The lawsuits against Sean “Diddy” Combs and the rapper’s arrest weeks ago opened a real Pandora’s box. According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter portal, there would be around 120 people complaining about the musician for sexual crimes (assault, abuse and trafficking) for more than three decades.
Tony Buzbee, an attorney for the future plaintiffs, said today that he represents men and women who accuse the music mogul of sexual crimes dating back to 1991, several of whom were minors at the time of the alleged incidents. Many of them say they were sexually assaulted after being drugged, the lawyer said.
Additionally, during a press conference announcing the lawsuits, Buzbee added that companies and individuals who knew about and benefited from ignoring Combs’ misconduct will be named in the litigation. They could include Bad Boy Entertainment and its president Harve Pierre, Universal Music Group and Epic Records, among several others who have already been involved in legal action over Combs’ alleged crimes.
Some of the complainants have already spoken to authorities before and after a three-count indictment was filed against Combs for sex crimes related to an alleged pattern of physical and sexual violence. Federal prosecutors charged him with sex trafficking and extortion for running a vast criminal enterprise through which he assaulted and trafficked women with the help of his various business partners since at least 2008.
The volume of accusers in a case about alleged sexual crimes “is enormous,” notes The Hollywood Reporter. After they are filed, Combs could face up to 132 lawsuits related to sexual assault allegations. The accusers, divided equally between men and women, are located in 25 states, with the majority residing in California, New York, Georgia and Florida, the lawyers said.
“Some of this behavior occurred in familiar locations” and in “private residences of people we all know,” Buzbee added. The age of the victims was an important component of the announcement. The youngest accuser was 9 years old and another was 14 at the time of the alleged incidents, according to attorneys, who said 25 of the 120 individuals who will sue Combs were minors.
Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested on Monday, September 16, for conspiracy to extort, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation for prostitution.
According to a report by Page Six, prosecutors alleged in the indictment that the rapper “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to satisfy his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct” for decades, “creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnappings, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
The singer, who faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, pleaded not guilty to the charges in federal court in Lower Manhattan days after his arrest. However, a judge ordered the Bad Boy Records founder to be held without bail pending trial.
Keep reading:
· Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs would be refusing to eat for fear of being poisoned in prison
· Sean “Diddy” Combs faces new lawsuit for sexual abuse
· Video resurfaces in which Sean “Diddy” Combs ‘jokes’ about locking women up at parties