As of October 11:
Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing a series of new civil lawsuits filed on Monday in federal court. The five complaints, representing three males and two females, span incidents from 1995 to 2021, including allegations of sexual assault and rape. One lawsuit involves an alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old college student in a Manhattan hotel room. Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee, representing the plaintiffs, filed the lawsuits under the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act, which allows victims to file older claims until March 2025. Buzbee emphasized the legitimacy of the cases and accused Combs of believing he could act with impunity.
According the NBCNews, Combs and his businesses are named as defendants, with the accusers seeking unspecified damages. These new lawsuits come as Combs faces criminal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. Federal prosecutors are reviewing evidence from over 90 devices seized during raids at his properties, with a criminal trial set for May 2025.
These civil filings follow previous lawsuits, including one from Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, who accused him of years of abuse. That case was settled in November 2023, but Combs continues to deny all allegations, labeling them as financially motivated. Combs is currently being held in pre-trial detention, having been denied bail twice, while his legal team seeks to appeal those decisions and pursue an evidentiary hearing on claims of government leaks to the media.
As of October 3:
Sean “Diddy” Combs, is now facing potential legal battles as more than 100 individuals, represented by Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee, are preparing to file civil suits against him. Buzbee, in a press conference on Tuesday, stated that his firm, The Buzbee Law Firm, along with the AVA Law Group, has been retained by at least 120 individuals to pursue cases related to sexual abuse, exploitation, and other serious allegations against Combs. Half of the accusers are women, while the other half are men, with 25 individuals reportedly being minors at the time of the incidents, CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister reports.
The allegations span multiple locations, including Los Angeles, New York, and Miami, and are tied to parties and music industry-related auditions, according to Buzbee. The claims include sexual assault, rape, false imprisonment, dissemination of video recordings, and sexual abuse of minors. The cases are expected to be filed individually in the coming weeks as Buzbee’s firm continues to vet and collect evidence. Combs is not the sole defendant in some cases, as other individuals and entities may also be named based on the evidence gathered.
“As Mr. Combs’ legal team has emphasized, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus. That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors,” the rapper’s lawyer, Erica Wolff, said in a statement. “He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court if and when claims are filed and served, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”
Combs is currently incarcerated at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. His legal team is appealing for his release while he awaits trial.
Since November 2023, Combs has faced 12 civil lawsuits, 11 of which directly accuse him of sexual assault. Combs has publicly denied many of these allegations, maintaining his innocence. While he has settled one of the claims, there are still several active lawsuits to which he has not yet responded.
As of September 27:
Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing another serious legal challenge, as a new lawsuit was filed on September 24, 2024, accusing him of raping a woman in 2001 at his New York recording studio. The woman, Thalia Graves, alleges that both Combs and his head of security, Joseph Sherman, drugged and raped her during the attack, which was also reportedly filmed. This incident took place after she was lured to a meeting at Bad Boy Recording Studios under false pretenses. Graves further claims that the video was shown to others and sold as pornography.
This lawsuit follows a federal indictment that was unsealed earlier in September, accusing Combs of running a vast network of racketeering, sex trafficking, and violence. These charges come amid a wave of legal action sparked by a previous lawsuit filed by singer Cassie (Casandra Ventura) in late 2023. In response to these accusations, Combs has pleaded not guilty and is currently being held without bail. His legal team maintains his innocence.
The new lawsuit, filed under New York’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act, seeks damages and the destruction of any copies of the alleged video recording. This legal situation continues to unfold, adding to a growing list of allegations against Combs, raising significant concerns about his past behavior and future legal battles.
Combs was taken into custody last week and is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
As of September 17:
Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested Monday evening at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, following an indictment from a grand jury, authorities said. Combs, who has faced multiple sexual assault lawsuits and a federal human trafficking probe over the last year, was taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents, CNN reports.
The specific charges against the music mogul remain unclear, but the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, confirmed the arrest in a statement. “Earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY,” he said. “We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”
Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, criticized the decision to pursue charges, calling the prosecution “unjust.” Per the report, Agnifilo said, “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sean “Diddy” Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community.”
Agnifilo continued by emphasizing his client’s cooperation with investigators, adding, “To his credit, Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Combs, 54, has been under intense scrutiny in recent months, and this arrest is the latest in a string of legal challenges he’s faced. The federal investigation includes a sex trafficking probe and a series of sexual assault lawsuits. In one of the most recent cases, former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard filed a lawsuit on September 10, accusing Combs of verbal abuse, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Earlier this year, Homeland Security agents conducted raids at Combs’ properties in Los Angeles and Miami as part of the human trafficking investigation. HSI confirmed the searches in a statement, saying, “Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners.”
Additionally, Combs faced public scrutiny when CNN released a video in May showing him physically attacking his then-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, in 2016. The footage aligned with claims made in a lawsuit Ventura filed in November 2023. Although the lawsuit was settled one day after being filed, it added to the growing list of legal issues confronting the entrepreneur.