A distinguished Texas lawyer says he’s now working with 120 individuals with a spread of sexual abuse claims in opposition to Sean “Diddy” Combs which have gone by a “stringent” means of vetting and corroboration. The lawyer, Tony Buzbee, claims 25 of the brand new purchasers have been minors on the time of their alleged abuse.
“Once we speak in regards to the ages of the victims when the conduct occurred, it’s stunning,” Buzbee mentioned at a press convention streamed on-line Tuesday. “Our youngest sufferer on the time of the incidence was 9 years previous. We’ve got a person who was 14 years previous. We’ve got one who was 15.”
Buzbee mentioned the youngest alleged sufferer met with Combs at his Unhealthy Boy workplaces in Manhattan for an audition. The 9-year-old little one was “making an attempt to land a report deal” alongside “different boys” amid a aggressive course of, the lawyer mentioned. “This particular person was sexually abused, allegedly by Sean Combs and several other different individuals, on the studio,” Buzbee mentioned.
Talking from his regulation agency in Houston, Buzbee mentioned one other consumer additionally was underage and hoping to interrupt into the leisure enterprise when he encountered Combs. The music mogul allegedly informed the boy he would “make him a star, however he wanted to go to with him in non-public about it,” away from his dad and mom. “As soon as they have been in a personal space, allegedly, Mr. Combs made the sufferer carry out oral intercourse upon him,” Buzbee mentioned.
The lawyer mentioned the consumer who was 15 years previous alleges she was flown to New York Metropolis to attend a celebration. Buzbee mentioned the teenager allegedly was drugged and raped by Combs. He mentioned total, the youngest alleged victims match a sample. “All have been searching for both TV or some kind of music profession with guarantees of, you realize, ‘We’re going to make you a star,’” Buzbee mentioned. “As a substitute, mainly, [Combs] did issues to them in order that they don’t wish to have something to do with the leisure business ever once more.”
In a press release, Combs’ lawyer, Erica Wolff, mentioned Combs vehemently denies the allegations. “As Mr. Combs’ authorized group has emphasised, he can not handle each meritless allegation in what has turn out to be a reckless media circus. That mentioned, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any declare that he sexually abused anybody, together with minors. He appears to be like ahead to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court docket if and when claims are filed and served, the place the reality might be established based mostly on proof, not hypothesis,” Wolff mentioned.
In response to Buzbee, his group of 120 purchasers contains 60 males and 60 ladies. He mentioned all of them “intend to carry civil claims in civil court docket” in opposition to Combs and attainable co-defendants described as accomplices, silent bystanders, enablers, and company entities resembling resorts, banks and even pharmaceutical corporations. Buzbee mentioned he expects to begin submitting the lawsuits within the subsequent 30 days. In a nod to the chance some claims is perhaps past the statute of limitations, he mentioned New York and California probably will see the vast majority of his purchasers’ claims. New York Metropolis has a look-back window that’s nonetheless open for claims involving gender-motivated violence. California, in the meantime, has a look-back window that may revive sure claims of sexual abuse that contain a cover-up by a company entity.
“I count on that by this course of, many highly effective individuals might be uncovered,” Buzbee mentioned Tuesday, declining to call any names. “A few of this conduct occurred at non-public residences of those who everyone knows. … The names that we’re going to call, assuming that our investigators affirm and corroborate what we’ve been informed, are names that may shock you.” He mentioned somebody who was in a room and watched alleged abuse with out intervening to cease may very well be added as a co-defendant.
“I’d think about as we converse right here, there are a myriad of people who find themselves very nervous,” the lawyer mentioned. “You may’t conceal skeletons within the closet ceaselessly. I’d count on there are lots of individuals on the market proper now who’re desperately looking out their recollections as they delete their texts and knowledge.”
Buzbee mentioned greater than half of his purchasers reported their alleged abuse to both regulation enforcement or medical personnel. He mentioned some examined optimistic for unusual substances. “Medicine have been discovered of their system, bizarre medication, medication that you simply’ve most likely by no means heard of. One particularly that continues to pop up is a drug referred to as Xylazine, or ‘tranq,’ which based mostly on our analysis is called a horse tranquilizer.”
