Suits and Litigation (Civil)

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      What to Know About the Lawsuits Against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

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      The music mogul, who faces federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges, has been accused in civil court of raping and drugging people. He has denied the allegations.In November 2023, the R&B singer Cassie filed a lawsuit against the hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, her former record label head and boyfriend, accusing him of rape, of forcing her to participate in sexual encounters he called “freak-offs” and of ongoing physical abuse for about a decade. Mr. Combs, who is also known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, has “vehemently” denied the allegations.Over the following months, more than 20 additional lawsuits were filed against Mr. Combs — including more than half of them after he was indicted on federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution in September. He has pleaded not guilty and remains detained in a Brooklyn jail; the trial is scheduled for May 5.The Lawsuits Against Sean Combs, Known as DiddyOCTOBER 202411 Lawsuits From Anonymous Plaintiffs in federal court in New YorkA legal team led by Tony Buzbee, a personal injury lawyer in Houston who has used a phone hotline, Instagram and a news conference to solicit clients with claims against Mr. Combs, filed six suits alleging sexual assaults from 1995 to 2021, followed by five additional suits alleging sexual assaults from 2000 to 2022.Tony Buzbee, a Houston lawyer, held a news conference to announce he had a large number of individuals with claims against Mr. Combs — and to solicit more.Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle, via Associated PressThe accusations: In two suits from the first batch of filings, women accused Mr. Combs of raping them at parties in New York City; one plaintiff said Mr. Combs raped her in 1995 at a promotional event for a music video by the Notorious B.I.G. Four of the plaintiffs are men, including one who said he was working security at a White Party in the Hamptons in 2006 when Mr. Combs drugged him, pushed him into a van and raped him. Another man accused Mr. Combs of groping his genitals at a 1998 White Party, when the plaintiff was 16. A third man’s suit involves a 2008 encounter in a stockroom at Macy’s, where he said Mr. Combs forced his penis into the plaintiff’s mouth.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s Streaming Numbers Grow as His Legal Woes Pile Up

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      The embattled music mogul is facing federal sex trafficking charges and a slew of lawsuits. Curious listeners and fans are keeping his catalog in rotation.In the 11 months since the singer Cassie accused Sean Combs in a lawsuit of sexual assault and years of physical abuse, the mogul’s once-booming music career has largely fallen apart.His songs have vanished from radio playlists. He became a pariah at the Grammy Awards, where he once held court. And his business interests — including stakes in a media network and a popular liquor brand — have collapsed. At least 17 more lawsuits have been filed against Mr. Combs alleging misconduct, and last month, he was indicted in New York on federal charges including sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty and is appealing his detention in a Brooklyn jail.But through it all, one part of Mr. Combs’s music business has remained steady, and even seen some growth: the popularity of his songs on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.Over the last year, as Mr. Combs, who is also known as Diddy and Puff Daddy, faced a drumbeat of negative stories in the news media — like the raids on his homes by federal agents in March, and a leaked security camera video in May that showed him brutally assaulting Cassie in a hotel in 2016 — the number of people who follow him on Spotify has steadily grown. That figure has climbed from about 1.5 million late last year to 1.8 million now, an increase of about 15 percent, according to Chartmetric, which tracks data from streaming music and social media.Recently the number of clicks for Mr. Combs’s songs have shot up dramatically. In the week before his arrest on Sept. 16, his catalog had about 3.2 million streams on services in the United States; in the weeks following, that figure rose about 50 percent to 4.8 million, according to Luminate, which supplies the data for Billboard’s charts. (In the most recent chart week, the number dipped a bit to 4.3 million.) On social media, Mr. Combs’s follower count has fluctuated, depending on the platform, but support on TikTok has been strong, where the hashtag #FreeDiddy has 12,000 uses.In the music business, this has become a familiar phenomenon of the streaming era. A household-name star — like R. Kelly, Marilyn Manson or Michael Jackson — comes under harsh scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct, and may temporarily suffer in the broader cultural marketplace, but maintains steady streaming numbers.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Sean Combs’s Legal Woes Are Growing. So Are His Streaming Numbers.

