Sean "Diddy" Combs is accused in a new lawsuit of drugging and raping a 10-year-old boy during an audition at a hotel in New York City in 2005.
He alleges in the suit that he remembers being given a soda and that he soon "felt funny" and lost consciousness during the attack.
The plaintiff — the most recent of more than two dozen to file sexual assault lawsuits against the rap mogul in the past year — was not identified in the lawsuit beyond that he was an aspiring child rapper and now lives in California.
At least eight of the lawsuits have been brought by plaintiffs alleging they approached Combs in hopes of breaking into the music industry and that Combs abused them after promising to help their careers.
These lawsuits include a plaintiff who was a 16-year-old boy at the time of the alleged abuse. A second lawsuit filed Monday alleges that in 2008, during a Making the Band audition in New York, Combs pressured a 17-year-old boy into having sex with him and a bodyguard named "T." The lawsuit said these encounters were framed by Combs as a "test" of his willingness to do anything to succeed in the business.
The plaintiff who alleges he was 10 years old describes in his lawsuit what began as a routine audition.
"Plaintiff performed several rap songs for Combs," the lawsuit says, describing a meeting at a hotel near Manhattan's Penn Station.
The boy and his parents had flown to New York from their home in Los Angeles for meetings with "numerous people within the music industry;" Combs had insisted he meet with the boy alone in his hotel room, the lawsuit alleges.
"Combs complimented Plaintiff on his rapping, and told Plaintiff that he could 'make him a star,'" says the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in New York.
"Combs asked Plaintiff how badly he wanted to be a star, and what Plaintiff would do to get to be one. Plaintiff responded, as might any ten-year-old child, that he would 'do anything,'" the lawsuit, the 14th filed in the past three weeks by The Buzbee Law Firm, says.
At that point, others in the room gave him a soda to drink, the lawsuit alleges.
"You have to do some stuff you don't want to do sometimes," the lawsuit alleges Combs soon told him, pushing him down.
The plaintiff alleges he lost consciousness as he was being forcibly orally violated, then awoke to find his pants undone and that "his anus and buttocks hurt badly."
"Combs was still present. Plaintiff cried that he wanted to go to his mom and dad. Combs replied that if Plaintiff told anyone about what had happened, he would hurt Plaintiff's mom and dad badly," the lawsuit alleges.
He ultimately told his parents what happened, but they "were terrified of the potential consequences of reporting the abuse," the lawsuit says.
Nearly 20 years later, the plaintiff still suffers depression, anxiety, panic, and "night terrors," the lawsuit alleges.
Combs remains held in a federal jail in Brooklyn as awaits a sex-trafficking trial set for May 5. He has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and consistently denied all accusations of sexual abuse.
"The lawyer behind these lawsuits is interested in media attention rather than the truth, as is obvious from his constant press appearances and 1-800 number," lawyers for Combs told BI when asked Monday's filings.
"As we've said before, Mr. Combs cannot respond to every new publicity stunt, even in response to claims that are facially ridiculous or demonstrably false. Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone—man or woman, adult or minor."
Combs was among the biggest names in the music industry during the years that many of the plaintiffs say they were abused. In addition to running Bad Boy Records, in 1998 he also launched the clothing line Sean John.
He was well-connected and known for his celebrity-filled parties. The federal indictment alleges Combs used his position of power to carry out crimes.
"Combs relied on the employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled — creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice," the 14-page indictment says.
"Combs, and other members and associates of the Combs Enterprise, wielded the power and prestige of Combs' role at the Combs Business to intimidate, threaten, and lure female victims into Combs' orbit."
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673) or visit its website to receive confidential support.
