3 weeks ago
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NEW YORK (AP):
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was hit Monday with a new wave of lawsuits accusing him of raping women, sexually assaulting men and molesting a 16-year-old boy.
At least six lawsuits were filed against Combs in federal court in Manhattan, adding to a growing list of legal claims against the indicted hip-hop mogul, all of which he has denied. The lawsuits were filed anonymously to protect the identities of the accusers, two by women identified as Jane Does and four by men identified as John Does.
Some of the Does, echoing others who’ve accused Combs in recent months, allege that he used his fame and the promise of potential stardom to entice victims to lavish parties or drug-fuelled hangouts where he then assaulted them. Some allege that he beat or drugged them. Others say he threatened to kill them if they didn’t do as he pleased or if they spoke out against him.
The lawsuits describe alleged assaults dating to the mid-1990s, including at Combs’ celebrity-studded white parties in Long Island’s Hamptons, at a party in Brooklyn celebrating Combs’ then-collaborator Biggie Smalls, and even in the storeroom at Macy’s flagship department store in midtown Manhattan.
The plaintiffs in Monday’s lawsuits are part of what their lawyers say is a group of more than 100 accusers who are in the process of taking legal action against Combs following his September 16 federal sex trafficking arrest. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Tony Buzbee announced the planned litigation at an October 1 news conference and posted a 1-800 number for accusers to call.
In a statement, Combs’ lawyers slammed those tactics as “clear attempts to garner publicity,” and said the rapper and his legal team “have full confidence in the facts, their legal defences, and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone – adult or minor, man or woman.”
Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty in his criminal case, which involves allegations he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
Twice denied bail, the Bad Boy Records founder remains locked up at a Brooklyn federal jail while awaiting trial in May. Two judges have concluded that Combs would be a danger to the community if he is released. On Friday, an appeals court judge denied Combs’ immediate release from jail while a three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals weighs his bail request.
Before Monday’s raft of lawsuits, all of the accusers suing Combs had been adults at the time of their alleged abuse, although a Chicago record producer claimed in a February suit that he had “irrefutable evidence” of Combs sexually abusing minors.
‘Rite of passage’
In a lawsuit Monday, a John Doe alleged that Combs fondled his genitals when he was 16 at one of Combs’ white parties in 1998. The man, who now lives in North Carolina, alleges that Combs told him he had “the look” of a star and then abruptly ordered the then-teen to drop his pants.
According to the man’s lawsuit, Combs explained to him that it was a rite of passage to becoming a music star, at one point asking him: “Don’t you want to break into the business?” The man said he complied out of fear, anxiety and a power imbalance he felt with Combs, only realising later that what he says happened was sexual assault.
Other lawsuits filed Monday in US District Court in Manhattan include allegations of rape, forced oral sex and drugging to incapacitate victims.
One of the Jane Does alleges Combs raped her in a locked hotel room in 2004 after he invited her and a friend there for a party, gave them drinks and told them to snort cocaine. The woman, then a college freshman, alleges Combs also forced her friend to perform oral sex on him and threatened their lives if they didn’t comply.
Another Jane Doe alleged Combs violently attacked and raped her in a bathroom in 1995 at a party in Brooklyn for Smalls’ music video, One More Chance. Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G., was killed two years later in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.
According to the woman, Combs brought her into the bathroom to talk privately and started kissing her unexpectedly. When she tried pulling away, she alleges, he slammed her head against the wall, causing her to fall to the floor. She said she tried to escape, but Combs hit her again and raped her.
Afterward, according to the woman, Combs nonchalantly adjusted his clothing and told her: “You better not tell anyone about this, or you will disappear.”
The other John Doe lawsuits allege: Combs sexually assaulted a security guard at a 2006 white party after giving him a drugged beverage; forced a man working for a rival fashion brand to perform oral sex on him in the Macy’s stockroom in 2008; and sexually assaulted a man at a party in October 2021.
The latter man, who suspects a drugged beverage left him unable to fight back, recalls multiple men assaulting him and distinctly recalls seeing Combs above him, naked, at one point during the assault, his lawsuit said.
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