While it’s true that Sean “Puffy” Combs, AKA P Diddy, has found himself in and out of legal troubles throughout his career, it was only in late 2023 that the sexual assault accusations against him began swirling around. As explored in HBO Max’s ‘Fall of Diddy,’ it eventually culminated in him being federally charged with racketeering and sex trafficking, but several other claims against him have also since come to light. Amongst them is that of a physical assault in 1996 outside of a New York City nightclub, filed by then-club promoter DeWitt Gilmore.
DeWitt Gilmore Claims He Was Shot at By Diddy in 1996
A New York native through and through, DeWitt reportedly knew from an early age that he wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, driving him to understand his skills from an early age. Therefore, as soon as he graduated high school in 1983, he began trying to pave his own path before attending Westchester Business Institute for two years, during which he focused on Business Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services. In his own words, he studied what he believed he needed during the day before hustling at night in entertainment, promotion, and live entertainment production.
Therefore, by the time 1996 rolled around, DeWitt had evolved from a Video Producer at Cablevision of Westchester and Owner, Publisher, plus Producer at the DeWitt Gilmore magazine into a club promoter. However, he never could have imagined that he would soon have an incident that he wouldn’t be able to forget for the rest of his life. According to his $5 million lawsuit, filed in November 2024, he stated he was on a New York City street after exiting a nightclub in the summer of 1996 when he was attacked.
DeWitt claimed he plus two friends were heading to his car to go home following a night out when P Diddy pulled up and began ridiculing them while being driven by his personal bodyguard. He then claimed the rapper threatened him with violence and used a lot of derogatory terms before going as far as brandishing his gun around once his entourage pulled up beside him. That’s when things allegedly escalated, per the filing, with Diddy firing several shots at the group and trying to harm them more, driving the group to flee, only to then be chased around for a while.
DeWitt Gilmore Has Since Moved Forward in Life and Is Currently Thriving
According to DeWitt’s lawsuit, he feared for his life at the time, especially as it felt to him as if Diddy and his entourage were at his tail, hoping to ambush him for good. However, he never reported the incident even when it was far from over because he was avoiding possible “continued harassment and possible violent retribution” at the time, especially considering the influence of Diddy in hip-hop at the time. In the end, following an insightful conversation and the allegations already against Diddy, he decided to come forward in a $5 million lawsuit for “emotional distress, physical harm, lost opportunities, and reputational damage.”
Since then, though, from what we can tell, DeWitt has seemingly been trying to do his best in not just his career but also his family, which is why he has since deemed this incident a minor ebb of his life. After all, he became an author in 2005, after which he published 15 books before eventually returning to his passion to pen a novella called ‘Derelict’ for 50 Cent’s brand. Then, in 2009, he evolved into a Film Director and Producer for Relentless Studios.
That’s where DeWitt earned the experience he needed before deciding to spread his wings and establish his own entertainment house in his base of Georgia called East Atlanta Multimedia, Inc. He serves as the CEO and Founder of this organization to this day, all the while also continuing to work as a Producer and Director at Producers of On Top Atlanta and Think & Grow Rich. Moreover, and more importantly, the family man is also the Sr. Vice President at TheCreditGardener, through which he helps small business owners raise capital for their operations.
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