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      The embattled music mogul is facing federal sex trafficking charges and a slew of lawsuits. Curious listeners and fans are keeping his catalog in rotation.In the 11 months since the singer Cassie accused Sean Combs in a lawsuit of sexual assault and years of physical abuse, the mogul’s once-booming music career has largely fallen apart.His songs have vanished from radio playlists. He became a pariah at the Grammy Awards, where he once held court. And his business interests — including stakes in a media network and a popular liquor brand — have collapsed. At least 17 more lawsuits have been filed against Mr. Combs alleging misconduct, and last month, he was indicted in New York on federal charges including sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty and is appealing his detention in a Brooklyn jail.But through it all, one part of Mr. Combs’s music business has remained steady, and even seen some growth: the popularity of his songs on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.Over the last year, as Mr. Combs, who is also known as Diddy and Puff Daddy, faced a drumbeat of negative stories in the news media — like the raids on his homes by federal agents in March, and a leaked security camera video in May that showed him brutally assaulting Cassie in a hotel in 2016 — the number of people who follow him on Spotify has steadily grown. That figure has climbed from about 1.5 million late last year to 1.8 million now, an increase of about 15 percent, according to Chartmetric, which tracks data from streaming music and social media.Recently the number of clicks for Mr. Combs’s songs have shot up dramatically. In the week before his arrest on Sept. 16, his catalog had about 3.2 million streams on services in the United States; in the weeks following, that figure rose about 50 percent to 4.8 million, according to Luminate, which supplies the data for Billboard’s charts. (In the most recent chart week, the number dipped a bit to 4.3 million.) On social media, Mr. Combs’s follower count has fluctuated, depending on the platform, but support on TikTok has been strong, where the hashtag #FreeDiddy has 12,000 uses.In the music business, this has become a familiar phenomenon of the streaming era. A household-name star — like R. Kelly, Marilyn Manson or Michael Jackson — comes under harsh scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct, and may temporarily suffer in the broader cultural marketplace, but maintains steady streaming numbers.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Faces 6 Lawsuits From Lawyer With a Hotline

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      The Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee filed suits in New York with new allegations of rape and sexual assault from 1995 to 2021. Mr. Combs denied the accusations.The embattled music mogul Sean Combs is facing six more sexual assault lawsuits in New York, including one from a man who accused Mr. Combs of groping his genitals when he was 16, in what a team of lawyers say are the first filings from dozens of plaintiffs.The lawsuits, filed on Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, also accuse Mr. Combs of raping two men and two women and forcing another man to perform oral sex in allegations that span from 1995 to 2021. All of the claims were filed anonymously.The filings further intensify the legal troubles facing Mr. Combs, the longtime record executive and performer known as Diddy and Puff Daddy, as he awaits a trial for federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges in a Brooklyn jail. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers said in a statement in response to the new lawsuits that “Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman.”The new lawsuits were brought by a personal injury lawyer in Houston, Tony Buzbee, who has used Instagram and a widely publicized news conference to solicit clients. Mr. Buzbee detailed the scope of his work at the news conference this month, where he spoke in front of a backdrop displaying a large red hotline number that people with claims against Mr. Combs could call.“After the indictment of Sean Combs and the announcement that we were pursuing these claims, the floodgates opened,” Mr. Buzbee said at the news conference.In one of the lawsuits filed on Monday, a plaintiff recounts a 1998 encounter with Mr. Combs at one of the entertainer’s famous White Parties at his mansion in the Hamptons. The suit says the plaintiff, who was 16 at the time, bumped into Mr. Combs and shared his dreams of “becoming a star,” after which Mr. Combs told him that he needed to drop his pants. When the plaintiff complied, the suit says, Mr. Combs grabbed and squeezed his genitals.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Garth Brooks Names Woman Who Accused Him of Rape

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      In a court filing, lawyers for the country superstar portrayed him as “the victim of a shakedown” and asked for compensatory and punitive damages.Garth Brooks, the country superstar, has named the woman who, as Jane Roe, accused him of rape and sexual assault in a bombshell lawsuit last week.In a court filing in Mississippi on Tuesday, lawyers for Mr. Brooks portrayed the star as “the victim of a shakedown” and said the woman’s lawyers had “flouted” the authority of a judge in a related case.Litigation over the woman’s accusations began last month with a lawsuit that was filed anonymously — as John Doe v. Jane Roe — in federal court in Mississippi. The plaintiff, identified only as “a celebrity and public figure who resides in Tennessee,” said that lawyers for a woman had approached him in July with what he described as false allegations of sexual assault, and that they would sue Mr. Brooks unless he gave the woman “a multimillion-dollar payment.” The man asked the Mississippi judge to preserve the parties’ anonymity and declare that the woman’s accusations were false.In a response, lawyers for the woman said they intended to sue the man in California, saying that “Ms. Roe respectfully requests that she may commence her California action as she intended to do, and use Mr. Doe’s name, absent objection from this Honorable Court.”The court did not act, and two days later the woman filed her lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, naming Mr. Brooks but not herself. The suit accused Mr. Brooks of raping her in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2019, and of subjecting her to repeated unwanted sexual advances for about two years. The woman described herself as a hair and makeup stylist who had worked with Mr. Brooks’s wife, the country singer Trisha Yearwood, since 1999, and had begun working regularly for Mr. Brooks in 2017.The suit drew wide coverage in the news media, and its portrayal of Mr. Brooks ran counter to the positive public image he had cultivated for decades.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Garth Brooks Is Accused of Rape and Assault in Lawsuit

