Sean 'Diddy' Combs Hit With Wave of 120 New Sexual Assault Allegations
Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing dozens of new allegations of sexual harassment in multiple civil lawsuits filed.
At a news conference Tuesday, Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee said he is representing 120 defendants with allegations against the entertainment mogul spanning more than 20 years.
“We will expose those enablers who enabled this behavior behind closed doors. We will pursue this matter no matter who the evidence implicates,” Buzby said during the press conference.
“A lot of powerful people … a lot of dirty secrets,” the lawyer said of the allegations. He added that his team “gathered pictures, videos, texts.”
Buzby added that the charges would include: “violent sexual assault or rape, facilitating sex with a controlled substance, promoting video recordings, sexual abuse of minors.”
“It's already a long list, but because of the nature of this case, we're going to make sure we're right before we do it,” Buzby continued. “These names will surprise you.”
The lawyer said he has had more than 3,000 people come forward to his office with allegations against Combs, and that he plans to file lawsuits in several states within the next 30 days. He also said that the names of the other accused will be revealed later.
Of this new group of defendants, Buzby said, 62% identified as African American, and they were residents of more than 25 states, including majorities from New York, California, Georgia and Florida. Buzby said 25 of the accused were minors at the time of the incident, which occurred in early 1991. Buzby claims one of the accused was under the age of nine at the time of their alleged incident.
“As Mr. Combs' legal team emphasized, the media cannot address every meritless allegation that has become reckless in the circus. That said, Mr. Combs vehemently and categorically denies as false and defamatory that he sexually assaulted anyone, including minors,” the rapper's lawyer Erica Wolff said in a statement. “He looks forward to proving his innocence and proving himself in court if and when demanded and served, where facts will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”
Combs is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York after prosecutors in the Southern District of New York indicted Combs on sex trafficking, racketeering and prostitution charges unsealed last month. Combs has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers say he is innocent of all charges.
Combs has twice been denied bail, but on Monday his legal team, which now includes Tenny Geragos and Mark Agnifilo as well as attorney Alexandra Shapiro, filed the first papers ahead of an appeal of the bail decision.
Buzbee has represented victims in several other high-profile cases, including one against BP in 2010. Deep water horizon Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He also represented individuals accused of sexual misconduct against NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2021. That same year, he filed a $750-million lawsuit against Travis Scott after a fatal mob attack at the rapper's Astroworld festival.
Combs' legal troubles have mounted since his ex-girlfriend, Cassandra “Casey” Ventura, filed an explosive civil lawsuit against him last year, accusing him of assault and sex trafficking during their relationship. Combs, who has vehemently denied the allegations, settled with Ventura for an undisclosed amount. Several months later, surveillance video of Combs brutally beating Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway was leaked, and the mogul apologized for his actions.
Since Ventura's case, several other civil suits have been filed against Combs — including one by Dawn Richard, a former member of the girl group Danity Kane who alleges that Combs attacked, assaulted, imprisoned and threatened her life.
Combs has denied all the claims against him, calling them “sickening accusations” from people looking for a “quick payday.”
Many of the lawsuits against Combs were filed in New York City, where the Victims of Gender-Induced Violence Protection Act allows people to file sexual assault allegations after the statute of limitations has passed.