By The Independent (World News) | Created at 2024-10-21 18:40:23 | Updated at 2024-10-21 23:18:54
4 hours ago
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs is facing another wave of sexual assault and rape accusations, according to a new report.
Five new civil suits against Combs were filed on Sunday in the Southern District of New York, according to NBC News.
The plaintiffs accuse Combs of sexually assaulting or raping them in separate incidents between 2000 to 2022. Two of the plaintiffs are men, and three are women. One of the women claims she was 13 when Combs allegedly assaulted her at an MTV Video Music Awards after-party.
The lawsuits, which were filed by an attorney in Texas, do not name the plaintiffs.
In addition to the assaults, Combs is also accused of drugging one of the men and all of the women plaintiffs.
The attorney who filed the lawsuits, Tony Buzbee, told NBC News he planned to file two more lawsuits related to Combs, and then expected "weekly" suits while his team gathers evidence.
"We expect to be filing cases weekly naming Mr Combs and others as defendants as we continue to gather evidence and prepare the filings," he told NBC News.
Buzbee filed six lawsuits against Combs last Monday, making this the second week of his filings. That set of filings included allegations from a plaintiff claiming that Combs laced baby oil with Rohypnol, an drug often used in date-rape crimes.
"Combs particularly fancied the use of the popular date-rape drug Rohypnol, or GHB, to commit heinous non-consensual acts of sexual violence and rape against countless victims," the lawsuit claims.
The Independent has requested comment from Combs’ defense.
Combs legal team denied all of the accusations made in Buzbee's filing last week.
“Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process,” Combs' team said in a statement. “In court, the truth will prevail that Mr. Combs has never sexually assault anyone — adult or minor, man or woman.”
Combs is currently being held without bail in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center after he was slapped with federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
His trial is scheduled to begin on May 5.
In addition to gathering evidence from witnesses, prosecutors are also pulling potential evidence off of the more than 90 devices they seized from Combs' properties.
Combs' legal team has filed a petition to have the alleged victims in his lawsuits identified so that they can prepare their defense. They also filed a motion on Sunday to gag the alleged victims, arguing that their statements could prejudice a potential jury against Combs.
More than 120 alleged victims have accused Combs of sex crimes thus far. Combs has denied all of the charges against him. His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said the rapper intends to testify at his trial.
