Diddy facing more than 10 new lawsuits in coming days, lawyers say

Sean “Diddy” Combs is expected to be hit with over 10 new civil lawsuits in the coming days, according to a lawyer representing dozens of his alleged victims.

Last September, Diddy was arrested and charged with crimes including sexual trafficking and racketeering. He has since been held in a federal jail in his hometown awaiting trial, which is set to begin on May 5.

Diddy has been denied bail on multiple occasions while awaiting trial, with the first denial coming after he offered a $50million (£38.4million) bond. He was subsequently reportedly placed on suicide watch.

Now, lawyer Tony Buzbee said that more lawsuits will be filed in the next seven to 10 days. He made this announcement as he filed another legal case in New York on behalf of an unnamed man who claims Combs assaulted him in 2015.

The lawsuit states the anonymous accuser, who was performing at an event that Combs attended, and then was drugged at an afterparty and assaulted.

In addition, the plaintiff claims that as he drifted in and out of consciousness, he observed Combs and his entourage allegedly engaging in “group sexual activity” with attendees who appeared “either drugged, unconscious, or as if they were paid escorts.”

Combs’ legal team have denied all allegations levelled against him and gave a statement to the BBC denying these also.

“Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process,” the attorneys said. “In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone—man or woman, adult or minor.”

Buzbee, who is based in Texas, has represented numerous alleged victims of Combs, including one naming Jay-Z as a defendant. The suit, filed in December, accused Jay-Z of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 alongside Combs. Jay-Z has denied the allegations and asked the court to dismiss the case.

The lawyer is filing these suits before a law in New York allowing victims of past sexual assault to file civil lawsuits, even past the statute of limitations, expires in March.

The month prior, another wave of sexual misconduct lawsuits were filed against him by five more anonymous accusers. Three men and two women claim they were drugged and sexually assaulted by the rapper in incidents in New York and Miami dating back to 2001.

Those allegations followed an accusation made in October that Diddy allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted a 10-year-old boy in 2005. Before that, it was reported that over 120 people had come forward with new allegations – including 25 minors.

More recently, he was accused of threatening to eat the flesh of one of the contestants on his 2000s music competition show Making The Band. 

In other news, it was reported that Combs received treatment in hospital ahead of his upcoming sex trafficking trial.

Sources speaking to The New York Post alleged he was transported from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to a nearby hospital “under cover of darkness” last week.

It was claimed he was taken for an MRI scan late Thursday (January 30), which was authorised as his “knee was bothering him”, with sources citing long-standing issues following his running the New York marathon in 2003.

The visit was purportedly done late at night to avoid what a law enforcement source referred to as “chaos” given the high-profile nature of his ongoing case, throughout which Combs has denied all allegations against him.

For more help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.

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