Sean 'Diddy' Combs faces 120 more sexual abuse claims, including 25 victims who were minors
Sean "Diddy" Combs is set to face lawsuits from more than 100 people for allegations of sexual abuse and sexual assault.
Texas-based lawyer Tony Buzbee announced the pending civil lawsuits during a press conference Tuesday. The attorney revealed he's representing 120 accusers, who are bringing allegations of "violent sexual assault or rape," "facilitated sex with a controlled substance," "dissemination of video recordings" and "sexual abuse of minors" against the embattled music mogul, among other offenses.
"We will expose the enablers who enabled this conduct behind closed doors," Buzbee said. "We will pursue this matter no matter who the evidence implicates."
Buzbee added: "It's a long list already, but because of the nature of this case, we are going to make damn sure that we're right before we do that. But the names that we're going to name ... are names that will shock you."
This new wave of legal action follows Combs' September arrest and subsequent arraignment for sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. The rapper, who has maintained his innocence amid an avalanche of civil lawsuits alleging sexual and physical abuse over the past year, remains in custody at the Special Housing Unit at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.
The cases, brought by 60 men and 60 women, span incidents going as far back as 1991, Buzbee said. Twenty-five of the accusers were minors when they were allegedly assaulted by Combs.
"When you talk about the ages of the victims when the conduct occurred, it's shocking," Buzbee said. "Our youngest victim at the time of the occurrence was 9 years old. We have an individual who was 14 years old. We have one who was 15."
Combs' legal team denied any "false and defamatory" claims made against him.
"As Mr. Combs' legal team has emphasized, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus," Combs' attorney Erica Wolff said in an emailed statement to USA TODAY Tuesday. "He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation."
USA TODAY has reached out to Buzbee for comment.
Diddy: Music mogul is 'fighting for his life' amid sex trafficking charges. What does this mean for him?
Attorney Tony Buzbee called claims 'gut wrenching and heartbreaking' at Diddy press conference
Buzbee previously announced his law firm would pursue claims against Combs on Saturday in an Instagram post, adding that "many were minors" when the alleged incidents took place.
"This group of brave individuals include both men and women; many were minors when the abuse occurred. Some of these brave individuals reported the incidents to the police, others did not," Buzbee wrote.
Unraveling old lawsuits, allegations: Diddy arrest punctuates long history of legal troubles
"Each individual story is gut wrenching and heartbreaking. The acts complained of occurred at hotels, private homes, and also at the infamous PDiddy 'Freak Off' parties. The violations against this group of individuals are mindboggling and can only be described as debauchery and depravity, exacted by powerful people against minors and the weak."
Buzbee's Texas law firm has represented victims in high-profile cases before, including a July lawsuit leveled against R&B singer Chris Brown. He also represented 22 women who sued Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson during his time in Houston and accused him of sexual misconduct during massage sessions from early 2020 to March 2021.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' recent legal troubles
The criminal charges against Combs arrive nearly a year after the rapper's ex-girlfriend and "Me & U" singer Casandra "Cassie" Ventura accused Combs of rape, sex trafficking and physical abuse in November 2023. The lawsuit spurred multiple civil suits leveled against him with allegations of rape, sexual assault and similar claims as the ones listed in the indictment unveiled by investigators.
Combs and Ventura settled for an undisclosed amount a day after her lawsuit filing, but the unsealed indictment marks the first criminal charges on the latest allegations against the Bad Boy Records founder. Combs has denied all accusations against him, although he publicly apologized in May after surveillance video leaked of him physically assaulting her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
Prosecutors allegedly have "dozens" of videos depicting Combs' so-called "freak offs" – sometimes dayslong sex performances between sex workers and people he allegedly coerced into participating through narcotics and intimidation – that corroborate witness testimony.
Combs' indictment states Homeland Security Investigations agents procured drugs and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant that were allegedly used in Combs' "freak offs" in the March 25 raids of Combs' homes. Multiple AR-15 rifles and large-capacity magazines were also allegedly discovered.
Additional allegations of sexual abuse followed in the wake of Combs' arrest. A woman, whose boyfriend purportedly worked as an executive at Bad Boy Records, claimed Combs and his former bodyguard "viciously raped" her in 2001 in a Sept. 24 complaint. Another woman, in a lawsuit filed Friday, alleged he drugged and impregnated her over a four-year span of abuse.
Contributing: Brent Schrotenboer and KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sean 'Diddy' Combs accused by over 100 people of sexual abuse
