Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs faces 120 additional lawsuits

Attorneys announced Tuesday that they plan to file at least 120 lawsuits on behalf of people who say they were sexually assaulted by Sean “Diddy” Combs and his associates.

Houston attorney Tony Buzbee spoke at a news conference alongside advocates for sexual assault victims and co-counsel Andrew Van Arsdale of AVA Law Group, adding that many of the alleged victims have already spoken to law enforcement authorities, including the FBI.

Buzbee said attorneys are now collecting police reports and medical records from hospitals. Some of the alleged victims had drugs found in their systems when they sought medical attention after the sexual abuse, he said.

One drug in particular that kept showing up in the alleged victims’ test results was xylazine, also known as tranq, a non-opioid sedative.

He said most of the alleged victims they represent were afraid to speak out until Combs was arrested and charged by federal authorities in September. He has pleaded not guilty.

“They fear backlash in their community, they fear backlash in their own families. They fear reprisals from the perpetrators and their accomplices. They are right to fear for their own personal safety,” Buzbee said. “I expect that through this process many powerful people will be unmasked and many dirty secrets will be revealed.”

The attorneys said more than 3,000 people have contacted them about possible abuse, and they are now representing 120 plaintiffs. The alleged victims come from more than 25 states, with the majority living in California, New York, Georgia and Florida.

“They’re coming forward now because they finally feel a little safer that he’s behind bars,” Andrew Van Arsdale, managing partner of AVA Law Group, told HuffPost after the press conference. “Its influence and control over their livelihoods and perhaps their physical health is diminishing, and so they are emerging in numbers.”

According to Buzbee, Combs’ alleged victims are evenly split between women and men, with about 62% of them identifying as African-Americans, 30% identifying as white and the rest as Asian or Hispanic, he added.

While each case is different, a common theme is that the alleged victim is lured into a situation where they were given drinks at a party before being sexually assaulted by Combs or his associates while other people watched.

One person who was 22 at the time told the lawyers that if you refused the drink, you would be kicked out of the party, according to Buzbee. He said much of the sexual abuse occurred at auditions or parties, including album releases and Combs’ “all-white parties,” some at well-known locations in New York City.

Those who contacted Combs or his associates after the abuse were sometimes threatened with physical violence or financial repercussions. Buzbee added that the employees who witnessed or assisted in the abuse include individuals whose names are publicly known.

“I imagine as we speak here there are a lot of people who are very nervous,” Buzbee said. ‘You can’t hide skeletons in the closet forever. I would expect that there are a lot of people out there right now who are desperately searching through their memories while deleting their texts and data.

Buzbee said at least 25 were minors at the time of the alleged abuse, with the youngest being 9 years old. The attorney said the child was brought to New York City for an audition by Combs’ record label, Bad Boy Records, but was sexually abused by Combs and his associates at the studio. The boy was promised that he and his parents would get a recording contract, Buzbee said.

The victims’ cases will be filed against Combs individually and could also include corporate entities such as banks, pharmaceutical companies and hotels that Buzbee said profited from the abuse.

An attorney for Diddy did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. He has previously said Diddy is eager to tell his story and has denied allegations of other sexual abuse lawsuits.

Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Online Sexual Assault Hotline or the Website of the National Resource Center for Sexual Violence.