Sean 'Diddy' Combs files new lawsuit over two decades of sexual assault and rape

Sean “DD” Combs is facing a series of new lawsuits filed Monday in federal court.

The six complaints, obtained by NBC News, were filed in the Southern District of New York by four men and two women, none of whom were named in the filing. The incidents alleged in the complaint date from 1995 to 2021 and include allegations of sexual assault and rape.

The accusers include a man who was 16 at the time of the allegations and a woman who was a 19-year-old college student when she alleged that Combs raped her in a Manhattan hotel room in 2004. All incidents occurred in either New York City or the Hamptons, according to the suit. The two lawsuits allege to have occurred at Combs' lavish Labor Day “white party” at his Hamptons property.

The lawsuits were filed by Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee — who announced at a press conference on Oct. 1 that he is representing the accused with charges against Combs — under the Gender-Induced Violence Protection Act. Under the law, victims have a two-year window ending in March 2025 to file older claims.

“We will try to file cases that we think are credible and valid,” Bazby told NBC News.

The suit names Combs and several of his businesses as defendants, and the defendants are seeking unspecified damages.

NBC News has not independently corroborated any of the allegations.

“There's an overarching theme here, you can probably see, which is basically Sean Combs thinks he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to do it,” Buzbee said in an interview before the lawsuit was filed.

NBC News has reached out to Combs' legal team for comment. Combs has denied all civil and criminal claims through his attorneys, saying the charges against him are “sickening” and the result of people looking for a “quick payday.”

The oldest of the allegations comes from a woman who alleged she was assaulted and raped by Combs in a bathroom in 1995 while she attended a music video release party, court documents allege. At least two cases allege that the accused's drinks were spiked with drugs that made it difficult for the accused to resist during the sexual assault.

In one lawsuit, a man alleged that he was sexually assaulted at the age of 16 in 1998 at one of Combs' “white parties” in the Hamptons. In the lawsuit, he alleges that he spoke with Combs about his desire to break into the music industry, and the interaction took a turn when Combs asked the accused to reveal himself. She claims she did it out of fear and that Combs sexually assaulted her, according to the lawsuit.

In 2006, one accuser alleged, Combs sexually assaulted her at one of his “white parties” in the Hamptons. The man, who worked for a security company at the time, said he alerted a supervisor after the incident, according to court documents.

Then in 2008, another lawsuit alleged that Combs physically and sexually assaulted an employee of a popular clothing brand at a Manhattan department store, according to the suit. The man, who said he lost his job shortly after the incident, said he reported the incident to store security, according to the lawsuit.

The most recent allegation described in a lawsuit was an incident that occurred in 2021 The accused alleged that he passed out after drinking at a party and was sexually assaulted by Combs and other unknown men, according to court documents.

The new filings come as the embattled music mogul fights his pre-trial detention on federal racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. Although the specific allegations in the cases are new, court documents paint a disturbing picture of drug-fueled parties coupled with violence that mirrors some of the details of his criminal complaint filed last month by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.

The latest lawsuits come after a New York judge set a May 5 trial date for Combs' criminal case. He is currently awaiting trial at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Federal prosecutors said at a hearing last week that they were going through data from more than 90 devices on Combs that were seized from his property in raids this year and when he was arrested in New York.

Combs, who was twice denied bail by two separate judges, is seeking to overturn those decisions. In a filing ahead of last week's hearing, Combs' attorneys filed for bail in New York's federal appeals court.

Buzby's latest civil lawsuits come after Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassandra “Casey” Ventura filed a federal lawsuit in New York nearly a year ago, accusing Combs of physical and sexual abuse over the years. Combs and Ventura settled the next day for an undisclosed amount. In a statement during the settlement, Combs has denied all allegations.

But in May, CNN released surveillance video of Combs beating Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. Combs later apologized for the incident but said it was an isolated instance and that he had sought therapy and made changes.

Last week, Combs' legal team filed a petition claiming the government provided CNN with video of the incident involving Ventura and was responsible for leaking other information to the media.

“Between grand jury leaks and inflammatory public statements, the agents all ensured that the grand jury as well as the general public from which we would soon select a jury would be tainted,” the filing said.

Combs' legal team is seeking an evidentiary hearing in the matter, but prosecutors have denied the charges. The judge overseeing the case said during a hearing last week that he would likely impose a mutual gag order barring both sides from engaging with the media.

In the months since Ventura's case, several people have sued Combs, including Dawn Richard, a former member of the girl group Danity Kane, who alleged that Combs groped, assaulted and imprisoned her, and threatened her life.

correction (Oct. 15, 2024, 3:25 pm ET): An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of the ex-girlfriend who filed a federal lawsuit in New York against Combs nearly a year ago. She is Cassandra Ventura (known as Cassie), not Cassandra Venture.