Sean “Diddy” Combs faces new civil suit – NBC New York

Sean “Diddy” Combs faces a new civil lawsuit filed Monday in Federal Court.

The complaint, first obtained by NBC News, was filed in the Southern District of New York on behalf of an unnamed woman. The incident alleged in the complaint dates back to 2004 and includes allegations of sexual assault and rape against her in a Manhattan hotel room when she was a 19-year-old student.

The lawsuit was filed by Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who announced during an Oct. 1 news conference that he was representing accusers with allegations against Combs under the Privacy Act. victims of gender-motivated violence. Under the law, victims have a two-year period ending in March 2025 to file older claims.

Buzbee told NBC News, “We’re just going to try to file complaints that we think are credible and legitimate,” Buzbee said.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, names Combs and his various companies as defendants and the accuser seeks unspecified damages.

NBC News has not independently corroborated any of the allegations in the complaint.

“There’s a general theme here, as you can probably see, which is basically that Sean Combs feels like he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants,” Buzbee said in an interview with NBC News before filing a complaint.

NBC News has reached out to Combs’ legal team for comment. However, Combs has previously denied all civil and criminal charges filed through his lawyers, saying the accusations against him were “sickening” and were the result of people looking for a “quick payday.”

The new filing comes as the embattled music mogul fights pretrial detention on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges. Although the specific allegations in the lawsuit are new, court documents paint a disturbing picture of drug-fueled parties combined with violence that mirror some details of his criminal indictment filed by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York this month. last.

This latest trial comes after a New York judge set a May 5 trial date for Combs’ criminal case. He is currently awaiting trial at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Federal prosecutors said at a hearing last week that they were reviewing data from more than 90 devices belonging to Combs that were seized from his properties during searches earlier this year and during his arrest in New York.

Combs, who was twice denied bail by two different judges, is seeking to overturn those decisions. In a filing before last week’s hearing, Combs’ lawyers filed a bail appeal with the federal appeals court in New York.

Buzbee’s latest civil suit is one of several filed since Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Cassandra “Cassie” Venture, filed a federal lawsuit in New York nearly a year ago, accusing Combs of physical and sexual abuse over a period of years. Combs and Ventura settled for an undisclosed amount the next day. In a statement at checkout, Combs has denied all allegations.

But in May, CNN released surveillance video of Combs beating Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. Combs later apologized for the incident, but said it was an isolated case and that he had received therapy and changed.

Last week, Combs’ legal team filed a petition claiming the government provided CNN with video of the incident involving Ventura and was responsible for leaking other information to the media.

“Between the grand jury leaks and inflammatory public statements, agents have virtually assured that the grand jury will be tainted as well as the general public from whom we will soon select a jury,” the filing states.

Combs’ legal team is requesting an evidentiary hearing in the case, but prosecutors have denied the accusations. The judge in the case said during last week’s hearing that he would likely impose a mutual silence preventing both sides from engaging with the media.

In the months following Ventura’s trial, several people sued Combs, including Dawn Richard, a former member of the girl group Danity Kane, who alleged that Combs groped, assaulted and imprisoned her and threatened with her life.

— Dan Mangan, CNBC contributed.

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