More than 100 people are planning to launch a class-action lawsuit against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs alleging that the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment and others sexually abused and exploited them.
The class-action suit, expected to be announced Tuesday in Houston, would be the latest in a wave of legal filings against the disgraced hip-hop music mogul since federal prosecutors in New York unsealed an indictment in September that charged Combs with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. It is not clear when the class-action suit will be filed.
“This is an important matter that we intend to aggressively pursue,” said an attorney for the group, Tony Buzbee, in a statement. “We will leave no stone unturned to find all potentially liable parties, to include any individual or entity who participated in or benefited from this egregious behavior.”
A 14-page indictment released last month accuses Combs of luring female victims to take part in “freak-offs” or elaborate sex performances involving male sex workers that at times lasted days and were sometimes recorded. Combs and his associates, the indictment alleges, used violence, coercion, drugs and bribes to get women to take part in the freak-offs, and to keep the incidents secret.
Prosecutors say victims feared they would be subjected to physical violence or their careers or finances would be harmed if they refused to participate.
Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty and has been in federal custody since his arrest on Sept. 16.
Twelve people — including Combs’ former girlfriend Casandra Ventura — have accused the music mogul of sexual assault in civil court, according to court filings.
Roughly a week after the indictment became public, Thalia Graves sued Combs alleging that he and his bodyguard drugged, bound and violently raped her in 2001 and later showed a video of the attack to others. Graves, the former girlfriend of a business associate of Combs, alleged in the lawsuit that Combs had asked to meet with her to “discuss her boyfriend’s supposed performance issues.”
When she got inside the car with Combs he handed her a glass of wine as they drove to Bad Boys Studios in Manhattan Beach. When she got out of the SUV, she felt odd but assumed it was her fault, so she did her best to act normal. She followed Combs as he led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit then alleges that Combs’ bodyguard slammed her into a table and forced her to perform oral sex on both him and Combs. The Times does not typically name accusers in sexual assault cases unless they come forth publicly, as Ventura and Graves have.
A Florida model, who was not named in court documents, also filed a lawsuit last month against Combs alleging that he paid for her to travel overseas with him for years, pressured her to have sex with other men and women, and gave her drugs and alcohol that caused her to pass out.
The lawsuit alleges that in one instance at Combs’ house in Los Angeles, she was drugged and impregnated. After she told Combs she was pregnant, she was contacted repeatedly by the music mogul’s staff, who urged her to have an abortion, the complaint alleges. According to the lawsuit, the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.
The allegations have amplified questions around the culture of the music industry that some contend allowed the assaults to go unreported for years.
Prosecutors have alleged Combs led a complicated scheme that would have required multiple people to not only know about the behavior, but be involved to recruit victims, prepare hotel rooms with baby oil, drugs and extra linens for the freak-offs, and clean up afterward. It’s not clear if more indictments are coming, but prosecutors said the investigation is ongoing.
“Combs did not do this all on his own,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in announcing the charges. “He used his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way.”
