Facing a new wave of lawsuits is rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs who has received a new wave of lawsuits accusing him of raping women, sexually assaulting men and abusing a 16-year-old boy. It is the first time a lawsuit has been filed against him by a person who claims he was abused as a minor
At least six new lawsuits were filed in Manhattan federal court, adding to a growing list of legal claims against the accused hip-hop mogul, which he vehemently denies. The lawsuits were filed anonymously to protect the identities of the accusers.
Some of them claim he used his fame and the promise of potential fame to lure victims to lavish parties or drug-fueled hangouts where he then assaulted them. Some claim he beat them or drugged them. Others say he threatened to kill them if they didn't do what he wanted or if they spoke out against him.
The lawsuits describe alleged attacks dating back to the mid-1990s, including at celebrity parties the rapper hosted in the Hamptons, Long Island, a party in Brooklyn celebrating his then-partner Biggie Smalls, and even at his warehouse of iconic Macy's department store in midtown Manhattan.
The plaintiffs in the new lawsuits are part of a group of more than 100 accusers who are in the process of taking legal action against Diddy following his Sept. 16 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges. The plaintiffs' attorney, Tony Buzbee, announced the planned lawsuit at a press conference on Oct. 1 and posted a number for potential new victims to contact.
The rapper himself has pleaded not guilty in his criminal case, which includes allegations that he coerced and abused women for years with the help of a network of associates and employees, while silencing victims through extortion and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
The Bad Boy Records founder remains incarcerated in a Brooklyn federal prison while awaiting trial in May. Two judges concluded he would be a danger to the community if released. On Friday, an appeals court judge denied his immediate release, while a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reconsiders the request.
Before Monday's lawsuits, all of the accusers who have sued him were adults at the time of their alleged abuse, although a Chicago record producer claimed in a February lawsuit that he had "indisputable evidence" that Diddy sexually abused minors.
In a lawsuit Monday, a man claimed the accused musician fondled his genitals when he was 16 at one of his "white parties" in 1998. The man, who now lives in North Carolina, claims he told him that has the stuff of celebrity and then abruptly ordered the then-teenager to pull down his pants.
According to the man's lawsuit, Diddy explained to him that it was a rite of passage for him to become a music star, at one point asking him, "You don't want to come in?" The man said he complied out of fear, anxiety and a power imbalance he felt with the rapper, but later realized what he said happened was sexual assault.
At the star-studded event, the victim spotted “countless celebrities and A-Listers from the core of the music and entertainment industry. He recognized faces he had seen on television and on the big screen," the lawsuit said. According to the complaint, he "took a photo with Cobbs at the 1998 party."
His legendary white parties in the Hamptons were known to many as the place where countless celebrities frequented” “When I got the invite, I felt like I finally had the chance to meet the who's who of the industry. I thought it could be my chance to break into the music industry," the plaintiff says.
Over the years, Diddy became known for lavish events for his wealthy friends, summer gatherings and holidays like Labor Day. The white parties began in 1998 at his Hamptons estate on Hedges Banks Drive, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and quickly grew to events in St. Tropez and Beverly Hills. About the first "white party", Paris Hilton had said "I remember the first party she had in the Hamptons. It was iconic and everyone was there."
Other lawsuits filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan include allegations of rape, forced oral sex and drugging the victims.
One of the plaintiffs claims that Combs raped her in a locked hotel room in 2004 after he invited her and a friend there to a party, gave them drinks and told them to snort cocaine. The woman, then a college freshman, claims he also forced her girlfriend to give him oral sex and threatened their lives if they didn't comply.
Another claimed he violently assaulted and raped her in a bathroom in 1995 at a party in Brooklyn for Smalls' "One More Chance" music video. Smalls, also known as the Notorious BIG, was killed two years later in a shooting in Los Angeles.
According to the woman, the rapper brought her into the bathroom to talk to her privately and started kissing her unexpectedly. When she tried to walk away, she claims, he slammed her head into the wall, causing her to fall to the floor. She said she tried to escape, but he hit her again and raped her. Then, according to the woman, he nonchalantly fixed his clothes and told her: "You better not tell anyone about this or you'll disappear."
In other lawsuits prosecutors allege: Combs sexually assaulted a security guard at a party in 2006 after giving him a drug-laced drink. forced a man who worked for a rival fashion brand to perform oral sex on him in a Macy's warehouse in 2008 and sexually assaulted a man at a party in October 2021. The latter man, who he suspects a drug-laced drink left him incapacitated to fight back, he remembers being attacked by multiple men and clearly remembers seeing Diddy on top of him, naked, at one point during the attack, his lawsuit said.
In a statement, Kombs' lawyers criticized the tactics as "clear attempts to gain publicity" and said the rapper and his legal team "have complete confidence in the facts, their legal defenses and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone, adult or minor, male or female."
Source: newsbomb.gr
