Actress Diane Neal is currently involved in a legal battle against ex-boyfriend JB Benn, having accused the magician of physical and sexual abuse in a lawsuit. Benn has responded with his own lawsuit in which he claims that Neal threatened to kill his dog, among other allegations.
TMZ shares audio from the suit of a conversation Benn recorded in March 2018 in which Neal appears to yell, “You are the least fun person I have ever met. You don’t think it’s about connections because you refuse to be connected with anybody. Even me! Which is why I am going to punish you with death and kill your f—ing dog.”
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The suit reportedly pertains to money Benn claims Neal owes him for a property they shared, though he stated that he recorded his arguments with Neal due to a fear she would blame him for any “misfortune” in their relationship. He also denies Neal’s claim that he killed their poodle and alleges that it was killed by a feral cat.
Neal’s lawsuit against Benn claimed that he slashed the toy poodle’s throat and blamed it on a cat, The Daily Beast shares. The suit claims that Benn then “bragged” that he “bashed the cat’s brains in.”
Neal also called Benn a “manipulative and maniacal fraudster” who allegedly “defrauded her of millions” and “violently inflicted emotional distress” on her with “a campaign of isolation, terror and assault, and destroyed her reputation by doing so.”
The Law & Order: SVU actress filed a lawsuit against Benn in April 2018 at the Ulster County Courthouse in New York, according to a court document obtained by PEOPLE. The suit alleges that Benn refused to put Neal on the title for a home they bought together in upstate New York, impersonated her in emails and text messages to friends and entertainment contacts, and recorded himself sexually assaulting Neal and recording it on his phone shortly after she broke up with him in March 2018.
In a January 2019 affidavit, Benn said Neal’s accusation of sexual assault was “completely false and outrageously interposed as a tactic to cloud the fact that, on the merits, [Neal] has no entitlement to the relief she seeks.” He added that Neal “will say whatever she believes is necessary to gain sympathy and to support her ongoing vendetta against me.”
On April 1, Benn was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor stalking. A criminal complaint states that the magician tried to “initiate unwanted contact with Diane Neal via email” and allegedly drove past Neal’s residence seven times in 15 minutes while she was in her driveway. He also allegedly showed up at the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office while the actress was there, “causing Neal to fear for her life.”
This week, Benn pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was fined $200 in fees and Neal was given a two-year order of protection from him.
Photo Credit: Getty / Astrid Stawiarz
