Three men pursued Sean “Diddy” Combs in New York on Thursday, claiming the hip-hop mogul drugged and raped them.
The lawsuits, which were filed anonymously in state court, add to a wave of sexual assault litigation against the rapper, producer and record executive, as he also faces federal sex trafficking charges in New York.
Thomas Giuffra, a New York lawyer who filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of the men, said Combs used his power and wealth to take advantage of the accusers, then ensured their silence through threats and fear.
“This is a long-awaited opportunity for victims to take back power after years of carrying the burden of assault in silence,” he said in a statement. “While a trial will not undo the harm done to them, it will allow survivors to regain the power and dignity that was taken from them by Sean Combs. »
In this courtroom sketch, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, left, addresses the judge while Combs, seated second from right, in jail uniform, looks on as from a hearing in federal court in New York on October 10, 2024.
Elizabeth Williams via AP
Lawyers for Combs, 55, founder of Bad Boy Records, said the claims were baseless.
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“These complaints are full of lies,” the lawyers wrote in a statement, declining to provide further details. “We will prove them false and seek sanctions against any unethical lawyer who filed fictitious complaints against him.” »
The lawsuits relate to incidents that occurred between 2019 and 2022. The men, all identified as John Doe, claim they were unwittingly served drugged drinks and then sexually assaulted by Combs and others.
They each requested a jury trial and were awarded unspecified damages from Combs.
One of the men claims Combs drugged and raped him in 2020 when the two met in Combs’ suite at the InterContinental Hotel in Times Square to discuss payments owed to him as a longtime employee. date of the contractor.
Another claims he met Combs in 2019 at a Manhattan nightclub and was invited to an afterparty at Combs’ suite at the Park Hyatt hotel, where he was also drugged and raped.
The man said he tried to resist before the drugged drink left him unconscious. He also said he was paid $2,500 after the attack by a man who recorded the assault in the bedroom.
The third man claims he was drugged and raped by Combs and his label associates during a 2020 summer party at Combs’ mansion in East Hampton, New York.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he coerced and abused women for years, using a network of associates and employees to stage elaborate, drug-fueled sex shows known as “Freak Offs” involving male sex workers.
Prosecutors say he then silenced his victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnappings, arson and beatings.
Combs was seeking to be released until his trial in May, but was denied bail a third time last month and remains incarcerated in a federal prison in Brooklyn.
© 2024 The Canadian Press