In between the time of the dual restraining order agreement in January 2021 and the arbitration ruling in September 2022, Diplo and Auguste filed their competing lawsuits. Diplo filed his lawsuit against Auguste—alleging stalking, trespassing, and distributing private materials—in April 2021. Auguste filed her lawsuit against Diplo—alleging sexual battery, gender violence, and more—in June 2021.
(Shortly after Auguste filed her lawsuit, another woman also filed a suit against Diplo, alleging that she was coerced into performing oral sex on him at an after-party in Las Vegas in 2019. She also alleged that Diplo filmed the alleged incident nonconsensually. The woman withdrew her lawsuit within a month of its filing. An attorney for Diplo said upon the complaint’s withdrawal, “As we said when we first learned of this lawsuit, there was absolutely irrefutable evidence that proved that the allegations it contained were false. As soon as we shared that plethora of evidence with the plaintiff’s lawyers, they recognized that they needed to withdraw their suit immediately.”)
Auguste went to police with her new claim on Friday, August 18, 2023, “to report that she was the victim of Revenge Porn,” the police report states. In the report, it’s noted that Auguste told a police officer that she “sent […] nude videos and photographs to [Diplo] voluntarily. Those items were for him only and not to distribute to others.” She added that he “distributed some of the nude videos and photographs of her online,” as also alleged in her lawsuit.
The same day Auguste went to the police station, she said in the report, a woman contacted her on Instagram and told her that she had six nude photographs of her; Auguste explained in the report “that they were the photographs that either [Diplo] took or that she had given to him.”
Auguste, according to the police report, “believes that [Diplo] is distributing the nude photographs because he is mad at her for recently filing legal action against him. She stated that he wants to harass and embarrass her.”
Auguste was granted a new temporary restraining order against Diplo on September 18. On August 24, Diplo made a request for his own temporary restraining order. That request was denied, with the Superior Court of California stating in its explanation that “[t]here are insufficient articulable facts of harassment pled in this Petition to warrant the Court’s issuance of emergency temporary orders.” In October, a judge extended Auguste’s temporary restraining order until December 2023.
Auguste is currently enrolled in California’s Safe at Home program, which allows “victims of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, human trafficking and elder and dependent abuse, as well as reproductive health care workers, a substitute mailing address to receive first class, certified, and registered mail.”
“I think it’s time the music industry stops enabling the perpetual abuse that occurs,” Shelly Auguste said in a statement to Pitchfork. “I have been silenced for far too long. I hope that with this restraining order I can finally gain peace and protection. I hope that with the criminal investigation, the justice system gets it right this time.”
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, we encourage you to reach out for support:
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotlinehttp://www.rainn.org1 800 656 HOPE (4673)
Crisis Text LineSMS: 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
This article has been updated to clarify that Shelly Auguste says she did not allow Diplo to take photos of her.
