S“Diddy” Combs, the rapper and music mogul credited with helping launch the careers of some of the biggest stars in recent years, is currently facing multiple civil lawsuits over allegations of sex trafficking, sexual abuse, and rape. facing.
Combs, formerly known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, and many other names, has gone through countless reinventions since the start of his career, but has since entered a new and undesirable “era” .
Federal agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security raided two of the rapper’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami on March 25, as he faces a series of various charges.
Federal agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security raided two of the rapper’s homes on Monday.
(AP)
Combs, 54, has strongly denied all allegations against him. His lawyers have branded the lawsuit and the accusations a money grab and “baseless” or “offensive.”
The entertainer has not been formally charged or charged with any crime by federal prosecutors.
The new lawsuit comes months after Combs’ former partner, Cassandra “Cathy” Ventura, filed a lawsuit against Combs in November. She said in 2018 he raped her, beat her, required her to carry a firearm “to make her uncomfortable and show her how dangerous he was,” and “had an unwanted relationship with a male sex worker.” He was accused of forcing her to have sexual contact.
Ms. Ventura’s lawsuit against Mr. Combs was settled the day after she filed suit for an undisclosed amount.
Many of the allegations in the lawsuit against Combs date back to the 1990s, when Combs founded his own record label, Bad Boy Records.
All allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs:
The case against the rapper began on November 16, 2023, when he was sued by his ex-partner, singer and dancer Cassie, who alleges years of abuse.
The lawsuit was filed just before the expiration of the New York Adult Survivors Act. The law gave adult victims of sexual assault one year to file a civil lawsuit, regardless of the statute of limitations.
Cassandra “Cathy” Ventura
R&B singer Kathy, whose real name is Cassandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit in 2023 alleging that Combs trafficked her, raped her and assaulted her over a period of more than a decade.
According to her lawsuit, Combs introduced the singer to a “flashy, fast-paced, drug-filled lifestyle” shortly after they met, and signed her to his label in 2005, when she was 19 and he was 37. He claims that he made a contract with him.
Ventura said a pattern of abuse began soon after they started dating, and when she was trying to end it in 2018, he forced his way into her Los Angeles home and raped her.
The lawsuit against Combs was settled a day after she filed suit for an undisclosed amount.
Ventura told CNN he had chosen to “resolve this matter amicably,” but Combs’ lawyer said the settlement “is in no way an admission of wrongdoing” and changed his denial of the charges. He said there was no.
Kathy (left) and Sean “Diddy” Combs at the 2017 Met Gala. Kathy filed a lawsuit in 2023, alleging that Combs trafficked her, raped her and assaulted her multiple times over a 10-year period.
(Getty Images)
Her charges against Combs were filed through the New York Adult Survivors Act (ASA), which expires at midnight on November 23, 2023.
The law gave survivors one year to file a civil lawsuit, regardless of when the abuse occurred. This meant that a decades-old case was finally brought to light.
By the time it expired at midnight on November 23, 2023, more than 2,500 lawsuits had been filed under the ASA, court data showed. independent person showed that.
Survivors have filed lawsuits against some of the state’s most powerful figures, including major entertainment industry figures such as Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Axl Rose and Combs.
Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones
In the latest lawsuit against Combs, filed in New York on February 26, 2024, producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones alleges that Combs “received unwanted advances from Diddy’s associates at his direction.” , claimed that they were forced into a relationship. With the sex workers Combs hired.
The producer, who worked for Combs from September 2022 to November 2023, alleged that Combs sexually harassed, drugged and threatened her over a period of more than a year.
He said he had video and audio evidence that Combs, his staff and others were “engaging in serious misconduct.”
The complaint also alleges that Combs regularly hosted “sex trafficking parties” with underage women and illegal drugs, and that record company executives turned a blind eye. , implying that he benefited financially from his contacts with celebrities and high-ranking officials, including Britain’s Prince Harry.
