum must reportedly be approved by a court. As an aside, Diplo also signaled that the short-lived sexual assault lawsuit filed against him in 2021, allegedly from Auguste’s friend, was quickly dropped because he still possessed videos of their encounter (in Las Vegas, as noted) on his phone. The clips allegedly contradicted the action’s claims and prompted the plaintiff to recant the case and issue an apologetic statement.
Meanwhile, as Diplo and his attorney celebrated the victory, Auguste took to social media to vent about the matter and arbitration’s role in the legal system.
“I am extremely confident that when we do get to appear at trial, all of his statements will be accurately refuted,” she said, also decrying the “low blows” she’s allegedly sustained from Diplo’s attorney. “When he says that I just want my 15 minutes of fame, trust me when I say that it would not be through this.
“I do want to make a statement about the articles that came out today, and then I don’t want to talk about this shit anymore. Until it’s time for trial, like literally, when [the] trial comes, I’m very, very, very confident that [I’ll win],” she said.