When you’re wildly successful and famous, a lot of people are going to try to take a piece of you’ve got. The sharks will come up from the darkened murky waters; and gnaw and gnash at your prized marlin as you attempt to row home. In the case of Diplo, it is looking like he has the skills and know-how to keep the sharks from getting any of his meat.
Diplo is currently in a high stakes legal battle against a former lover who accused him of “distributing revenge porn.” The story begins in 2014 when he and a minor named Shelly Auguste began to exchange messages. When she came of age years later, the two had sex. Then things got weird, and Diplo “realized that she had started to become obsessed.” The two had sex again in a group encounter in Las Vegas. In that moment another one of his lovers warned him about Auguste.
Eventually, Auguste filed a restraining order against him, and in December of 2020, Diplo sought a restraining order back against her for the same crime (revenge porn), as well as harassment. Diplo stated that Auguste sent his family screenshots of their conversations, as well as nude photographs of him. In April of 2021, he sued her for stalking; and in August of 2021 he added battery, assault, and defamation to the lawsuit.
The court decided as a result of the violation of their joint restraining order to hire an arbitrator. The two parties consented. The arbitrator decided that if Diplo should win the case when it goes to trial, he will be awarded 1.2 Million dollars in damages.
Concurrently, Diplo was able to refute a sexual assault allegation from one of Auguste’s friends on the aforementioned Vegas group sex night. The videos he took on his phone proved that this friend was lying. She was made to remove her complaint and make a public apology.
It seems that Diplo may have the ability to keep these sharks at bay after all. We’ll be watching closely to see how this develops.