Three men have filed lawsuits against Sean 'Diddy' Combs in New York, alleging that the hip-hop mogul drugged and raped them. The lawsuits, filed anonymously in a state court, come amid a series of sexual assault claims against the rapper and producer, who is also facing federal sex trafficking charges in New York.
One of the plaintiffs claims that Combs drugged and raped him in 2020 during a meeting at the InterContinental hotel in Times Square, where the man had gone to discuss payments he was owed as a longtime employee of the entrepreneur. Another accuser alleges that he met Combs in 2019 at a Manhattan nightclub and was invited to an afterparty at the Park Hyatt hotel, where he was drugged and raped. The man stated that he attempted to resist but lost consciousness after consuming the drugged drink. He also claimed to have received $2,500 after the assault from a person who had been recording the incident.
The third man alleges that he was drugged and raped by Combs and associates from his record label during a summer party in 2020 at Combs’ mansion in East Hampton, New York. Thomas Giuffra, the attorney representing the men, stated that Combs used his power and wealth to exploit the accusers and then silenced them through threats and fear.
‘This is a long overdue opportunity for the victims to take the power back after carrying the burden of the assaults in silence for several years,’ Giuffra said in a statement. ‘While a lawsuit will not undo the wrongs done to them, it enables the survivors to regain the power and dignity that was stripped from them by Sean Combs.’
Attorneys for Combs, the 55-year-old founder of Bad Boy Records, dismissed the claims as baseless. ‘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 every unethical lawyer who filed fictional claims against him.’
The lawsuits involve incidents spanning from 2019 to 2022. The men, all identified as John Doe, claim they were unwittingly served drugged drinks and then sexually assaulted by Combs and others. They are seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages from Combs. Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of coercing and abusing women for years, using a network of associates and employees to organize drug-fueled sexual performances known as ‘Freak Offs’ involving male sex workers. Prosecutors allege that he silenced his victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson, and physical beatings.
Combs has been seeking release pending his trial in May but was denied bail for the third time last month and remains in a federal jail in Brooklyn.
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