Topline
A Texas attorney who has filed 15 sexual assault lawsuits on behalf of anonymous plaintiffs against Sean “Diddy” Combs—and claims he’ll file dozens more—has been sued by an unnamed “celebrity” who claimed he was extorted by the lawyer in attempts to settle over “fraudulent and malicious” sexual assault claims.
Timeline
An unnamed plaintiff who called themselves a “celebrity” in a filing sued Tony Buzbee in Los Angeles County Court, claiming they were sent a letter threatening a public lawsuit if they didn’t settle out of court for the rapes of multiple minors who’d been drugged at parties hosted by Combs, allegations the plaintiff called “wildly false” and “horrific.” Attorneys for the plaintiff accused Buzbee of having “a pattern of leveling baseless, fabricated and malicious allegations at high profile individuals and threatening to name them publicly if they fail to pay exorbitant sums of money.” Buzbee called the claims “frivolous” and denied wrongdoing.
An unnamed plaintiff sued Combs in New York Supreme Court claiming he was 10 years old when he was drugged and sexually assaulted by Combs while on a visit to Los Angeles, and that Combs threatened to harm his parents if he told anyone about the assault (he did tell them, the complaint says, but they were “terrified of the potential consequences of reporting the abuse”).
An unnamed man said in a complaint that he was 17 years old when he was sexually assaulted by both Combs and a bodyguard over a three-day audition process for Combs’ reality TV show “Making the Band” in 2008, and said he was repeatedly reminded the mogul had the ability to “make or break” his career and claimed he was ultimately eliminated from the competition “due to his reservations about performing oral sex on (the) bodyguard.”
An unnamed Alabama woman claimed in a suit filed in New York Sunday that she was 13 years old in 2000 when she was invited to a Video Music Awards afterparty by an associate of Combs, where she was allegedly served a drugged drink and repeatedly raped by Combs and another male celebrity while a female celebrity, neither of whom were named in the lawsuit, watched until she was able to escape (Combs has not specifically responded to the new allegations but last week his attorneys said in a statement he “has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman.”)
An unnamed North Carolina musician said in a complaint she was at a party hosted by Combs that was attended by various TV and music celebrities and included “the widespread use of drugs” in 2022 before she was served a drugged drink and was raped by Combs while she was “trapped inside her body not participating but not able to resist.”
An unnamed personal trainer who lives in California claimed in a New York lawsuit he was told Combs was impressed with his training regime and wanted to feature him in a video before he attended a party hosted by the rapper, where he was then allegedly served a drugged drink before he was forced into “sexual acts with both men and women,” including an unnamed celebrity.
An Arizona woman alleged in New York court that she was raped by Combs at one of his “infamous Las Vegas parties” over Memorial Day weekend in 2014, repeating others’ claims that she was served alcoholic drinks laced with drugs that left her “slowly losing control of her motor functions.”
An unnamed man claimed in a New York Superior Court complaint he was sexually assaulted by Combs when he was an aspiring 17-year-old musician in 2022 and attended a party after being promised he could meet the mogul and “connect with influential industry leaders.”
A California man sued in New York, claiming Combs’ exposed himself to him and groped him while at a launch party for Combs’ Ciroc vodka brand in 2022 before an unnamed professional athlete intervened and “ended the assault.”
A New York man who worked security in the music industry in 2005, when he was 21 years old, sued Combs in New York Superior Court and claimed he was pressured into consuming a drink laced with drugs at a party before Combs started to sexually assault him, which stopped when the plaintiff’s wife walked into the room and intervened.
An Ohio man who worked in fashion at the time of Combs’ Sean John clothing line alleges he was in a stockroom at Macy’s flagship store at Herald Square in Manhattan in 2008 when Combs and two large body guards approached him, hit him in the base of the neck “possibly with a pistol” and allegedly forced him to perform oral sex on Combs while making threats like “I’ll kill you.” The complaint, which also names Macy’s as a defendant, alleges the department store ignored his attempt to report the assault and had him fired from his job to protect its relationship with Combs (Macy’s did not respond to Forbes’ request for comment).
An unnamed North Carolina man alleged that he was 16 years old and trying to break into the music business when he was fondled by Combs at one of the rapper’s “white parties” in the Hamptons in 1998, an incident his lawsuit says “continues to humiliate and cause shame.”
A New Jersey man claimed in a separate complaint he was working security at a white party in 2006 when he was given two alcoholic drinks by Combs he believes were spiked with ecstasy and other drugs before he was allegedly “forcibly pushed into an open van” and sexually assaulted by Combs.
An unnamed New York woman said Combs asked to speak with her privately at a Biggie Smalls promotional party in 1995 before allegedly slamming her head into a wall and raping her, allegedly saying, “You better not tell anyone about this, or you will disappear” before leaving.
A Georgia man working for a management company in New York alleges he was given a drugged drink at a party hosted by Diddy in 2021 that left him “paralyzed” and “feeling like he was trapped in his own body” before at least three men, including Combs, sexually assaulted him.
An unnamed woman alleged Diddy invited her and her friend to a hotel room, where he threatened to “have them both killed” before making them drink and do drugs and “fondled, molested, and ultimately raped” her in 2004; she was a 19-year-old student in Brooklyn at the time and had been invited to a party of Diddy’s near her campus, according to the lawsuit.
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What To Watch For
A federal judge on Oct. 31 ruled one of Buzbee’s clients, the woman who said she was raped when she was 19 years old, will have to publicly reveal her identity if she wants her case to move forward. So far, she is the only anonymous accuser who has been told she’ll have to be named publicly. Buzbee said she would be willing to reveal her identity.
Crucial Quote
“Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process,” Combs’ attorneys said a statement in October, their latest in continuous denials of any wrongdoing. “In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman.”
Key Background
Attorney Tony Buzbee, who represented Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his impeachment trial and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry following his indictment, held a press conference in early October to say he is representing 120 accusers with allegations against Combs. Though initially reported as a class action lawsuit, Buzbee has begun to file separate claims on behalf of his clients, who lives in states across the country. He said his lawsuits will “expose the enablers who enabled this conduct behind closed doors,” which include “many powerful people.” Buzbee said thousands of people have come forward with claims against Combs, and that his clients hail from 25 states. He also said more than two dozen of the accusers were minors at the time of their alleged abuse—including one plaintiff who says they were 9 years old at the time of their encounter with Combs.
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