Sean “P. Diddy” Combs apparently agreed to pay $850,000 to settle a civil lawsuit arising from the December 27, 1999, New York City nightclub shooting according to multiple media reports.
That was Combs’ share of the $1.8 million settlement to injured bystander Natania Reuben, who suffered severe facial injuries in the incident at Club New York. Two other victims received about $550,00 according to the NY Daily News .
Details of the confidential settlement with Combs and the nightclub owners became public yesterday because Diddy’s insurance company went bankrupt. Combs is in court trying to compel a state government agency to make good on whatever insurance may apply, as is normally the case when an insurer goes belly up.
Diddy (who was accompanied by then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez) on the night in question was cleared of all criminal charges by a jury in the gunfight but rapper Shyne went to jail for about nine years after being found guilty of assault, reckless endangerment, and gun possession.
The NY Post describes the incident:
Combs had been partying at the now-shuttered club with then-gal pal Jennifer Lopez and protege Jamal “Shyne” Barrow when a dispute with fellow clubgoers led Barrow to open fire. Three innocent bystanders were shot — and sued Combs, Barrow and the club.
As you might expect, the incident created a maze of legal entanglements. For example, in 2004, Diddy settled a $3 million lawsuit for an undisclosed amount with his former driver who claimed post-traumatic syndrome because the rapper forced him to flee from the police in Combs’ Lincoln Navigator after the nightclub shooting.
