 16 December 2024 4:25am
Three more men have accused Sean “Diddy” Combs of rape and sexual assault in a batch of new lawsuits alleging the rapper drugged and assaulted them. The complaints, filed separately in New York Supreme Court on Thursday, involve incidents that allegedly occurred between 2019-22.
Two of the plaintiffs allege they went to parties with Mr. Combs, where he “personally offered” them alcoholic drinks which made them unconscious before they say he raped them.
The rapper’s lawyers dismissed the lawsuits calling them “full of lies”. He remains in custody at a Brooklyn jail.
“We will prove them false and seek sanctions against every unethical lawyer who filed fictional claims against him,” the rapper’s legal team told the BBC in a statement.
The three lawsuits add to over 30 civil cases filed against Mr. Combs, many of which involve similar accusations of sexual assaults dating back to the 1990s.
The rapper has been denied bail three times and is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Thomas Giuffra, the attorney who filed the three lawsuits on behalf of his clients, told the BBC in an interview that more than 60 people have reached out to his office with claims against Mr. Combs.
He said his office had investigated each of the claims and decided to move forward with these three cases.
He said the men decided to file the lawsuits anonymously because they’re afraid of Mr. Combs and his reach and influence.
In one of the new lawsuits, an anonymous plaintiff listed as John Doe accuses Mr. Combs of assault following an encounter at the Marquee nightclub in New York in 2019.
According to his complaint, he joined Mr. Combs and 10 other individuals for a private after party when the hip-hop mogul “personally offered” him a cocktail, after which he felt disoriented. The man alleges that Mr. Combs noticed his disoriented state and said: “He is ready to party.”
The man claims he blacked out and during brief moments of consciousness, he said he noticed a man and a woman recording as he was being raped by the musician.
The following morning, the man claims he was given about $2,500 (£2,000) by the man and woman recording the assault, who said the money came from Mr. Combs.
Another anonymous plaintiff alleges that he attended a party at Mr. Combs’ East Hampton home in the summer of 2020. After consuming alcohol provided by Mr. Combs, the man claims he began to lose consciousness.
While “fading in and out of consciousness”, he alleges that Mr. Combs and others from Bad Boys Entertainment “took turns raping him”.
The third anonymous man claims he met Mr. Combs in 2006 and began working for him.
He alleges that in February 2020, he met Mr. Combs at a hotel to discuss unpaid wages and during that meeting, he claims the rapper prepared him a drink that he believes was drugged.
He says he lost consciousness and woke up to find Mr. Combs assaulting him.
Mr. Combs allegedly told him he would look like an idiot if he went to the police and that no one would ever believe him, the lawsuit states.
Mr. Combs is also separately facing federal criminal charges in a sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
Authorities allege the star orchestrated a long-running scheme involving sexual abuse and exploitation, including arranging drug-fuelled events featuring male sex workers.
Mr. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all the accusations.
His legal team has repeatedly asserted his innocence.
The trial is scheduled for May.
Source:Â BBCÂ