Some high-profile names who were allegedly involved in assaults tied to Sean “Diddy” Combs’ arrest have quietly paid off his accusers, according to a lawyer.
Tony Buzbee — who is representing more than 120 of Combs’ alleged victims — told TMZ that “big celebrities … are going to be sued for allegedly helping him carry out and cover up sexual assaults, unless they settle out of court.”
Buzbee tells the outlet that his firm is set to sue several famous names “everyone has heard of.” To avoid a trial and public embarrassment, Buzbee has sent out letters and is giving these A-listers the chance to settle quietly, and he says some already have.
“In every single case, especially cases like this … because it’s in the best interests of the victim, we attempt to resolve these matters without the filing of a public lawsuit and we’ve done that already with a handful of individuals, many of which you’re heard of before,” Buzbee said, according to a report published by the Daily Mail.
After numerous allegations from women accusing him of sexual assault, Combs, 54, was arrested on Sept. 16 in Manhattan and charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking with the accusations stretching back decades.
Buzbee has promised to “aggressively” pursue cases against any offender who witnessed alleged abuse that occurred and stood idly by.
“If you were there in the room, participated, watched it happen and didn’t say anything or helped cover it up, in my view, you have a problem,” he said. “A lot of people saw this activity going on, a lot of people allowed it to go on, said nothing, didn’t intervene … all of these individuals and entities have exposure.”
But finding out who some of these notable names are won’t happen anytime soon, Buzbee said.
“Everyone is focused on what other celebrities were involved, who is going to be named, who is going to be outed. I don’t expect that to happen this week,” he said. “We want to make sure if we name individuals beyond Mr. Combs that we have done our homework because it is going to create a firestorm, and we understand that.”
According to a criminal indictment, Combs, who was denied bail and remains in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, is accused of using his “power and prestige” to induce female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances dubbed “Freak Offs” that the rapper arranged, participated in and often recorded on video. The events would sometimes last days and Combs and victims would often receive IV fluids to recover, the indictment said.
“He used the embarrassing and sensitive recordings he made of the ‘Freak Offs’ as collateral against the victims, and the indictment alleges that he maintained control over the victims in several ways, including by giving them drugs, by giving and threatening to take away financial support or housing, by promising them career opportunities, by monitoring their whereabouts and even by dictating their physical appearance,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.
After raiding his homes in California and Florida, authorities uncovered drugs, guns with defaced serial numbers, and “more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.”
Some of the abuse claims alleged by police mirror accusations Combs’ former girlfriend Cassie Ventura made against the three-time Grammy winner last fall.
Ventura sued Combs last November, claiming the hip-hop star raped and sex trafficked her over the course of their abusive 10-year relationship.
The lawsuit was settled a day later, however earlier this year, security video aired by CNN showed Combs attacking Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
Following his arrest, Combs was hit with new sexual assault allegations as a woman filed a lawsuit in New York saying she was repeatedly raped and drugged at the music mogul’s homes and became pregnant after one of the encounters
A team of lawyers announced last week that they would be filing 120 sexual assault lawsuits against Combs.
“The biggest secret in the entertainment industry, that really wasn’t a secret at all, has finally been revealed to the world,” Buzbee said at a Houston news conference last week. “The wall of silence has now been broken.”
Of the 120 purported victims, 25 were minors at the time of the alleged assaults. One individual alleged he was 9 years old when he was abused, Buzbee said. The accusations stretch all the way back to 1991 and go up to this year.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and his mother has also spoken out in her son’s defence.
“These individuals saw how quickly my son’s civil legal team settled his ex-girlfriend’s lawsuit, so they believe they can receive a quick payday by falsely accusing my son,” Janice Combs wrote in a statement shared to Instagram by her lawyer, Natlie G. Figgers. “False allegations of sexual assault thwart true victims of sexual violence from getting the justice they deserve.”
Meanwhile, Combs’ lawyers have maintained the “Freak Offs” were between consenting adults and have denied any abuse took place.
“They called them ‘Freak Offs,’ but back when I was a kid in the late ’70s, they were called threesomes,” his attorney Marc Agnifilo told TMZ in their new documentary, The Downfall of Diddy: The Indictment.