More than 100 men and women intend to pursue new allegations against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, attorney says
By Elizabeth Wagmeister and Alli Rosenbloom, CNN
(CNN) — Sean “Diddy” Combs may soon be facing new allegations from over 100 men and women who’ve obtained legal representation and plan to file civil suits against the embattled media mogul in the coming weeks, according to Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee.
Buzbee said during a press conference on Tuesday his firm, The Buzbee Law firm along with the AVA Law Group, have been retained by at least 120 individuals “to pursue cases in civil court” against Combs and who contacted them after “claiming to be victimized by” Combs and other individuals or entities.
Some of the cases they intend to file, according to Buzbee, will center on allegations of violent sexual assault or rape, sexual abuse, facilitating sex with controlled subtance, false imprisonment, compelling prostitution, sexual misconduct, dissemination of video recordings and sexual abuse of minors.
The musician and businessman was indicted on federal charges, including sex trafficking, earlier this month. Combs has pleaded not guilty.
Buzbee said that of the 120 people who’ve retained his firm, half of them are men and half are women and that 25 of these individuals were minors at the time of the alleged incidents, which they said occurred in Los Angeles, New York and Miami during parties and, at times, music industry-related auditions.
“As Mr. Combs’ legal team has emphasized, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus. That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors,” Erica Wolff, an attorney for Combs, told CNN in a statement on Tuesday.
Wolff added that Combs “looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court if and when claims are filed and served, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”
The firm said it plans to begin filing these cases within the next 30 days as they continue a vetting and collection of evidence process.
More than 55% of the victims “reported this conduct to either authorities, that is the police, or to hospitals,” Buzbee said, of which his firm is actively working to collect the records of reports made to authorities.
Buzbee also clarified that his firm is not filing a class action lawsuit, rather each case will be filed individually in various states. Combs, he said, will in some cases not be the only defendant cited on the civil suits, as Buzbee says other individuals and entities may also be named based on the claims and the evidence that they’ve collected.
Since last November, Combs has been hit with 12 civil suits, 11 of which directly accuse him of sexual assault. Combs has denied many of the allegations against him and settled one claim, but has not yet responded to all of the lawsuits that remain active.
He is currently incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, where he is awaiting trial on three criminal sex trafficking and racketeering charges after being indicted by a grand jury. Attorneys for Combs are appealing his detention, seeking his release from jail as he awaits trial.
A source previously told CNN that the majority of accusers who filed civil lawsuits had met with federal investigators during their months-long investigation. In March, Combs’ residences in Los Angeles and Miami were searched by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.
After Combs’ arrest, authorities said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
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