But it is necessary also to confess that the power of nature is so ample and vast, and these principles so simple and general, that I have hardly observed a single particular effect which I cannot at once recognise as capable of being deduced in many different modes from the principles, and that my greatest difficulty usually is to discover in which of these modes the effect is dependent upon them; for out of this difficulty I cannot otherwise extricate myself than by again seeking certain experiments, which may be such that their result is not the same, if it is in the one of these modes that we must explain it, as it would be if it were to be explained in the other.
Following the assault and multiple times over the years, both Combs and Sherman contacted Plaintiff and warned her to be silent, threatening repercussions including Plaintiff potentially losing custody of her son if she ever disclosed the assault. Because of their enormous power in the industry, including through their ownership of and positions at the Combs Corporations, Plaintiff knew that they could follow through on their threats.
Because of Combs’ power and notoriety, Plaintiff was afraid to report what had happened. She was involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time and feared that reporting the rape would cause her to lose custody of her young child.