What to Know About the Lawsuits Against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

The music mogul, who faces federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges, has been accused in civil court of raping and drugging people. He has denied the allegations.

In November 2023, the R&B singer Cassie filed a lawsuit against the hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, her former record label head and boyfriend, accusing him of rape, of forcing her to participate in sexual encounters he called “freak-offs” and of ongoing physical abuse for about a decade. Mr. Combs, who is also known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, has “vehemently” denied the allegations.

Over the following months, more than 20 additional lawsuits were filed against Mr. Combs — including more than half of them after he was indicted on federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution in September. He has pleaded not guilty and remains detained in a Brooklyn jail; the trial is scheduled for May 5.

The Lawsuits Against Sean Combs, Known as Diddy

OCTOBER 2024
11 Lawsuits From Anonymous Plaintiffs in federal court in New York

A legal team led by Tony Buzbee, a personal injury lawyer in Houston who has used a phone hotline, Instagram and a news conference to solicit clients with claims against Mr. Combs, filed six suits alleging sexual assaults from 1995 to 2021, followed by five additional suits alleging sexual assaults from 2000 to 2022.

The accusations: In two suits from the first batch of filings, women accused Mr. Combs of raping them at parties in New York City; one plaintiff said Mr. Combs raped her in 1995 at a promotional event for a music video by the Notorious B.I.G. Four of the plaintiffs are men, including one who said he was working security at a White Party in the Hamptons in 2006 when Mr. Combs drugged him, pushed him into a van and raped him. Another man accused Mr. Combs of groping his genitals at a 1998 White Party, when the plaintiff was 16. A third man’s suit involves a 2008 encounter in a stockroom at Macy’s, where he said Mr. Combs forced his penis into the plaintiff’s mouth.

In the second batch of filings, plaintiffs accused Mr. Combs of rape and sexual assault at parties in New York City, Los Angeles and Las Vegas; one woman said Mr. Combs raped her in 2000 at a party after the Video Music Awards when she was 13. Another woman accused Mr. Combs of drugging and raping her after inviting her to his home office to discuss her music career during a 2022 party. One plaintiff accused Mr. Combs of drugging him at an awards show after-party in Los Angeles in 2022, where he said Mr. Combs performed unwanted oral sex on him and encouraged other guests to force the plaintiff into sexual acts. Two of the suits accuse unnamed celebrities of joining Mr. Combs in sexual assault.

The response: Mr. Combs’s lawyers said in a statement responding to the first group of suits that “Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman.” One of his lawyers called the news conference that Mr. Buzbee conducted part of a “reckless media circus,” and said 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.”

More: A Lawyer Seeking Sean Combs Accusers via Hotline Files 6 Lawsuits

Sept. 27, 2024
An anonymous lawsuit in State Court in New York

A woman alleged that Mr. Combs coerced her into forced sexual encounters over a period of several years, in part by compelling her to take drugs that caused her to fall unconscious.

The accusations: The plaintiff, who described herself as a business owner and a model, said that starting in 2021, drivers would take her to Mr. Combs’s homes in Los Angeles, New York and Florida. She says in the suit that Mr. Combs would pay her an allowance “to control her,” record sexual encounters without her permission and pressure her to involve others despite her objections. “Combs would make her ‘perform a show’ for him and would ply her with alcohol and substances until she passed out — she would wake up with bruising and injuries but with no recollection of how she sustained her injuries,” the lawsuit says.

The response: Representatives for Mr. Combs have not publicly responded to the specific allegations, but his lawyers have described the onslaught of legal filings as “baseless allegations that desperate plaintiffs are lodging at him (for the most part anonymously) in civil suits designed to exact a payoff from Mr. Combs and others.”

More: With Sean Combs in Jail, Civil Suits Continue to Pile Up

Sept. 24, 2024
Thalia Graves files a lawsuit in federal court in New York

A woman accused Mr. Combs of drugging and raping her at his recording studio in Manhattan in 2001, saying that she learned in 2023 that the assault had been recorded and shown to others.

The accusations: Thalia Graves says in her complaint that she met Mr. Combs because her boyfriend at the time worked for Bad Boy, Mr. Combs’s record label. The lawsuit says Mr. Combs called and asked to meet in person, picked her up in an S.U.V. and offered her a glass of wine that made her feel “lightheaded, dizzy and physically weak.” She says she lost consciousness after arriving at a recording studio and later woke up to find herself naked and her hands tied behind her back. Ms. Graves added that shortly after Cassie filed her lawsuit, her ex-boyfriend told her that he and other employees had been shown footage of Ms. Graves being raped years earlier.

