‘These guys have felt powerless for a very long time, they’ve had to carry this shame, and now, finally, they can try to get some kind of justice,’ attorney Thomas Giuffra told The Independent
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Three men filed separate lawsuits on Thursday against Sean “Diddy” Combs, accusing the jailed hip-hop impresario of drugging their drinks and raping them while they were unconscious.
The accusers, who are each identified in the suits as “John Doe,” say Combs sexually assaulted them in New York City hotel rooms and at his waterfront estate in the Hamptons.
One of the victims worked for Combs, according to his suit. Another claims he was gang-raped by Combs and several employees from Bad Boy Records, the music mogul’s label. The third says Combs declared him “ready to party,” then raped him while others stood by and filmed the attack.
Attorney Thomas Giuffra, who is representing all three men, told The Independent that his clients “are scared” of Combs, and are finally seeking justice after years of keeping their allegations to themselves. He pointed out that men make up nine percent of all U.S. rape victims, and that the stigma attached further silences many of them.
“Anytime you have a sexual assault, it’s not about sex,” Giuffra said. “It’s about power, it’s about demeaning somebody. These guys have felt powerless for a very long time, they’ve had to carry this shame, and now, finally, they can try to get some kind of justice.”
Giuffra, who represented several women who accused Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, said his clients had long been afraid to go after Combs.
“You don’t want to end up with a target on your back,” Giuffra said.
In a statement on Thursday, Combs’ attorneys said the men’s complaints were “full of lies.”
“We will prove them false and seek sanctions against every unethical lawyer who filed fictional claims against him,” the statement said.
The lawsuits were first reported by NBC News.
John Doe 1 met Combs in 2020 through an acquaintance who invited him to a party at Combs’ home in East Hampton, according to his lawsuit. Once there, John Doe 1 “began socializing and drinking alcohol” with Combs and others, after which he started to feel sick and soon lost consciousness, the lawsuit states, contending that Combs had surreptitiously slipped drugs into Doe 1’s drink.
“Throughout the rest of the night, Doe 1 faded in-and-out of consciousness,” it goes on. “During this time, Defendant Sean Combs and his associates from Bad Boy Records, sodomized Doe 1 and took turns anally raping him. Doe 1 attempted to resist their sexual advances but was unable to do so.”
When Doe 1 woke up the next morning, he was “surrounded by” Bad Boy employees, and “had severe pain in his anus,” the lawsuit contends.
John Doe 2 met Combs in 2019 at Marquee, a club in Manhattan’s West Chelsea neighborhood, according to his lawsuit. A well-connected friend introduced John Doe 2 to Combs, whose security guards later that night invited him to an “exclusive afterparty” in a suite at the Park Hyatt hotel on West 57th Street, the suit says.
At the afterparty, Combs “personally offered” Doe 2 a cocktail which he had prepared in the other room, covertly drugging the drink before returning, the suit goes on.
Combs then herded his guests into the suite’s bedroom, which Doe 2 says in his lawsuit soon “started spinning.” Through the fog and disorientation, Doe 2’s suit says he saw Combs look at him and say to the others in the room, “He is ready to party.” Doe 2 quickly fell unconscious, and when he briefly came to, he found himself being sodomized by Combs as two others recorded it on video, according to the lawsuit.
The next morning, Doe 2 woke up to find Combs gone, the lawsuit states. However, it goes on, one of the people who recorded the attack handed Doe 2 some $2,500 in cash, which he said was from Combs.
John Doe 3 was hired by Combs in 2006 to run errands for him, according to the third lawsuit filed Thursday. Things were fine until February 2020, when Combs stopped paying him, the lawsuit says.
Combs told Doe 3 to meet him in a suite at the InterContinental Hotel near Times Square, where Doe 3 arrived to find Combs by himself, the lawsuit states. As they discussed business, Combs fixed alcoholic drinks for both of them, but had secretly drugged the one he gave to Doe, who suddenly got extremely tired and fell asleep, the suit alleges.
“When Doe 3 awoke, he found himself laying on his stomach bent over the end of the couch with his pants pulled down while… Combs sodomized him,” the suit continues.
Doe 3 tried to resist, but Combs “told him to ‘stop’ and that he was ‘almost done,’” the lawsuit contends. Combs then told Doe 3 not to bother going to the police because he would never be able to substantiate the claims, according to the suit.
