More than two dozen lawsuits were filed against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs while he was in prison
Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is currently in federal custody awaiting trial on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
His arrest in New York comes amid a series of civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault and physical violence, some dating back to the 1990s.
More than two dozen people have filed a lawsuit against the rapper, accusing him of using his influence in the entertainment industry to do everything from drugging, assaulting and raping people.
The latest lawsuit includes allegations from two men who were underage at the time of the alleged sexual assault. Both expressed hope that Mr. Combs could help them launch careers in the entertainment industry.
The Harlem-born rapper has denied all allegations, both those made in the lawsuits and his federal indictment.
Mr. Combs, 54, was arrested on Monday, September 16 at a New York hotel on charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering, sex trafficking by force and transportation for the purpose of prostitution.
federal prosecutor accused him of “creating a criminal enterprise” in which he “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct”.
They said Mr. Combs used drugs, violence and his power to “lure female victims” into prolonged sexual acts known as “Freak Offs.”
Police also revealed they discovered guns, ammunition and more than 1,000 bottles of lubricating oil during raids on Mr Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles in March.
Prosecutors are said to have contacted several witnesses who worked under Mr. Combs and some of the accusers who are now suing him, leaving open the possibility of more charges.
The singer and producer has pleaded not guilty to the three felony counts against him and his attorney told reporters he is a “fighter” and “not afraid of being charged.”
Mr. Combs is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a federal prison notorious for violence and poor prisoner care.
The MDC includes an area of increased security with barracks-style housing reserved for specially detained people, and US media reported that Mr Combs was sharing space with a convicted cryptocurrency fraudster. Sam Bankman-Fried trial.
His legal team had asked for his release pending trial because of the prison’s “horrendous” conditions, but prosecutors argued that he posed a “serious flight risk” and that he Combs was denied bail twice.
If convicted, he faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.
Mr Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, was the first to denounce the self-described “bad boy for life”.
In the lawsuit filed last November, the model and musician accused him of “locking” her up for more than a decade in a “cycle of abuse, violence and sex trafficking.”
Mr. Combs “vehemently” denies these claims. A day after the case went to court, both sides said they had resolved the matter “amicably”, although Mr Combs’ lawyer said the settlement “in no way admitted wrongdoing”. left”.
But in May, CNN obtained surveillance footage showing the businessman-turned-entertainer assaulting Ms. Ventura during a 2016 altercation detailed in her lawsuit.
Mr Combs finally admitted to the incident in an Instagram video two days later, saying he was “disgusted” by what he had done.
“My behavior on that video was inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions,” he said.
At least 27 others – including several men – have issued their own statements. Below are details from several of the cases – many of which included plaintiffs who filed anonymously.
Joi Dickerson-Nealwho said Ms. victim of revenge porn by filming the assault and showing it to them. others.
Representatives for Mr. Combs say the lawsuit is “purely a money grab” and have asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
Liza Gardner accused Mr Combs and R&B singer Aaron Hall of plying her with alcohol and then forcing her to have sex with them against her will when she was 16 years old. She also claimed that Mr. Combs visited her home the next day and strangled her until she lost consciousness. Mr Combs’ lawyers have dismissed the claims as “bogus”.
The three lawsuits were initially brought under the New York State Adult Survivors Act, which gives adult victims a one-year window to bring claims against their abusers regardless of the statute of limitations .
A woman so far only identified as Jane Doe claimed that Mr. Combs, former Bad Boy Records president Harve Pierre and a third person violently gang-raped her in a New York City studio when she was a 17-year-old high school student.
A few days later, Mr. Combs broke his silence on social media over “sick allegations… by individuals looking for a quick payday.” His lawyers are seeking to have the case dismissed as “baseless and time-consuming”. Meanwhile, Mr. Pierre called the lawsuit a “fictional story”.
Rodney “Lil Rod” Jonesa producer and cameraman who worked on Mr Combs’s most recent album, has accused the tycoon of running an illegal racketeering business in which he was forced to buy drugs, solicit prostitutes and filming sexual acts. He also claimed Mr. Combs and actor Cuba Gooding Jr. groped him without consent.
Grace O’Marcaighwho worked on a yacht chartered by Combs’ family in 2022, accused the rapper and his son, Christian “King” Combs, of sexual assault. She blamed them for creating a “depraved environment” with suspected prostitutes and top celebrities on board.
Crystal McKinney claimed that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Mr Combs after a Men’s Fashion Week event in 2003 when she was 22 years old. She also said he later “threatened” her in the modeling world.
April Lamproswho said she met Mr Combs as a student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology in 1994, detailed “four terrifying sexual encounters” throughout the early 2000s.
Adria Englisha former adult film actress who worked with Mr Combs in the 2000s, said he used her as a “sexual pawn for the pleasure and financial gain of others” in the ” “White Party” that he hosted at his homes in New York and Miami.
dawn Richardswho sang in two groups assembled by Combs including Danity Kane, said she witnessed firsthand his violence against Ms. Ventura and that he threatened her life when she try to intervene.
Thalia Graveswho is backed by famous attorney Gloria Allred, claims Mr. Combs and his bodyguard Joseph Sherman sedated, overpowered and tied her up before recording themselves raping her and then distributing the sex tape.
Six anonymous accusers: Six lawsuits was filed on October 14 by four men and two women. One of the women accused Mr. Combs of raping her at a hotel, and another lawsuit alleges the rapper ordered a 16-year-old boy to undress while the teenager was talking to him about breaking into the music industry.
Ashley Parham filed a lawsuit on October 15, claiming that Mr. Combs raped her in “revenge” for a comment she made suggesting he was responsible for the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. Shakur’s murder has never been solved, but a man currently on trial for the murder previously claimed that Mr. Combs paid for him to be killed.
Mr Combs’ legal team has dismissed the series of lawsuits as “clear attempts to attract public attention”.
“Mr. Combs and his legal team have complete confidence in the truth, their legal defense, and the integrity of the judicial process,” his attorney said in a statement, adding: ” Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone – adult or minor, male.” or women.”
Nine more lawsuits were filed anonymously between October 20 and October 28. Many of the lawsuits were filed by adults who said they were underage at the time of the alleged sexual assault.
The two male accusers in the lawsuit said they were sexually assaulted when they met the mogul about his music career when they were teenagers.
Some of the lawsuits include details showing incidents occurred at some of Mr. Combs’s infamous parties.
Five more anonymous lawsuits filed a lawsuit against Mr. Combs on November 19 from three men and two women. The lawsuit focuses on allegations of sexual assault at parties with at least two of them making rape allegations against Mr. Combs.