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

The terms of the deal were not disclosed in court papers posted Monday on the celebrity Web site TMZ.com.

After-hours calls to attorneys for both sides were not immediately returned.

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 said Rechnitzer lunged toward him and that "any contact ... was caused by his forward motion against my open hand."