The lawyer mentioned the alleged abuse goes way back to 1991 and infrequently occurred at occasions together with album launch events, New 12 months’s Eve celebrations, Fourth of July gatherings, Combs’ well-known “White Events,” and different social affairs from Hollywood to the Hamptons. “Should you marvel why there are such a lot of alleged victims, that’s your reply. We’re speaking about greater than 25 years of this kind of conduct,” he mentioned. “This has been occurring for a really very long time.”
Buzbee, already recognized in music circles for representing victims of the lethal crowd crush at Travis Scott’s 2021 Astroworld live performance, first introduced his connection to Combs’ case with a social media publish final Thursday. He mentioned he was working with Andrew Van Arsdale of the California-based AVA Legislation Group to signify greater than 50 individuals “who suffered sexual assault and abuse by the hands of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and his cohorts.” On Tuesday, Buzbee mentioned greater than 3,200 individuals had reached out to the regulation corporations in latest days with allegations associated to Combs.
“Every particular person story is gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. The acts complained of occurred at resorts, non-public houses, and in addition on the notorious P-Diddy ‘Freak Off’ events,” he mentioned. “The violations in opposition to this group of people are mindboggling and might solely be described as debauchery and depravity, exacted by highly effective individuals in opposition to minors and the weak.”
Combs, 54, was arrested in Manhattan two weeks in the past as federal prosecutors unveiled his indictment on racketeering and intercourse trafficking prices. In a 14-page indictment, prosecutors mentioned Combs ran a legal enterprise that engaged in “illegal acts of violence together with sexual violence,” interstate transportation for the needs of prostitution, narcotics distribution, arson, bribery, kidnapping, and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors mentioned a important perform of the alleged enterprise was to “lure feminine victims into Combs’ orbit, typically underneath the pretense of a romantic relationship,” after which use “power, threats of power and coercion” to make the victims have interaction in “elaborate and produced intercourse performances” that Combs referred to as “freak offs.” The prolonged intercourse acts typically concerned industrial intercourse staff and would generally final a number of days, they mentioned. Combs allegedly distributed medication to his alleged victims to maintain them “obedient and compliant,” prosecutors mentioned.
Combs pleaded not responsible to the fees within the indictment and was denied bail. At hearings the place they argued for Combs’ launch pending trial, legal professionals for Combs described the “freak offs” in a a lot completely different mild. Combs lawyer Marc Agnifilio argued that the allegedly violent intercourse events have been voluntary. “Is it intercourse trafficking? No, not if all people needs to be there,” Agnifilo informed the court docket. “We’re not all higher off if the federal authorities comes into our bedrooms. They don’t do nice there, and that’s what’s taking place right here. They’re coming into this man’s bed room, and they’re making not simply judgments. They’re charging him with statutes that, as they mentioned, may put him in jail for all times.”
Descriptions of Combs’ alleged “freak offs” first appeared within the graphic assault and sex-trafficking criticism that Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed final November. Cassie alleged Combs compelled her to slather herself in oil and undergo the extremely orchestrated intercourse performances that may trash lodge rooms and go away her badly injured. Her lawsuit mentioned Combs would ply Cassie with “copious quantities” of medication, together with ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana, and alcohol,” and that the intoxicants allowed her to “disassociate throughout these horrific encounters.”
The indictment of Combs unsealed Sept.17 within the Southern District of New York alleged that federal investigators seized greater than a thousand bottles of child oil and lubricant in addition to narcotics and three AR-15 rifles with their serial numbers defaced once they raided Combs’ houses in Los Angeles and Miami Seashore final March.
As he awaits trial in a federal detention heart in Brooklyn, Combs can also be dealing with at the least a dozen civil lawsuits filed within the wake of Cassie’s explosive lawsuit. Two that have been filed final Thanksgiving, simply as New York’s Grownup Survivors Act was set to run out, allege Combs sexually assaulted ladies way back to the early Nineteen Nineties. He and his legal professionals have referred to as the civil lawsuits “fabricated” and filed as a “cash seize.”