.png)
4 hours ago
1
A fresh round of lawsuits alleging sexual assault have been filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs, though the rapper and mogul continues to deny wrongdoing.
On Tuesday, a man filing in New York’s Southern District court anonymously as John Doe alleged that Combs coerced him into sex acts over a number of years. The man, who worked as an adult entertainer in Las Vegas, claims he was hired by Combs in 2007 to perform a strip show, and was subsequently booked on other occasions lasting until 2012 at hotel rooms and Combs residences across the US.
The lawsuit, obtained by Rolling Stone, claims Combs instructed the man “to perform acts that were outside the scope of the agreed-upon performance and limitations set by plaintiff and his agency”, including sexual intercourse with women. He alleges Combs sexually and physically assaulted him, drugged him with Viagra, and covertly filmed the sexual encounters to use as blackmail material. He also claims Combs manipulated him by promising to assist in the man’s hoped-for music career.
“Combs dehumanised plaintiff and reduced him to a mere object for Combs’ own amusement and to satisfy his own sexual fetishes,” the suit claims. “Combs gravely exploited plaintiff, effectively imprisoning him and controlling him through surreptitious surveillance and filming.”
Combs’ lawyers denied the allegations in a statement to Rolling Stone, saying: “No matter how many lawsuits are filed, it won’t change the fact that Mr Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex-trafficked anyone – man or woman, adult or minor. Fortunately, a fair and impartial judicial process exists to separate fact from fiction, and Mr Combs is confident that he will prevail in court.”
Two other women, also filing lawsuits anonymously on Tuesday, allege that they were drugged and sexually assaulted on multiple occasions at parties held by Combs during the 1990s. One alleges that an assault against her was filmed, and that Combs refused her request to delete the footage. Combs’ lawyers denied the allegations in a statement to Billboard.
On Monday, another man identifying anonymously as John Doe filed a separate lawsuit seen by Billboard regarding an alleged incident in 2015. The man, then an aspiring rapper, claimed he was given a drink by Combs at a party which caused him to lose consciousness, before waking to find Combs groping him. He alleges Combs then tried to coerce him into having sex with an unknown woman, but the man escaped the venue instead.
The man says the incident caused him “pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment and emotional torment”. Lawyers for Combs issued the same aforementioned denial following the allegations.
Combs is currently being held at New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center, having been denied bail three times as he awaits trial on federal charges, separate to the dozens of civil cases he faces.
Those charges, to which he pleaded not guilty, are that he “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others, and led a racketeering conspiracy that engaged in sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice, among other crimes”. A start date for his trial has been set for 5 May.
