Diplo Denies Sexual Misconduct Allegations, Says Stalker is Extorting Him
Diplo has posted a lengthy message to Instagram denying sexual misconduct allegations against him and accused a stalker of extortion.
Per Stereogum, Diplo, born Thomas Wesley Pentz, was accused by an unnamed 25-year-old woman last fall for recording sexually explicit videos of her without her permission, distributing at least one without her consent, and knowingly infecting her with chlamydia.
Diplo, 42, is now accusing the woman, whom he refers to as “SA,” of being a “stalker” who scammed her way into my life and “tried to extort me for millions and then sued me when she didn’t get what she wanted.” This follows Buzzfeed News‘ recent report that Diplo could potentially face criminal charges for sexual misconduct stemming from a police report filed in October 2020.
“I will keep this story easy to read because I know the Internet has a short attention span and it was my goal to never address a stalker,” Diplo began yesterday evening (October 6). Read the first part of Diplo’s statement below, where he admits to having sexual relations with “SA” but accuses her of becoming obsessed and stalking him.
“I will refer to her as ‘SA’ (and you can find anything easily online). 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. To be clear, SA was not a minor when I had conversations or sexual intercourse with her. Her own text messages admit this. More on this below.”
He went on: “I had a night of consensual sex with her. Basically, SA reached out to me and I declined a few times but at one time decided to meet her. After that experience, we had exchanged texts for a few months, there was small talk, sexual flirting, she would send me pics and videos.. Eventually it got too much to handle and I stopped contact with her when I realized she had started to become obsessed with me. It began as a nightmare of almost three years of her harassing and threatening me and my family and friends.”
Diplo then suggested she was an escort of some kind, “SA would offer her friends and other people to have sexual experiences with, and that’s when I began to get suspicious that she was engaging in criminal activity, and was possibly a call girl.”
The DJ then shared a screen recording of texts containing a series of messages between him and the alleged stalker, most of which was her texting him. From there, Diplo describes how he “blocked a few accounts” and “thought she was out of my life” before “SA” allegedly found him again on Snapchat. “I didn’t remember who she was because, I’ll be honest, I meet a lot of girls in my work, which I’ve never denied,” he wrote, continuing to relate how he, “SA,” and a group of friends “all ended up having sex” after a show in Las Vegas.
Diplo wraps up: “When I was expecting my third son, it really threw her over the edge. She became obsessed with my son’s mother… calling and berating her and sending extremely racist comments to her and sharing my text messages from years ago.”
The thread also alleged that Diplo had filmed sexual activity without her permission: “I SPECIFICALLY asked him not too & his reply was ‘f— it. I’m recording this,’” she wrote. She also described Diplo as “a huge manipulating liar / gaslighter who PREYS young women of ALL races (to be honest) but primarily young naive women of color.” As a result, the woman sought a restraining order against Diplo. A temporary restraining order was granted by a Los Angeles judge a few days later.
Diplo concluded his post by writing, “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 2 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 harassment.”
