MORE than 100 people will sue rap musician Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs over allegations of sexual assault, rape and sexual exploitation, according to a US attorney.
Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee said some of the alleged victims included minors who had been abused since they were nine years old.
“This is an important problem that we will aggressively pursue,” Buzbee told reporters.
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Erica Wolff, the attorney representing Combs, said the rapper “emphatically and categorically” denies the allegations, calling them “false and defamatory.”
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Buzbee said he and his team “will uncover all possible parties responsible” for the alleged abuse, or “any person or entity involved in or profiting from this bad behavior.”
Wolff said in a statement to the BBC that Combs “looks forward to proving his innocence and clearing his name in court, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation”.
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This legal action is the latest against Combs.
Combs was arrested last week and is facing criminal charges on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. Currently, he is in federal custody after his bail application was denied, which he is appealing.
He has denied all charges of criminal wrongdoing.
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According to Buzbee, who is licensed to practice law in Texas and New York, the total number of victims he represents is 120, with half being men and the other half women from more than 25 states in the US.
He added that 25 of the alleged victims were minors. This is the first time Combs has been accused of sexually abusing children.
The charges cover the period between 1991 to this year, with incidents occurring in Los Angeles, New York and Miami, according to Buzbee. He added that most of the incidents occurred after 2015.
Also read: Sean Combs Faced with New Sexual Harassment Claims in New York
Most of the plaintiffs, he said, claim they were raped after parties hosted by Combs, which were held at well-known venues, as well as at private residences and hotels.
Buzbee said the parties were held to mark album releases, or were New Year’s Eve parties and US Independence Day celebrations. Several others occurred during auditions.
“A lot of times, especially young people who want to get into this industry, are coerced into this kind of behavior with the promise of stardom or the promise that Sean Combs will listen to their records,” Buzbee said.
One man, who was nine years old at the time, claimed he was sexually abused by Mr. Combs and his colleagues at a recording studio in New York while trying to get a recording contract, according to his lawyer.
“If only he wasn’t in power, I feel like I could be someone great. I left this industry because of what Sean Combs did to me,” he said in a statement through his lawyer.
Another man, who was also a minor at the time, claims he was told by Combs that he would be made a “star,” but first he had to visit the rapper alone without his parents.
Once in a private area, his attorney claims Combs then asked the boy to perform oral sex on him.
Buzbee also brought up the case of a then-15-year-old girl, who claimed she was flown to New York for a party Combs hosted and then raped by him and another person.
The lawyer claimed there was a clear modus operandi with the alleged victims typically being given drinks “laced with substances” before being sexually assaulted.
“The biggest secret in the entertainment industry has finally been revealed to the world,” Buzbee said. “The wall of silence has now been broken.”
He added that this is not a class action lawsuit and there will be individual cases filed for each alleged victim.
Andrew Van Arsdale, an attorney at the AVA law group who works with Buzbee, said his firm has received more than 3,000 phone calls from people who say they were harassed by the music mogul.
In addition to the 120 alleged victims, he said his firm is sifting through another 100 cases. (BBC/Z-3)
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