Sean “Diddy” Combs was sued Thursday by three new John Doe plaintiffs alleging the Bad Boy Entertainment founder sexually assaulted them in New York in the past five years. The three men allege they were drugged and sodomized by the disgraced music mogul on separate occasions. Combs, who's now under indictment for alleged sex trafficking, denied the accusation through his lawyers.
In one of the new complaints, a John Doe alleges that he attended a party at Combs' East Hampton home in the summer of 2020 and started to black out after drinking alcohol with him. He claims that as he “faded in and out of consciousness,” Combs and some associates “took turns anally kidnapping him.”
A second John Doe alleges that he met Combs at Marquee nightclub in New York in 2019 and joined Combs and about 10 other people for an “exclusive afterparty” at the Park Hyatt hotel. He says Combs “personally offered” him a cocktail that left him feeling disoriented. He claims Combs looked at him in the vulnerable state and proclaimed, “He is ready to party.” The plaintiffs says he lost consciousness and later woke up laying on his stomach on a couch with Combs sodomizing him, while an unnamed man and woman allegedly recorded the encounter. The next morning, the Doe claims the man from the night before gave him roughly $2,500, saying the money was from Combs.
A third John Doe claims he met Combs around 2006 and started working for him and running errands. He claims that in February 2020, he met with Combs at a hotel to discuss missing job payments. He claims Combs mixed him a drink that he believes was drugged. He says he fell asleep and woke up to find that Combs had bent him over the edge of a couch and was sodomizing him.
“These complaints are full of lies. We will prove them false and seek sanctions against every unethical lawyer who filed fictional claims against him,” Combs' lawyers said in a statement sent to Rolling Stone.
The lawsuits were filed by Thomas P. Giuffra, a partner at Rheingold Giuffra Ruffo Plotkin & Hellman LLP. Speaking to Rolling Stonehe says the men came forward because they finally “felt safe” in light of Combs' arrest and others sharing their stories.
“All three of the men who were involved in these cases were all threatened after the assaults with harm, so they've been frightened to come forward,” Giuffra, who represented Harvey Weinstein accuser Alexandra Canosa, says. “I think that's part of how Sean Combs was able to do this for so long. They were afraid. [But] once there was publicity and people were aware there were others … you don't feel like you're the one who's going to be on the hit parade.”
The new complaints add to the nearly 40 lawsuits previously filed against Combs in the past 13 months. They come after Combs' former partner Casandra “Cassie” Ventura first sued him for rape and trafficking in November 2023. That lawsuit was settled within 24 hours, but it opened the floodgates to other allegations and a criminal investigation.
Combs, 55, was indicted in September and has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution. The media mogul was arrested in New York City on Sept. 16 and has been detained since. He's currently housed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. His trial is set for May 2025.