The response: Representatives for Mr. Combs have not responded to the specific allegations. One of his lawyers, Erica Wolff, said in a statement on Oct. 1 that Mr. Combs “cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.”

More: Woman Accuses Sean Combs of Raping Her in Filmed Attack

Sept. 10, 2024
Dawn Richard files a lawsuit in federal court in New York

Dawn Richard, a singer who came to prominence on Mr. Combs’s MTV reality show “Making the Band,” accused him of threatening her, groping her and flying into “frenzied, unpredictable rages” while he oversaw her career.

The accusations: In the lawsuit, Ms. Richard alleges a culture in which her boss would order her to strip down to her underwear, smack her behind, throw objects such as laptops and food, and at times fail to pay her for her work. She also detailed several occasions in which she said she witnessed Mr. Combs physically abuse Cassie.

The response: Ms. Wolff, a lawyer for Mr. Combs, said in a statement that Ms. Richard had “manufactured a series of false claims all in the hopes of trying to get a payday.” “It’s unfortunate that Ms. Richard has cast their 20-year friendship aside to try and get money from him,” Ms. Wolff said in the statement, “but Mr. Combs is confidently standing on truth and looks forward to proving that in court.”

More: Danity Kane Singer Sues Sean Combs, Alleging Threats and Groping

July 3, 2024
Adria English files a lawsuit in federal court in New York

Adria English accused Mr. Combs of plying her with drugs at his White Parties and commanding her to have sex with guests. In October, her lawyers asked to withdraw from representing her, writing in court papers that she had displayed “undermining behavior and questionable antics.” Ms. English said she was seeking new counsel.

The accusations: In her suit, Ms. English alleges that as an employee who worked at Mr. Combs’s parties in the mid-to-late 2000s, she had been “groomed” into being “a sexual pawn” and had been given ecstasy-laced liquor.

The response: Mr. Combs’s representatives called Ms. English’s claims “fabricated” in a statement. “As we’ve said from the start, anyone can file a lawsuit without proof — and this case is a clear example of that,” the statement said. “Adria English escalated things by filing false police reports and making baseless claims, using high-profile events as a backdrop to harm innocent people.”

More: Lawyers for a Sean Combs Accuser Ask to Withdraw From Her Case

May 23, 2024
April Lampros files a lawsuit in State Court in New York

A woman who met Mr. Combs in the mid-1990s accused him of an “aggressive, coercive and abusive relationship based on sex.”

The accusations: In her lawsuit, April Lampros accused Mr. Combs of four “terrifying sexual encounters,” including two instances of alleged rape and forced oral sex in a parking lot in the 1990s. The suit says that at the end of 2000 or the beginning of 2001, Mr. Combs came to her apartment and began apologizing for his past conduct before he “violently grabbed her and forced himself onto her.” She accused him of kissing and touching her against her will.

The response: Mr. Combs’s legal team moved to dismiss the lawsuit, calling Ms. Lampros’s claims “false” in court papers, and arguing in part that the New York City law Ms. Lampros used to bring her claims — the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law — could not be used to bring suits based on alleged behavior from the 1990s. Some court rulings have cast doubt on whether the law can be used to revive claims from before 2000.

May 21, 2024
Crystal McKinney files a lawsuit in federal court in New York

A former model accused Mr. Combs of forcing her to perform oral sex on him at his New York City recording studio in 2003.

The accusations: In her suit, Crystal McKinney said that when she was 22, she met Mr. Combs at a Fashion Week event and he invited her to his recording studio, where Ms. McKinney said she was given alcohol and marijuana that she later came to believe was laced. She said Mr. Combs led her to the bathroom, shoved her head down to his crotch and, after she refused, forced her to perform oral sex on him.

The response: Representatives for Mr. Combs have not yet responded to the specific allegations, but his lawyers have said that he “emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone.”

More: Sean Combs Accused of Sexual Assault in New Lawsuit

Feb. 26, 2024
Lil Rod files a lawsuit in federal court in New York

Rodney Jones Jr., a music producer who is known as Lil Rod, accused Mr. Combs of making unwanted sexual contact and of forcing him to hire prostitutes and participate in sex acts with them.

The accusations: Mr. Jones says in his complaint that while he worked on Mr. Combs’s latest release, “The Love Album,” Mr. Combs grabbed his genitals without consent, and that he also tried to “groom” Mr. Jones into having sex with another man, telling him it was “a normal practice in the music industry.” According to the suit, Mr. Combs also forced Mr. Jones to “solicit sex workers and perform sex acts to the pleasure of Mr. Combs.” To induce him, Mr. Jones says, Mr. Combs offered him money and also threatened him with violence.