Prince Harry has not been accused of wrongdoing or attending his own party.
Combs’ attorney said: Los Angeles Times The suit says it contains “pure fiction and reckless defamation of events that did not actually occur.”
Ryan Mendelsohn, 20, who lived in the area where Combs’ Los Angeles property was raided, told reporters that he would often party at his home and see women outside until 6 a.m. said it was not normal.
“I drive by a lot and I see a lot of girls, maybe five or six girls, coming out, some leaving, some going in,” he said. NBC News.
“I never thought anything of it,” Mendelsohn said, adding that he didn’t know Combs lived there until Monday’s news broke. “But it’s crazy right now.”
Joey Dickerson-Neal
In November 2023, Joye Dickerson-Neal filed a lawsuit alleging that Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1991, when she was a college student, and secretly recorded the assault. NBC News reportedhe said, citing the submitted documents.
She claimed that Combs invited her to go to dinner with him and that she “reluctantly” agreed on January 3, 1991, but that at that time she was given drugs and “as a result she became independent. He became physically unable to stand or walk,” the BBC reported.
The complaint also alleges that he recorded the assault and showed it to others.
She later filed police reports and spoke to prosecutors in New York and New Jersey, but colleagues told her that if she made a statement in support of Combs, Combs would retaliate against her and she would lose future business and music opportunities. “I’m afraid it might happen,” he said. NBC News reported, citing the lawsuit.
more women please come forward
Since November, three more women have filed lawsuits in the Southern District of New York alleging that Combs sexually assaulted them, according to NBC News.
Two of the women said they were teenagers at the time of the alleged assault.
anonymous plaintiff
In November, an anonymous plaintiff accused Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall of raping Combs and a friend after they met at an MCA Records event in New York in 1990 or 1991. Rolling Stone magazine reported.
According to the complaint, Mr. Combs and Mr. Hall invited the women to Mr. Hall’s apartment for an afterparty, and the plaintiff was “offered more drinks and forced to engage in sexual acts with Mr. Combs,” before “Mr. Hall returned to his apartment.” “I was shocked and traumatized by the intrusion.” , held her down and forced Jane Doe to have sex with her,” Rolling Stone reported.
After speaking with a friend, the complainant learned that she was “forced to engage in sexual acts with Mr. Combs and Mr. Hall in another room,” according to the complaint.
A few days later, Combs went to the home where the plaintiff and her friend were staying, where he “became enraged and assaulted Jane Doe, choking her and rendering her unconscious,” the suit alleges.
The Unnamed Accuser “Jane Doe”
In December, Combs was hit with another lawsuit alleging he drugged and gang-raped a 17-year-old girl in 2003.
The plaintiff, who identified herself as Jane Doe, accused Combs of drugging her with drugs and alcohol at his New York studio and then raping her along with two co-workers.
The lawsuit accuses Combs of a “sex trafficking scheme” in which Jane Doe was flown from her home in Michigan to New York by private jet.
Combs’ reaction to the accusations
Sean Combs strongly denies all charges against him and vows to “fight for my name, my family, and the truth.”
In a December statement following the lawsuit, Jane Doe called the allegations “disgusting” and said the accusers were “looking for a quick payday.” .
“To be clear, I did nothing as egregious as has been alleged,” he said in a statement. “I will fight for my name, my family, and my truth.”
Combs’ attorney, Sean Hawley, called the events described in the lawsuit “pure fiction.”
“We have overwhelming and indisputable evidence that his claims are a complete lie,” he said. “We will take these outlandish allegations in court and take all appropriate action against those who made them.”
After the settlement with Ventura, Ben Brafman, another of Combs’ attorneys, said: independent person: “To be clear, the decision to settle the case, especially in 2023, is in no way an admission of wrongdoing.
“Mr. Combs’ decision to settle the case in no way detracts from his blanket denial of the claims.”
“He is pleased that a mutual settlement has been reached and wishes Mr. Ventura the best of luck.”
