Combs settles suit over alleged assault

Man claimed rapper punched him, pushed his girlfriend, spat on another

	Sean “Diddy” Combs said Gerard Rechnitzer lunged toward him and that “any contact ... was caused by his forward motion against my open hand.”
Gary He / AP

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updated 11:19 a.m. ET March 25, 2008

LOS ANGELES - Sean “Diddy” Combs has settled a lawsuit brought by a man who claims the rapper-entertainment mogul punched him after a post-Oscar party outside a Hollywood hotel.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed in court papers posted Monday on the celebrity Web site TMZ.com.

After-hours calls to attorneys for both sides weren’t immediately returned.

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The lawsuit by Gerard Rechnitzer claimed that Combs punched him, pushed his girlfriend and spat on another woman on Feb. 25, 2007, outside Teddy’s Nightclub at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Rechnitzer sought unspecified damages.

In a court declaration, Combs, 38, said Rechnitzer lunged toward him and that “any contact ... was caused by his forward motion against my open hand.”