Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing 120 additional sexual assault lawsuits that will be filed in New York, Los Angeles and Miami over the coming weeks.
A press conference was held earlier today in Houston, where a group of lawyers revealed the massive amount of suits that are pending filing. “The biggest secret in the entertainment industry, that really wasn’t a secret at all, has finally been revealed to the world,” said attorney Tony Buzbee, according to Washington Post. “The wall of silence has now been broken.”
The firm stated that the victims are equally male and female, and that they ranged from the ages of nine to 38 at the time of the incidents. According to CNN, twenty-five victims were minors at the time of the alleged acts, and a few victims have spoken with the FBI. The assaults span 30 years dating back to the early 1990s and up until this year, with half of the victims filing police reports or seeking medical attention at the time of alleged assault. The majority of the victims state that they were drugged, and that horse tranquilizer was found in several drug tests. Attorneys claim that they received more than 3,000 responses after issuing a call to victims to come forward, which they vetted and whittled down to 120 credible cases.
The lawsuits will name numerous co-defendants, including associates, family members, record labels and event venues. The victims claim that they were all threatened to stay silent, much like many of the accusers who filed lawsuits against Combs over the past year.
In a statement provided to Variety, Combs’ attorney Erica Wolff said, “As Mr. Combs’ legal team has emphasized, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus. 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, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”
Combs has been the subject of a flurry of sexual assault lawsuits over the past year, beginning with an explosive one filed by his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in Nov. 2023. Though the suit was settled a day after it was filed, it triggered a series of other accusations, most recently by former Diddy – Dirty Money member Dawn Richard as well as a woman who sued him last week for violently raping her in the early 2000s.
Several months later, CNN posted a 2016 video of Combs viciously attacking Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel, matching some of the claims she made against him in her suit. Combs apologized for his behavior on Instagram, claiming that he “hit rock bottom” and that his “behavior on that video is inexcusable.”
In March, Combs’s homes in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by Homeland Security. Last month, he was arrested in New York City after a grand jury indictment and was charged on three counts: racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was held without bail, and was denied appeal after the judge deemed him a threat to society and a flight risk.
The indictment, which aligns with many of the claims brought against him in the lawsuits he’s recently faced, claimed that he displayed a “persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals.” It alleged that he and associates would threaten and coerce victims into participating in days-long sex events referred to as “freak offs,” and would hire sex workers that were transported across state lines or internationally.
The raids on his homes in March turned up “freak off supplies” including drugs and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and other lubricant. Combs was accused of filming the “freak offs” as “collateral” against victims and used to maintain their silence.
Combs has been in custody for nearly two weeks. Just yesterday, he filed an appeal of the bail denial decision, which will take approximately three weeks to deliberate.
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