Diddy lawsuit: Buzbee Law Firm says cases go back to 1991, youngest victim was 9
HOUSTON - A Houston lawyer says he's been contacted by thousands of people who say they were victimized by Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Attorney Tony Buzbee says 3,285 people have reached out to him claiming to be victims of Sean Combs. Buzbee says after some vetting, he now represents 120 people who will bring individual civil lawsuits against P Diddy, 60 males and 60 females, including 25 children.
SUGGESTED: Harris County woman claims Diddy violently sexually assaulted her at Bad Boy studio in 2001
Some of the accusations are extremely disturbing.
"The youngest victim at the time of the occurrence was 9-years-old. We have an individual who was 14-years-old," Buzbee said. "Most of these events and incidents occurred at parties, typically at after parties, New Year's Eve parties, album release parties, Fourth of July parties, something they call a puppy party, a white party. Although several of these events happened at auditions."
"Some of this behavior occurred at private residences of people that we all know. Some of this behavior occurred at hotels that we're all familiar with. You should know that more than 55% of the victims filed reports reported this conduct to police or hospitals...many who did in fact seek medical treatment were drug tested and drugs were found in their system. Weird drugs. Drugs you've probably never heard of. One in particular that continues to pop up is xylazine or "tranq", which, based on our research, is known as a horse tranquilizer," Buzbee said.
According to the attorney, all the children had been auditioning for Combs.
"All seeking either TV or some sort of music career with promises of we're going to make you a star. Instead, basically did things to them such that they don't want to have anything to do with the entertainment industry ever again. This individual, who was 9-years-old at the time, was taken to an audition in New York City with Bad Boy Records...this individual was sexually abused allegedly by Sean Combs and several other people at the studio, in the promise to both his parents and to him, of getting a record deal. Another instance, another minor told, allegedly by Sean Combs, that he would make him a star, but he needed to visit in private...allegedly Mr. Combs made the victim perform oral sex upon him. An individual, 15-years-old at the time was drugged and then taken into a private room, all in the presence of Mr. Combs, where a female minor was raped," says Buzbee.
"It was not your fault. You were victimized by a group of powerful people that operated for 30 plus years," says Attorney Andrew Van Arsdel, who's working with Buzbee.
"The day will come when we will name names, other than Sean Combs, and there's a lot of names. It's a long list already. Because of the nature of this case, we're going to make damn sure we're right before we do that," says Buzbee.
Several of the 120 people Buzbee is representing have spoken with the FBI. Buzzbee's 120 clients are from 25 states. Most are from California and New York, which is where Buzbee says the alleged attacks usually occurred.
Buzbee says most were given a drink and later woke up with severe damage to private areas of their body, and they couldn't remember what happened.
"The biggest secret in the entertainment industry, that really wasn't a secret at all, has finally been revealed to the world," adds Buzbee, who says the civil suits won't stop at individuals. "But also, include corporate entities who ultimately profited off of this culture and behavior. I'm looking at banks, pharmaceutical companies, hotels."
The attorney says his clients tell him alleged victims were threatened and often paid off.
"Many of these individuals were paid cash, and we know many of these individuals involved, whether they were being assaulted and abused, or witnessing other people being assaulted and abused, and then paid and threatened and told to leave. Typically, they were paid $10,000 in cash and told to leave."
Co-counsel Andrew Arsdale from the AVA Law Group also announced the sexual assault hotline number, 1-800-200-7474, and explained the process for witnesses or victims to report their experiences confidentially.
According to Buzbee, of the 120 people he's representing, 62% are Black, 30% are white, and the remainder are Hispanic or Asian.
We should point out the people standing with Buzbee are part of his team and not alleged victims.