Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs faces allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by 120 people, including minors

More than 100 people, including some who were minors at the time, plan to file a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs, alleging that the Bad Boy Entertainment founder and others sexually abused and exploited them.

The upcoming 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 accusing Combs of sex trafficking and racketeering. and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.

“This is the beginning of what I hope is a national dialogue,” attorney Tony Buzbee said at a news conference Tuesday. “This type of sexual assault, sexual abuse, and sexual exploitation should never happen in the United States or anywhere else. This should never have gone on for so long. This behavior has left a multitude of individuals hurt, scared and scarred.”

Buzbee said his company expects to file cases on behalf of 120 people, an equal number of men and women, who claim they have been exploited. Buzbee said other alleged perpetrators that will eventually be named in the lawsuits will “shock you.”

“They already know who they are,” he said. “And I’m not just talking about the cowardly but complicit bystanders… who we know saw this behavior happen and did nothing. I’m talking about the people who participated and encouraged it.”

Most of the cases are expected to be filed in New York and California, with some expected to be filed within the next month. Twenty-five of the 120 people who came forward were minors seeking careers in the music or television industries 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 baseless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus,” the statement said. “That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors, as false and defamatory. He looks forward to proving his innocence and defending himself in court as claims are filed and served, where the truth will be determined based on evidence, not speculation.”

Many of the sexual abuse cases, 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, Buzbee said. In some cases, he said, victims were given a drink they suspected was intoxication.

“Once that drink takes effect, the perpetrators perform a variety of sex acts on the victims, often passing him or her around while other people watch and enjoy the show, leaving the victim ashamed, confused, injured and wondering what happened happened.” Buzbee said. “If the victim makes contact, 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 for Bad Boy Records in New York City, Buzbee said.

In another incident, Buzbee said, a 15-year-old boy was told by Combs that he would make him a star, but that he had to visit him privately, away from his parents. He allegedly forced the boy to perform oral sex on him.

The charges mirror some details from a fourteen-page indictment unsealed last month that 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 become victims of violence or have their careers or finances damaged if they refused to participate. Buzbee said some of his clients have already been in contact with the FBI.

Combs has been in federal custody since his arrest on September 16.

Twelve people – including Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura – recently accused the music mogul of sexual assault in civil court, 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, claimed that Combs asked to meet with her to “discuss her boyfriend’s alleged performance issues.”

When she got into an SUV with Combs, he handed her a glass of wine as they drove to Bad Boys Studios in Manhattan. When she got out of the car, she felt strange but assumed it was her fault so she did her best to act normally, the lawsuit alleges. 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 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 cleaning up the victims. then. It’s unclear if more charges will be filed, but prosecutors say the investigation continues.

“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.”