More than 100 people, including some who were minors at the time of the alleged abuse, are planning to file lawsuits against Sean “Diddy” Combs alleging that the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment and others sexually abused and exploited them.
The impending lawsuits, announced Tuesday in Houston, would be the latest in a wave of legal filings against the disgraced 54-year-old hip-hop mogul since federal prosecutors in New York unsealed an indictment in September that charged Combs with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
“This is the beginning of what I hope to be a national dialogue,” attorney Tony Buzbee said at Tuesday’s news conference. “This type of sexual assault, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation should never happen in the United States or anywhere else. This should have never been allowed to go on for so long. This conduct has created a mass of individuals who are injured, scared and scarred.”
Buzbee said his firm expects to file cases on behalf of 120 people, an equal number of men and women, who allege they were exploited. Most of the cases are expected to be filed in New York and California, and some will be filed within the next month. Twenty-five of the 120 individuals who have come forward were minors seeking a career in the music or television industry when the abuse allegedly occurred, Buzbee said.
Combs’ attorney Erica Wolff responded to the latest allegations in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
“As Mr. Combs’ legal team has emphasized, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus,” the statement said. “That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors. He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court if and when claims are filed and served, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”
Many of the instances of sexual abuse, which spanned from 1991 to this year, occurred during “white parties,” New Year’s Eve and Fourth of July celebrations, auditions and other parties Combs hosted, according to the attorney. In some cases, Buzbee said, the victims were given a drink that they suspected was laced.
“Once that drink takes effect, the perpetrators perform all kinds of sexual acts on the victims many times passing him or her around as other people watch and enjoy the show and then leave the victim ashamed, confused, injured and wondering what happened,” Buzbee said. “When the victim reaches out he or she is told not to say anything.”
The youngest of the victims was a 9-year-old boy who was allegedly sexually abused by Combs and others while he was auditioning at Bad Boy Records in New York City, Buzbee said.
In another incident, Buzbee said a 15-year-old boy was told by Combs he would make him a star but he needed to visit him privately, away from his parents. He allegedly forced the boy to perform oral sex on him.
The allegations mirror some details in a 14-page indictment released last month that accuses Combs of luring female victims to take part in “freak-offs” or elaborate sex performances involving male sex workers that at times lasted days and were sometimes recorded. Combs and his associates, the indictment alleges, used violence, coercion, drugs and bribes to get women to take part in the freak-offs, and to keep the incidents secret.
Prosecutors say victims feared they would be subjected to physical violence or their careers or finances would be harmed if they refused to participate.
Combs has been in federal custody since his arrest on Sept. 16.
Twelve people — including Combs’ former girlfriend Casandra Ventura — have recently accused the music mogul of sexual assault in civil court, according to court filings.
Roughly a week after the indictment became public, Thalia Graves sued Combs alleging that he and his bodyguard drugged, bound and violently raped her in 2001 and later showed a video of the attack to others. Graves, the former girlfriend of a business associate of Combs, alleged in the lawsuit that Combs had asked to meet with her to “discuss her boyfriend’s supposed performance issues.”
When she got inside the car with Combs he handed her a glass of wine as they drove to Bad Boys Studios in Manhattan Beach. When she got out of the SUV, she felt odd but assumed it was her fault, so she did her best to act normal. She followed Combs as he led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit then alleges that Combs’ bodyguard slammed her into a table and forced her to perform oral sex on both him and Combs. The Times does not typically name accusers in sexual assault cases unless they come forth publicly, as Ventura and Graves have.
A Florida model, who was not named in court documents, also filed a lawsuit last month against Combs alleging that he paid for her to travel overseas with him for years, pressured her to have sex with other men and women, and gave her drugs and alcohol that caused her to pass out.
The lawsuit alleges that in one instance at Combs’ house in Los Angeles, she was drugged and impregnated. After she told Combs she was pregnant, she was contacted repeatedly by the music mogul’s staff, who urged her to have an abortion, the complaint alleges. According to the lawsuit, the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.
The allegations have amplified questions around the culture of the music industry that some contend allowed the assaults to go unreported for years.
Prosecutors have alleged Combs led a complicated scheme that would have required multiple people to not only know about the behavior, but be involved to recruit victims, prepare hotel rooms with baby oil, drugs and extra linens for the freak-offs, and clean up afterward. It’s not clear if more indictments are coming, but prosecutors said the investigation is ongoing.
“Combs did not do this all on his own,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in announcing the charges. “He used his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way.”
