Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing seven new lawsuits

NEW YORK (AP) — Seven new lawsuits have been filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs, including one for raping a 13-year-old girl. They came as his lawyers again tried to have him released on bail on Monday, complaining that a “new wave of publicity” was jeopardizing his right to a fair criminal trial.

In the lawsuits filed Sunday in state and federal courts, four men and three women, all anonymously, allege that they were sexually assaulted at parties by Combs over the past two decades.

Combs, 54, pleaded not guilty in an indictment unsealed the day after his Sept. 16 arrest. The charges include allegations that he coerced and abused women for years, aided by employees and associates, and silenced victims through extortion and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical violence.

He remained jailed pending a May 5 trial after two judges denied bail in rulings that were being appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Combs’ lawyers on Sunday asked a judge to order potential witnesses and their lawyers to stop making statements that could prevent a fair trial.

“As the Court is aware, Mr. Combs has been the target of a never-ending barrage of allegations from potential witnesses and their attorneys in the press,” they wrote. “These potential witnesses and their attorneys have made numerous inflammatory extrajudicial statements in the press designed to assassinate Mr. Combs’ character.”

The latest lawsuits come from more than 100 accusers who plan to take legal action against Combs. Plaintiffs’ attorney Tony Buzbee announced the proposed litigation at a news conference on Oct. 1 and released a 1-800 number for plaintiffs to call.

Combs’ representatives continued to dismiss the latest lawsuits as “clear public relations attempts.” They said Combs and his legal team had “full confidence in the facts, their legal defense and the integrity of the judicial process.”

Combs “has never sexually assaulted anyone – adult or minor, male or female,” they added.

One of the lawsuits filed Sunday alleges that a 13-year-old girl who was invited to a party by a limo driver after the Video Music Awards in Manhattan in September 2000 was approached by a “male celebrity” and then identified by Combs was raped only as “Celebrity A,” a man, and “Celebrity B,” a woman, watched.

Another lawsuit alleged that Combs sexually assaulted a 17-year-old male at a penthouse party at a Manhattan hotel in 2022.

The lawsuits alleged that the plaintiffs believed they had been fed drug-laced drinks before the attack.

Meanwhile, Combs’ lawyers told the 2nd Circuit in a filing Monday that he would renew his bail request in lower court due to “significant changed circumstances.” They said the issues included “constitutional concerns arising from his conditions of confinement and the evidence contained in recently submitted discovery.”

In a filing last week, prosecutors told the appeals court that judges denied bail after evidence showed Combs used “methodical and sophisticated means to silence witnesses during the conspiracy and during the government’s investigation.” and intimidate.”

Do you need help? Visit RAINN’s National Online Sexual Assault Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center website.