Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of sexual abuse in class action lawsuit

More than 100 people plan to file a class action lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs, claiming the Bad Boy Entertainment founder and others sexually abused and exploited them.

The class action lawsuit, expected to be announced Tuesday in Houston, would be the latest in a wave of legal filings against the disgraced hip-hop music mogul since federal prosecutors in New York unsealed an indictment accusing Combs of sex trafficking in September. extortion and transportation to engage in prostitution. It is not clear when the class action suit will be filed.

“This is an important matter that we intend to aggressively address,” the group’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, said in a statement. “We will leave no stone unturned to find all potentially liable parties, including any person or entity that participated in or benefited from this egregious conduct.”

A 14-page indictment unsealed last month accuses Combs of enticing female victims to participate in “freak-offs,” or elaborate sex performances involving male sex workers, that sometimes lasted for days and sometimes were recorded. Combs and his associates, the indictment alleges, used violence, coercion, drugs and bribes to get women to participate in the freak-offs and to keep the incidents secret.

Prosecutors say the victims feared they would be exposed to physical violence or have their careers or finances damaged if they refused to participate.

Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty and has been in federal custody since his arrest on September 16.

Twelve people — including Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura — have accused the music mogul in civil court of sexual assault, according to court documents.

About a week after the charges became public, Thalia Graves sued Combs, alleging that he and his bodyguard drugged, tied up 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 asked to meet with her to “discuss her boyfriend’s alleged performance issues.”

When she got in 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 strange, 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 against a table and forced her to perform oral sex on both him and Combs. The Times typically does not name accusers in sexual assault cases unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura and Graves have done.

A Florida model, who was not named in court documents, also filed a lawsuit against Combs last month, claiming he paid her for years to travel abroad with him, pressuring her to have sex with other men and women, and had given her drugs and alcohol that caused her to pass out.

The lawsuit alleges that in one instance, she was drugged and impregnated at Combs’ Los Angeles home. After telling Combs she was pregnant, she was repeatedly approached 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 heightened questions about the music industry’s culture, which some say allowed the assaults to go unnoticed for years.

Prosecutors have alleged that Combs led an elaborate scheme that required multiple people not only to know about the behavior but also to be involved in recruiting victims, preparing hotel rooms with baby oil, medications and extra bedding for the freaks, and clean it up afterwards. . It’s unclear if more charges will be filed, but prosecutors said the investigation is ongoing.

“Combs did not do all of this alone,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in announcing the indictment. “He used his company and its employees and other close associates to get his way.”