More than 100 to sue Sean 'Diddy' Combs

More than 100 people are suing rap musician Sean 'Diddy' Combs for sexual assault, rape and sexual exploitation, a US lawyer has said.

Texas-based lawyer Tony Buzbee said that some of the alleged victims include minors as young as nine years old.

"This is an important matter that we intend to aggressively pursue," Mr Buzbee told reporters.

Erica Wolff, a lawyer representing Mr Combs, said the rapper "emphatically and categorically" denies the allegations, saying they are "false and defamatory".

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Mr Buzbee said he and his team “will leave no stone unturned to find potentially liable parties” in the alleged abuse, or “any individual or entity who participated in or benefited from this egregious behaviour”.

Ms Wolff said in a statement to the BBC that Mr Combs "looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation".

The legal action is the latest against Mr Combs.

Mr Combs was arrested last week and is facing criminal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. He is currently in federal custody after he was denied bail, which he is appealing.

He has denied all allegations of criminal wrongdoing.

According to Mr Buzbee, who is licensed to practice law in Texas and New York, the total number of alleged victims he is representing is 120, with half of them being men and the other half women who hail from more than 25 states across the US.

He added that 25 of the alleged victims he is representing were minors. This marks the first time that Mr Combs has been accused of sexually abusing children.

The allegations span between 1991 to as recently as this year with the incidents taking place in Los Angeles, New York and Miami, Mr Buzbee said. He added most of the incidents occurred after 2015.

Most of the plaintiffs, he said, allege they were date raped after parties hosted by Mr Combs that were held at well-known venues, as well as private residences and hotels.

Mr Buzbee said the parties were either to mark an album release, as well as New Year’s Eve parties and US Independence Day parties. Others occurred at what he said were auditions.

“Many times, especially young people wanting to break into the industry, were coerced into this type of conduct in the promise of being made a star or the promise of having Sean Combs listen to their tape,” Mr Buzbee claimed.

Mr Buzbee said that this is not a class action lawsuit and that there will be individual cases filed for each alleged victim.

Source: BBC