In September, Sean “Diddy” Combs pleaded not guilty to a host of federal charges, including sex trafficking.
Now, in the coming weeks, he is expected to face new allegations and lawsuits from 120 men and women, according to Tony Buzbee, an attorney based in Houston, CNN reported. Twenty-five people say they were minors at the time, Buzbee said during an Oct. 1 press conference.
The allegations will include “violent sexual assault or rape,” “false imprisonment” and “dissemination of video recordings and sexual abuse of minors.” And they’re believed to have happened at various parties and auditions across Los Angeles, New York and Miami. According to Buzbee, the youngest victims are 9, 14, and 15, as USA Today reported.
“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, one of Diddy’s attorneys, said in a statement to CNN on Oct. 1.
She added that Diddy “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.”
Buzbee said that over half of the victims “reported this conduct to either authorities, that is the police, or to hospitals,” per CNN. The firm has more vetting to do and is still collecting evidence, but the cases may be filed within the next 30 days.
It’s also important to note that the alleged victims are not filing a class action lawsuit, so that means each case will be filed individually. In addition to Diddy, other people may be named as defendants.
As Blavity reported, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations searched Diddy’s LA and Miami homes back in March. He’s currently sitting inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York as he awaits trial. At one point, he was placed on suicide watch. His attorney are working to appeal his detention.
