Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of sexual assault against six people, including minor
The accusers are part of what lawyers say is a group of more than 100 alleged victims who are in the process of taking legal action against Combs.
A new wave of lawsuits accuses Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping women, sexually assaulting men and molesting a 16-year-old boy.
At least six lawsuits were filed against the hip-hop mogul in federal court in Manhattan on Monday. They were filed anonymously, two by women identified as Jane Does and four by men identified as John Does.
The accusers are part of what their lawyers say is a group of more than 100 alleged victims who are in the process of taking legal action against Combs in the wake of his sex trafficking arrest last month.
One of the John Does, a man living in North Carolina, alleges that Combs fondled his genitals when he was 16 at one of the rapper’s famous white parties in Long Island’s Hamptons in 1998.
The man alleges that during a conversation about possibly breaking into the music industry, Combs abruptly ordered the then-teen to drop his pants so that Combs could inspect his penis.
According to the man’s lawsuit, Combs explained to him that it was a rite of passage to becoming a music star, at one point asking the then-teen: “Don’t you want to break into the business?”
The man said he complied out of fear, anxiety and power imbalance he felt with Combs, only realising later that what had happened was sexual assault.
The other lawsuits include allegations of rape, forced oral sex and drugging to incapacitate victims.
In a statement, Combs’ lawyers said the rapper and his legal team “have full confidence in the facts, their legal defences, and the integrity of the judicial process”.
The statement continues: “In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone—adult or minor, man or woman.”
When the planned lawsuits were announced on October 1, a lawyer said Combs “cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus”.
Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges alleging he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
Combs’ lawyers have been trying unsuccessfully to get the Bad Boy Records founder freed on bail. He has been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn since his September 16 arrest.
Two judges have concluded that Combs would be a danger to the community if he is released from the Metropolitan Detention Centre, a facility that has been plagued by violence and dysfunction for years.
At a bail hearing three weeks ago, a judge rejected a 50 million dollar bail package, including home detention and electronic monitoring, after concluding that Combs was a threat to tamper with witnesses and obstruct a continuing investigation.
On Friday, an appeals court judge denied Combs’ immediate release from jail while a three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals weighs his bail request.
