Warning: this article discusses sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
A new legal action has surfaced, accusing Diddy of ‘effectively imprisoning’ a male performer and coercing him into sexual activities.
The rapper, whose real name is Sean Combs, is currently held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center while awaiting trial scheduled for May this year.
Last September, Diddy was apprehended at Manhattan’s Park Hyatt hotel in New York and has been charged with racketeering and sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion, charges he has denied.
The music mogul spent the Christmas season incarcerated after being denied bail on two occasions.
On Tuesday (February 4), an anonymous man referred to as John Doe filed a lawsuit against Diddy.
According to Rolling Stone, the individual, a former adult entertainer from Las Vegas, alleges that Combs directed him to ‘perform acts that were outside the scope of the agreed-upon performance and limitations set by plaintiff and his agency.’
The plaintiff claims he was initially hired by Combs in 2007 for a strip show and continued to work for him until 2012, during which time the rapper is accused of sexual and physical assaults.
The lawsuit further alleges that Diddy drugged the man with Viagra and secretly recorded their encounters to use as blackmail. It also claims that Diddy manipulated the accuser by promising to help with his music career aspirations.
“Combs dehumanised plaintiff and reduced him to a mere object for Combs’ own amusement and to satisfy his own sexual fetishes,” the suit claims.
“Combs gravely exploited plaintiff, effectively imprisoning him and controlling him through surreptitious surveillance and filming.”
A lawyer for Combs has rejected the allegations made in this new lawsuit.
The lawyer told Rolling Stone: “No matter how many lawsuits are filed, it won’t change the fact that Mr Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex-trafficked anyone – man or woman, adult or minor. Fortunately, a fair and impartial judicial process exists to separate fact from fiction, and Mr Combs is confident that he will prevail in court.”
UNILAD has contacted Diddy’s representatives for a statement.
After Diddy’s arrest last September, his attorney Marc Agnifilo remarked: “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the US Attorney’s Office.
“Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person but is not criminal.”