On October 1, U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven denied Jonathan Hay's request to pause C.J. Wallace's defamation case against him while Los Angeles prosecutors review Hay's sexual assault claims against Sean "Diddy" Combs, ruling that the complaining witness in a criminal probe cannot stall the Florida civil proceedings.
Hay had asked the court to stay Wallace's case until Los Angeles County prosecutors either charged Combs or closed their review, arguing that a damages hearing could force him to discuss the same events publicly before prosecutors decide whether to bring charges. Scriven rejected that argument outright. She noted that Hay is "not the target of the alleged criminal investigation, but rather the complaining witness," and pointed out that Hay has pursued his own lawsuit in California over the same allegations — a posture that, in her view, weakened his bid for a pause. She also denied Hay's backup request to exclude evidence about the alleged assaults from the damages hearing, finding he had "not demonstrated good cause" for that protection.
With the ruling, the court will now move to a damages and fees hearing. Wallace must present evidence supporting the compensation he seeks, though the court has not yet ordered Hay to pay any set amount. The decision leaves Hay in a precarious position: he faces a damages proceeding in Florida while his assault allegations remain under prosecutorial review in California.
The dispute grew out of "Ready to Dance," a remix project built around songs by Wallace's late father, The Notorious B.I.G. Hay worked on the project with Wallace and producer Willie Mack in 2020, but plans for a larger release collapsed after the first single failed to gain traction. Hay later made explosive public claims — including in a CNN interview — that Combs assaulted him during the project and that Wallace helped facilitate the encounter, and he alleged that Wallace had sexual contact with Combs and witnessed crimes at Combs-related events. Both Wallace and Combs have vehemently denied the allegations, and Wallace's legal team has described Hay's statements as a "calculated smear campaign" born of professional spite after the music deal fell apart.
Wallace, the son of Biggie Smalls, sued Hay for defamation in Florida after Hay sued both Wallace and Combs in California in July 2025. Earlier in the Florida case, Hay was defaulted after failing to respond to the suit — process servers attempted to reach him at multiple Florida properties 17 times before the court proceeded without him. Combs, for his part, was convicted in July 2025 on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and is serving a prison sentence, though prosecutors have not filed criminal charges against him over Hay's specific allegations. The October 1 ruling keeps the Wallace–Hay fight on track toward a damages reckoning.