The claims against the rapper stretch back to 1991 with some accusers saying they were as young as nine at the time, according to a lawyer
Rapper Sean Combs, also known as P Diddy or Puff Daddy, is facing sexual misconduct allegations from an additional 120 accusers, with some claiming to have been minors at the time of the alleged offenses, according to lawyer Tony Buzbee, who is representing the claimants.
The 54-year-old three-time Grammy award winner and prominent hip-hop producer is already facing criminal charges for alleged sex trafficking, drug possession and firearm offenses. Last month, he was arrested at a hotel in New York and has since been incarcerated at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, having been denied bail.
The indictment against Combs claims that he used his influence in the entertainment industry to create a “criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
The rapper is set to face another wave of lawsuits, which are expected to be filed within the next month, according to Buzbee. The Houston-based lawyer has stated that the allegations against Combs stretch back to 1991, and that there are currently a total of 60 male and 60 female accusers. He claims that 25 of them were underage when they were allegedly abused. One person has said that he was only nine years old at the time.
”The biggest secret in the entertainment industry, that really wasn’t a secret at all, has finally been revealed to the world,” the lawyer said, noting that Combs’ conduct over the years had created “a mass of individuals who are injured, scared and scarred.”
Buzbee said the majority of the lawsuits would be filed in New York and Los Angeles, where most of the offenses took place, and that additional cases are also being reviewed.
He also noted that the investigation plans to name other individuals besides Combs who had not only acted as bystanders to his crimes, but actively “participated, encouraged it, egged it on.”
“The names that we’re going to name, assuming our investigators confirm and corroborate what we’ve been told, are names that will shock you,” Buzbee said.
Combs has vehemently denied the allegations against him, while his lawyers have described the case as an “unjust prosecution.”
As for the latest sexual misconduct allegations, Erica Wolff, an attorney for Combs, has dismissed them as “meritless,” and stressed that the rapper denies the claims and looks forward to proving his innocence.