The response: In a statement, a lawyer for Mr. Combs said: “Lil Rod is nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 million lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday. His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines. We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.”

More: Sean Combs Accused of Sexual Misconduct by Music Producer

Dec. 6, 2023
An anonymous woman files a lawsuit in federal court in New York

A woman accused Mr. Combs and two other men of gang-raping her in a New York recording studio 20 years ago, when she was 17 years old.

The accusations: The woman says in the complaint that she met two associates of Mr. Combs at a lounge in the Detroit area, and that they took her on a private plane to New York. There, the suit says, the three men gave the woman copious amounts of drugs and alcohol, and took turns raping her in the studio’s bathroom as she drifted in and out of consciousness. When they were done, the suit says, the woman fell into a fetal position in a bathroom, lying on the floor in pain, and she was soon driven to an airport and put on a plane back to Michigan.

The response: In a statement, Mr. Combs said: “Enough is enough. For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”

More: New Lawsuit Accuses Sean Combs of Raping 17-Year-Old Girl in 2003

Nov. 27, 2023
Liza Gardner files a Federal Lawsuit

Liza Gardner said that in 1990, Mr. Combs sexually assaulted her and then, a couple of days later, choked her so hard that she passed out.

The accusations: In her lawsuit, Ms. Gardner says she was 16 when she visited friends who were members of the R&B group Jodeci, which Mr. Combs produced. After a music industry event in New York City, she was transported to a home in New Jersey for an after-party, where, the suit says, she was “physically forced into having sex with Combs against her will.” The suit was initially filed in New York under the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law that allowed people who said they were sexually abused as adults to file claims even after the statute of limitations had expired. Ms. Gardner’s lawyer withdrew the suit from New York and refiled it in New Jersey after telling the court that he had received information that clarified the location. The lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, said the plaintiff also “had difficulty remembering her age” at the time of the allegations but later said in court papers that she was 16.

The response: In a statement, Jonathan D. Davis, a lawyer for Mr. Combs, said: “The new claims against Mr. Combs for alleged misconduct from many years ago, which were filed at the last minute, are all denied and rejected by him. He views these lawsuits as a money grab. Because of Mr. Combs’s fame and success, he is an easy target for accusers who attempt to smear him.”

More: After Sexual Assault Suits, Are Sean Combs’s Empire and Brand at Risk?

Nov. 24, 2023
Joi Dickerson-Neal files a lawsuit in State Court in New York

Mr. Combs was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 1991 in a lawsuit.

The accusations: Joi Dickerson-Neal accused Mr. Combs of drugging her during an evening out in New York when she was on a break from Syracuse University, where she was a student. She says in her suit that she was eventually driven to a place Mr. Combs was staying, where he raped her and recorded the encounter on video.

The response: Nathalie Moar, a spokeswoman for Mr. Combs, said he “completely denied and rejected” the claims of misconduct. “He recognizes this as a money grab,” Ms. Moar said in a statement. “Because of Mr. Combs’s fame and success, he is an easy target for accusers who will falsify the truth, without conscience or consequence, for financial benefit.”

More: Sean Combs Accused of Sexual Assault by a Second Woman

Nov. 16, 2023
Casandra Ventura files a lawsuit in federal court in New York

“After years in silence and darkness,” Casandra Ventura said in a statement, “I am finally ready to tell my story, and to speak up on behalf of myself and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships.”

The accusations: In the suit, Ms. Ventura says that not long after she met Mr. Combs in 2005, when she was 19, he began a pattern of control and abuse that included plying her with drugs, beating her and forcing her to have sex with a succession of male prostitutes while he filmed the encounters, called “freak-offs.” Mr. Combs also provided Ms. Ventura with “copious amounts of drugs,” including ecstasy and ketamine, and urged her to take them, the suit says, and often became violent, beating her “multiple times each year.” The suit says Ms. Ventura never went to the police because she feared it “would merely give Mr. Combs another excuse to hurt her.” In 2018, the suit says, near the end of their relationship, Mr. Combs forced his way into her home and raped her. Mr. Combs and Ms. Ventura settled the suit one day after it was filed.

The response: A lawyer for Mr. Combs, Ben Brafman, said: “Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations. For the past six months, Mr. Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail. Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s reputation and seeking a payday.”

More: Sean Combs Is Accused by Cassie of Rape and Years of Abuse in Lawsuit; Cassie Settles Lawsuit Accusing Sean Combs of Rape and Abuse