A Los Angeles-based celebrity who is keeping his identity secret is suing an attorney representing 120 alleged victims of Sean “Diddy” Combs, alleging the lawyer tried to extort a payout in return for not identifying him as a sexual abuser tied to the hip-hop mogul.
The celebrity — referred to in the lawsuit as a “high-profile individual” and identified only as John Doe through his lawyers — says Houston attorney Tony Buzbee wrote demand letters in which he made “wildly false horrific allegations.” Buzbee said the individual raped minors at a Combs party and that — unless he agreed to a mediated settlement — there would be consequences, according to the lawsuit.
The allegations mark a new twist in a sprawling and complex Hollywood legal drama that includes an ongoing federal probe into sex trafficking allegations and a growing number of civil lawsuits against Combs and others accused of being involved in wrongdoing.
Federal prosecutors allege the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment used his empire for decades to coerce victims into sex at gatherings known as “freak-offs.” Authorities have suggested they are still examining others in the entertainment business who might have enabled Combs or participated in the alleged assaults.
The federal case alleges a complicated scheme that would have required the knowledge and involvement of multiple people to recruit victims, organize the freak-offs, clean up after the wild affairs and cover the tracks so law enforcement would not investigate.
In the latest twist, federal prosecutors accused Combs on Friday of using secretive methods to contact outsiders from jail, aiming “to blackmail victims and witnesses either into silence or [to] provide testimony helpful to his defense.” The music mogul’s lawyers responded Monday that investigators seized “attorney-client privileged material” from Combs’ jail cell, including handwritten notes by Combs.
Combs, 54, remains in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied multiple abuse claims.
Buzbee’s law firm has filed many of the civil lawsuits against Combs since his arrest in September. The accusers’ lawyers say that other celebrities participated in rapes and sexual assaults at freak-offs organized by Combs and that some victims were minors.
Attorneys for the celebrity said Buzbee, in communications, threatened to “unleash entirely fabricated and malicious allegations of sexual assault.”
“This is textbook extortion,” the lawyers added.
Buzbee allegedly confronted the man this month with “vile” allegations. According to the lawsuit, Buzbee accused the celebrity of raping “multiple minors, both male and female, who had been drugged at parties hosted by Combs.” The lawyer said that if the celebrity did not agree to a “confidential mediation,” then the lawyer would “take a different course,” the suit claims. Buzbee attached an image of a ticking clock to the message, according to the lawsuit.
Buzbee said he and his firm would not “allow the powerful and their high-dollar lawyers to intimidate or silence sexual survivors” and warned that a lawsuit against the unnamed plaintiff was looming.
“It is obvious that the frivolous lawsuit filed against my firm is an aggressive attempt to intimidate or silence me and ultimately my clients,” Buzbee wrote in a statement. “That effort is a gross miscalculation. I am a U.S. Marine. I won’t be silenced or intimidated. Neither will my clients. Since our professional efforts at resolution obviously have failed, we will instead disclose the demand letters we sent at the time we filed suit.”
Elaborating on what he had done in the case, Buzbee said: “On behalf of two clients who allege sexual assault, we sent a standard demand letter to a New York lawyer that we know represents an alleged perpetrator and potential defendant. The letters were sent seeking a confidential mediation in lieu of filing a lawsuit. No amount of money was included in the demand letters. No threats were made. The demand letters sent are no different than the ones routinely sent by lawyers across the country in all types of cases.”
Buzbee’s more than two dozen civil lawsuits have, for the first time, accused celebrities other than Combs of participating in assaults during parties hosted by the Bad Boy Records founder. The stars, however, have not been identified by name.
Buzbee has previously vowed to name celebrities who he says were involved in the alleged sexual abuse. He said during a news conference in September that the names contained in the suits would “shock.”
In one federal lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York, a woman identified as Jane Doe says she was 13 when she was raped by Combs and a male celebrity, identified only as Celebrity A, while a female celebrity, referred to as Celebrity B in court papers, watched.
The woman alleges in the legal filing that the night of Sept. 7, 2000, began with her outside Radio City Music Hall in New York City, trying to talk her way into the Video Music Awards. Later, at a freak-off hosted by Combs, the unnamed male celebrity allegedly raped the girl while Combs and the unidentified female celebrity watched. Combs then raped the girl as the other two celebrities watched, according to the lawsuit.
Combs’ attorneys denied Buzbee’s allegations. “Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman.”
Attorneys at L.A. law firm Quinn Emanuel, who filed suit Monday on behalf of the unnamed celebrity, said Buzbee “capitalizes on the bravery of those victims who came forward” against Combs to win unearned settlements from “innocent celebrities, politicians, and business people.”
“Defendants devised a scheme to obtain payments through the use of coercive threats from anyone with any ties to Combs — no matter how remote,” lawyers for the unnamed plaintiff wrote. “Defendants claim to be investigating the facts, but the reality is they are finding deep pockets and trying to smear all of them with the same brush.”
Separately, lawyers for the government and Combs have sparred over Combs’ request to be released on bail, which the Justice Department opposes.
In Friday’s motion, federal prosecutors alleged that Combs attempted to tamper with witnesses and influence potential jurors from his prison cell by working through family members. Evidence seized from Combs shows a pattern of influence by the mogul while in custody, prosecutors alleged in their motion, along with “relentless efforts to contact potential witnesses, including victims of his abuse who could provide powerful testimony against him.”
Combs’ lawyers responded in court papers Monday that the search and seizure of material from Combs’ cell violated his constitutional rights. “The targeted seizure of a pre-trial detainee’s work product and privileged materials — created in preparation for trial — is outrageous government conduct amounting to a substantive due process violation,” they contended.
In a court filing, prosecutors said the material was obtained in a routine sweep of federal prisons and screened to prevent them from seeing privileged materials.
