Current:Home > ContactSean 'Diddy' Combs faces 120 more sexual abuse claims, including 25 victims who were minors -GrowthSphere Strategies
Sean 'Diddy' Combs faces 120 more sexual abuse claims, including 25 victims who were minors
View
Date:2025-04-13 12:17:09
Sean "Diddy" Combs is set to face lawsuits from more than 100 people for allegations of sexual abuse and sexual assault.
Texas-based lawyer Tony Buzbee announced the pending civil lawsuits during a press conference Tuesday. The attorney revealed he's representing 120 accusers, who are bringing allegations of "violent sexual assault or rape," "facilitated sex with a controlled substance," "dissemination of video recordings" and "sexual abuse of minors" against the embattled music mogul.
"We will expose the enablers who enabled this conduct behind closed doors," Buzbee said. "We will pursue this matter no matter who the evidence implicates."
Buzbee added: "It's a long list already, but because of the nature of this case, we are going to make damn sure that we're right before we do that. But the names that we're going to name ... are names that will shock you."
This new wave of legal action follows Combs' September arrest and subsequent arraignment for sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. The rapper, who has maintained his innocence amid an avalanche of civil lawsuits alleging sexual and physical abuse over the past year, remains in custody at the Special Housing Unit at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
The cases, brought by 60 men and 60 women, span incidents going as far back as 1991, Buzbee said. Twenty-five of the accusers were minors when they were allegedly assaulted by Combs.
"When you talk about the ages of the victims when the conduct occurred, it's shocking," Buzbee said. "Our youngest victim at the time of the occurrence was 9 years old. We have an individual who was 14 years old. We have one who was 15."
Combs' legal team denied any "false and defamatory" claims made against him.
"As Mr. Combs' legal team has emphasized, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus," Combs' attorney Erica Wolff said in an emailed statement to USA TODAY Tuesday. "He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation."
USA TODAY has reached out to Buzbee for comment.
Diddyis 'fighting for his life' amid sex trafficking charges. What does this mean for him?
Attorney Tony Buzbee called claims 'gut wrenching and heartbreaking' at Diddy press conference
Buzbee previously announced his law firm would pursue claims against Combs on Saturday in an Instagram post, adding that "many were minors" when the alleged incidents took place.
"This group of brave individuals include both men and women; many were minors when the abuse occurred. Some of these brave individuals reported the incidents to the police, others did not," Buzbee wrote.
Unraveling old lawsuits, allegations:Diddy arrest punctuates long history of legal troubles
"Each individual story is gut wrenching and heartbreaking. The acts complained of occurred at hotels, private homes, and also at the infamous PDiddy 'Freak Off' parties. The violations against this group of individuals are mindboggling and can only be described as debauchery and depravity, exacted by powerful people against minors and the weak."
Buzbee's Texas law firm has represented victims in cases involving high-profile before, including a July lawsuit leveled against R&B singer Chris Brown and represented 22 women who sued Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson during his time in Houston and accused him of sexual misconduct during massage sessions from early 2020 to March 2021.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' recent legal troubles
The criminal charges against Combs arrive nearly a year after the rapper's ex-girlfriend and "Me & U" singer Casandra "Cassie" Ventura accused Combs of rape, sex trafficking and physical abuse in November 2023. The lawsuit spurred multiple civil suits leveled against him with allegations of rape, sexual assault and similar claims as the ones listed in the indictment unveiled by investigators.
Combs and Ventura settled for an undisclosed amount a day after her lawsuit filing, but the unsealed indictment marks the first criminal charges on the latest allegations against the Bad Boy Records founder. Combs has denied all accusations against him, although he publicly apologized in May after surveillance video leaked of him physically assaulting her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
Prosecutors allegedly have "dozens" of videos depicting Combs' so-called "freak offs" – sometimes dayslong sex performances between sex workers and people he allegedly coerced into participating through narcotics and intimidation – that corroborate witness testimony.
Combs' indictment states Homeland Security Investigations agents procured drugs and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant that were allegedly used in Combs' "freak offs" in the March 25 raids of Combs' homes. Multiple AR-15 rifles and large-capacity magazines were also allegedly discovered.
Additional allegations of sexual abuse followed in the wake of Combs' arrest. A woman, whose boyfriend purportedly worked as an executive at Bad Boy Records, claimed Combs and his former bodyguard "viciously raped" her in 2001 in a Sept. 24 complaint. Another woman, in a lawsuit filed Friday, alleged he drugged and impregnated her over a four-year span of abuse.
Contributing: Brent Schrotenboer and KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
veryGood! (39461)
Related
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- Malik Willis downplays revenge game narrative for Packers vs. Titans
- 'Sacred': Cherokee name in, Confederate general out for Tennessee's highest mountain
- ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski retires from journalism, joins St. Bonaventure basketball
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- Sebastian Stan Defends Costar Adam Pearson’s Condition After Reporter Uses Term Beast in Interview
- 'STOP!' Meet the humble heroes keeping kids safe every school day
- Baker Mayfield says Bryce Young's story is 'far from finished' following benching
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Leave your finesse at the door: USC, Lincoln Riley can change soft image at Michigan
Ranking
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Horoscopes Today, September 18, 2024
- California law cracking down on election deepfakes by AI to be tested
- California’s cap on health care costs is the nation’s strongest. But will patients notice?
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff seeks more control over postmaster general after mail meltdown
- Veteran CIA officer who drugged and sexually assaulted dozens of women gets 30 years in prison
- Blue Jackets open camp amid lingering grief over death of Johnny Gaudreau
Recommendation
Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
MLS playoff clinching scenarios: LAFC, Colorado Rapids, Real Salt Lake can secure berths
A former officer texted a photo of the bloodied Tyre Nichols to his ex-girlfriend
5 people perished on OceanGate's doomed Titan sub. Will we soon know why?
A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
FAA investigating after Delta passengers report bleeding ears and noses
Eric Roberts Says Addiction Battle Led to Him Losing Daughter Emma Roberts
Alaska man charged with sending graphic threats to kill Supreme Court justices