By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sean "Diddy" Combs has been hit with seven new sexual abuse lawsuits, as his lawyers asked the judge overseeing the music mogul's criminal sex trafficking case for a gag order against Combs' accusers and their lawyers.
The civil lawsuits were made public on Sunday and Monday by four men and three women over alleged misconduct in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas dating to 2000 but mainly in 2022, the accusers' lawyer Tony Buzbee said on Facebook (NASDAQ:META).
Some lawsuits said unidentified celebrities also assaulted Combs' accusers.
Combs, 54, faces at least two dozen civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct, including 13 from Buzbee's firm.
He has denied wrongdoing. The Bad Boy record label founder has also pleaded not guilty in the criminal case, and is appealing his now five-week detention in a Brooklyn jail known for poor living conditions after being denied bail twice.
The new lawsuits compound the legal problems for Combs, who according to prosecutors coerced victims into participating in sex acts against their will, bribing and intimidating them into keeping quiet, and employing his staff to hide it all.
All seven plaintiffs used the pseudonyms John Doe or Jane Doe. Five sued in federal court and two sued in a New York state court, all in Manhattan.
'READY TO PARTY'
In one new lawsuit, the plaintiff said she was 13 when Combs drugged and assaulted her at an afterparty for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards in New York.
She said Combs and an unnamed male celebrity vaginally raped her while an unnamed female celebrity looked on, after Combs proclaimed "You are ready to party!"
Another accuser said he was a 17-year-old aspiring artist making small talk with Combs at a 2022 party in a Manhattan hotel penthouse, with Combs assuring him that "he could make him a star."
Doe said Combs drugged him with a drink and later assaulted him, including by grabbing his genitals, in a room where others engaged in group sex.
In response to the lawsuits, Combs' lawyers referred to a statement addressing Buzbee's earlier lawsuits.
"Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process," the lawyers said. "In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone - adult or minor, man or woman."
Buzbee's firm said it represents more than 150 of Combs' accusers.
CHARACTER ASSASSINATION
Combs faces a May 5, 2025 criminal trial on three felony counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The gag order request from Marc Agnifilo, Combs' primary lawyer, seeks to block potential government witnesses and their lawyers from making statements that substantially interfere with Combs' right to a fair trial.
Agnifilo objected to numerous statements "aimed at assassinating Mr. Combs' character in the press," including false allegations of sexual abuse of children.
He asked the judge to order prosecutors to reveal whether they authorized such statements, and to order the witnesses and lawyers to take down online statements under their control.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who oversees the criminal case, ordered prosecutors to respond by Oct. 30.
A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan, whose office is prosecuting Combs, declined to comment.
The five new federal civil lawsuits were assigned to five different judges. Two ordered the plaintiffs to justify in writing why they should remain anonymous.