An anonymous accuser who says Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z raped her at a party when she was 13 years old spoke to the press for the first time about her allegations and concerns raised over inconsistencies in her story, making her the first unnamed plaintiff to speak publicly of those who have accused Combs of violence and sexual misconduct—all of which he denies.
Jay Z and Sean Combs attend Feb. 11, 2017 in Los Angeles.
The woman who accused Jay-Z and Diddy of raping her as a teenager spoke with NBC News about her claim and defended herself against attacks over inconsistencies in her allegations, including disputed claims that her father picked her up after the alleged assault, that she spoke to a celebrity at the party where she was assaulted and that Jay-Z and Combs weren't at the location she described for at least part of the night in question. Jay-Z said in a statement the assault "didn't happen." Tony Buzbee, the plaintiff's lawyer, said his office does "our best to vet each claim made” and stood by the allegation.
Three unnamed men all using the same lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, filed lawsuits in in New York state Supreme Court describing incidents alleged to have taken place between 2019 and 2022, in which they say they were drugged before being attacked by Combs while unconscious. Representatives for Combs said the lawsuits were "full of lies" in a statement to NBC News.
An update to a lawsuit filed in October accuses music mogul and rapper Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 along with Combs—an allegation Carter has strongly denied as he accused the accuser’s attorney Tony Buzbee of engaging in blackmail. In the initial suit, an Alabama woman alleged she was 13 years old when Combs and another male celebrity repeatedly raped her during an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty.
Bryana “Bana” Bongolan filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles, multiple outlets reported, asking for $10 million in compensation for sexual battery and physical abuse that she said culminated in the rapper lifting her off of the ground and dangling her over the edge of a 17th-story balcony before slamming her into patio furniture during an incident at his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura's apartment in 2016.
Texas attorney Tony Buzbee, who has promised he will file civil lawsuits on behalf of more than 100 sexual abuse victims of Combs, filed five more lawsuits in New York federal court alleging sexual misconduct, bringing the total number to 20.
Buzbee filed two lawsuits in New York Supreme Court.
Buzbee filed seven lawsuits against Combs on behalf of unnamed plaintiffs.
A woman named Ashley Parham filed suit against Combs in a California federal court claiming she was "violently” gang raped by Combs and accomplices in 2018 after she claimed on a FaceTime call with the Bad Boy Records founder that he'd been involved in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, which “set her up” for retaliation.
Buzbee filed his first six lawsuits against Combs on behalf of unnamed plaintiffs.
Buzbee said he is representing 120 accusers who plan to file civil lawsuits across multiple states alleging crimes like sexual assault, rape and sexual abuse of minors in claims that will include "many powerful people" and "many dirty secrets."
Combs was accused of drugging and raping a woman on multiple occasions, with the woman, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, further alleging she became pregnant after one of the encounters; she is seeking undisclosed damages, the Associated Press reported.
Thalia Graves filed a federal lawsuit in New York claiming she was raped by Combs and his former bodyguard in 2001, an allegation later disputed by the bodyguard, Joseph Sherman, in a November countersuit.
A memo filed with New York judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky accused Combs and co-conspirators of setting fire to an unnamed person's car using a Moltov cocktail in an accusation that matches one brought by Combs' ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, who said in a lawsuit filed last year that Combs blew up a car owned by rapper Kid Cudi.
Plaintiff April Lampros accused Combs in a lawsuit filed in New York of sexual assault over four “terrifying sexual encounters” between 1995 and 2001, including three incidents of rape and one instance of Combs forcing her to take ecstasy.
Former model Crystal McKinney filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court accusing the rapper of drugging and sexually assaulting her at his New York recording studio in 2003.
Producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones sued the rapper in New York, alleging he was “subjected to unwanted advances by associates of Diddy at his direction,” was forced to engage in relations with sex workers he hired and that Combs regularly hosted “sex-trafficking parties” with underage women and illegal drugs.
Combs was hit with another sexual assault suit, accusing the rapper of drugging and participating in a gang rape of the unnamed woman in 2003, when the accuser was 17 years old.
A woman named Joie Dickerson-Neal alleged in a lawsuit Combs drugged her, sexually assaulted her and secretly recorded the assault while she was a college student in 1991.
An anonymous plaintiff accused Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall of raping her and a friend in 1990 or 1991 after meeting at an MCA Records event in New York—a suit that, like the Dickerson-Neal complaint, was filed shortly before the expiration of a New York law temporarily allowing lawsuits for older assault allegations that would ordinarily be past the statute of limitations.
Cassie Ventura filed a $30 million lawsuit against Combs, alleging he raped her in 2018 and subjected her to a years-long abusive relationship that included physical abuse and his assertion of “complete control” over her personal and professional life (the case was settled the next day for an undisclosed amount, and Combs’ attorney continued to deny the claims until May of 2024, when CNN pushed a 2016 surveillance video of Combs attacking her in a hotel hallway).
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“Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process,” Combs’ attorneys said a statement in October, their latest in continuous denials of any wrongdoing. “In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman.”
The allegations contained in lawsuits against Combs date as far back as the 1990s and have so far included victims who claim they were as young as 13-years-old at the time of their abuses. In addition to individual claims of assault—most of which also include accusations Combs drugged alleged victims—the lawsuit filed by Jones made allegations of a wide-spread Hollywood conspiracy that allowed Combs’ behavior to go unchecked for decades. In his claim, Jones detailed sex-and drug-fueled parties Combs was alleged to have thrown and accused him of running a “sex-trafficking venture” that was largely ignored by others in the music industry. The complaint alleges Combs would throw parties where he, his son and his employees would recruit women and underage girls to perform sex acts for money “through the means of force, threats of force, fraud, abuse of process and coercion.” The lawsuit said people affiliated with the parties were rewarded with business referrals and connections to Combs' vast network of artists, athletes, political figures and international dignitaries. Shawn Holley, an attorney for Combs at the time, told the Los Angeles Times the suit includes "reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen."
An upcoming docuseries. Producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson said Netflix has won a “bidding war” for a docuseries about the string of recent abuse, rape and sex trafficking allegations against Combs. Jackson confirmed in a tweet that the streamer bought the G-Unit Film & Television series about Combs he first started teasing in December, adding that, “if more victims keep coming out, I’m gonna need more episodes.” Proceeds from the film go to victims of sexual assault, Jackson said in November.
Sean Combs was once on the path to becoming a billionaire thanks to his extensive music career, business ventures that included the Sean John fashion and fragrance lines and founding the Revolt TV network and since unrealized plans to become a cannabis mogul. Forbes estimated Combs’ personal wealth at $740 million in 2019 (he and his team later claimed he was a billionaire, but offered no supporting evidence). Today, Forbes conservatively estimates he is worth $400 million.