Note: This article contains references to alleged sexual assault and harassment.
Diplo has reached a global “resolution in principle” to end to a years-long legal dispute with Shelly Auguste, a California woman who accused the DJ of sexual assault, among other claims, and whom Diplo had been suing for stalking, trespassing, and the distribution of revenge porn, Rolling Stone reports. The deal will reportedly avert a civil trial that had been scheduled to begin on Monday, January 13. Pitchfork has reached out to Diplo and Auguste’s respective attorneys for comment and more information.
Auguste has said that she met Diplo online, in 2014, when she was 17 and he was 35 or 36 years old. She first took legal action against the producer in 2020, when she sought and was granted a temporary restraining order against him. Diplo, in turn, got a restraining order against Auguste, with his lawyer claiming, at the time, that she had “been harassing [Diplo] and his family for more than a year and has repeatedly refused to stop doing so.”
In early 2021, Diplo and Auguste signed a dual restraining order agreement, agreeing not to disparage each other. The following year, however, an arbitrator determined that Auguste had breached the agreement, resulting in a $1.2 million monetary award to Diplo. As Rolling Stone notes: “It’s not clear what the status of the award was when the parties entered negotiations for the new global resolution.”
The dueling lawsuits that are reportedly in the process of being settled were filed in the period between the dual restraining order agreement and the arbitration ruling. In April 2021, Diplo sued Auguste for stalking, trespassing, and distributing private materials. Months later, in June, Auguste responded with a lawsuit of her own, claiming that Diplo had sexually assaulted her, in July 2019, while she was “highly intoxicated.” Diplo publicly denied Auguste’s allegations a few months after she filed her lawsuit.
Beyond the civil litigation, Auguste filed multiple police reports accusing Diplo of distributing revenge porn. She filed her first police report in July 2021 and her second in August 2023. The Los Angeles city attorney’s office declined to pursue charges in both instances.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, we encourage you to reach out for support:
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline
https://www.rainn.org
1 800 656 HOPE (4673)
Crisis Text Line
SMS: Text “HELLO” or “HOLA” to 741-741
If you are being sexually harassed, you can report it to the authorities at your job, school, or local law enforcement. For more information go to https://www.rainn.org/ThatsHarassment