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      A woman who worked as a hair and makeup stylist for the country superstar says he subjected her to repeated advances. Mr. Brooks did not immediately respond to the allegations.Garth Brooks, one of country music’s biggest stars, has been accused of sexual assault by a woman who said he raped her in a Los Angeles hotel room and subjected her to repeated unwanted sexual advances over a period of about two years, according to a lawsuit filed in a California court on Thursday.The woman was not named in court papers but was described as a hair and makeup stylist who worked with Mr. Brooks from 2017 to about 2020. In that time, her suit says, he repeatedly harassed her, describing graphic sexual fantasies and in one instance placing her hands on his genitals when he came out of a shower.A spokeswoman for Mr. Brooks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Mr. Brooks, 62, is a star of the highest order in the world of country music and beyond, a household name who has sold tens of millions of albums and, decades into his career, still plays to stadiums full of adoring fans. He has also long been devoted to charitable organizations, particularly those focused on children and local relief after natural disasters.But the suit accuses him of preying on a woman working for him and then trying to silence her.Litigation over the woman’s accusation began three weeks ago with an anonymous suit filed in federal court in Mississippi. In that case — called John Doe v. Jane Roe — a man identified only as “a celebrity and public figure who resides in Tennessee” said that a woman residing in Mississippi had made “false and outrageous allegations of sexual misconduct she claims occurred years ago.” He asked a judge to protect his identity and to declare that the woman’s accusations against him were false.In a filing this week in response, the woman’s lawyers portrayed that lawsuit as a pre-emptive move to silence her, and said that she would be filing her case imminently, which would name the man.The 27-page lawsuit filed by the woman on Thursday, in Los Angeles Superior Court, says she is the same person listed as the defendant in the Mississippi action, and identifies Mr. Brooks as the John Doe plaintiff.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Lawyers for a Sean Combs Accuser Ask to Withdraw From Her Case

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      A dispute between Adria English, who has accused Mr. Combs of sexual misconduct, and her lawyers is the latest twist in the civil litigation the music mogul is facing.Lawyers for a woman who accused Sean Combs of plying her with drugs at his famous White Parties and commanding her to have sex with guests are seeking to withdraw from representing her, writing in court papers that she had displayed “undermining behavior and questionable antics.”The plaintiff, Adria English, sued Mr. Combs in July, alleging that as an employee who worked at the parties in the Hamptons and Miami in the mid-to-late 2000s, she had been “groomed” into being sex trafficked and had been given ecstasy-laced liquor.The lawsuit is one of a dozen sexual misconduct suits that have been filed against Mr. Combs over the past year. He is also facing a federal criminal case and was indicted last month on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty.In their court filing, lawyers for Ms. English, Ariel Mitchell-Kidd and Steven A. Metcalf, told a judge in federal court in Manhattan that “irreconcilable differences” had developed with their client.“As a result of a fundamental disagreement between Attorneys and Plaintiff regarding almost every aspect of the litigation,” the filing says, “including settlement demands, causes of actions in the pleadings and Plaintiff’s undermining behavior and questionable antics an irreconcilable conflict and tension has developed between Plaintiff and Attorneys.”Ms. Mitchell-Kidd said in a text message response to questions on Thursday, “I never lost faith in her case, just in her.”“Her case is great,” she added. “My issue was with her undermining my work and going behind my back doing things incongruent to advancing her case.”In a phone interview on Thursday, Ms. English — who reported her claims to the police in Miami Beach, Fla., after filing her lawsuit — said she was seeking new counsel. She said she had clashed with Ms. Mitchell-Kidd repeatedly, including over a demand from the lawyer that Ms. English not speak to the media.“I’m the client; you work for me,” Ms. English said to describe her perspective.Mr. Combs, who is currently detained in a Brooklyn jail after a judge ordered him held until trial, has denied sexually assaulting or sex trafficking anyone. In a statement on Wednesday, his representatives called Ms. English’s claims “fabricated.”“As we’ve said from the start, anyone can file a lawsuit without proof — and this case is a clear example of that,” the statement said. “Adria English escalated things by filing false police reports and making baseless claims, using high-profile events as a backdrop to harm innocent people.”Mr. Combs’s legal team has been defending him against a mounting pile of lawsuits since the indictment was brought in September and lawyers in Texas have said they are preparing suits on behalf of multiple accusers who have reached out to them with accounts of misconduct. More

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      Pras Sues Lauryn Hill Over Canceled Fugees Tour, Alleging Fraud

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      Ms. Hill was accused of deceiving the other group members about tour finances. She called the lawsuit “baseless” and “full of false claims.”After three years of stops and starts, a troubled reunion tour by the hip-hop trio the Fugees — Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras — was finally canceled in August, leaving fans wondering what had happened behind the scenes. One version of that story emerged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by Pras against Ms. Hill and her company, MLH Touring.In the lawsuit, Pras — whose real name is Prakazrel Michel — laid out a withering portrait of a group in private conflict. He accused Ms. Hill of deceiving the other Fugees about the tour’s finances, trying to “usurp control” by taking over the group’s business and trademark, and unilaterally rejecting a $5 million offer for the Fugees to perform at this year’s Coachella festival.The suit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, includes claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and refusing to permit an audit. It seeks unspecified damages.In a statement, Ms. Hill responded: “This baseless lawsuit by Pras is full of false claims and unwarranted attacks. It notably omits that he was advanced overpayment for the last tour and has failed to repay substantial loans extended by myself as an act of good will.”The Fugees, from New Jersey, became progressive standard-bearers for hip-hop in the 1990s with reggae-tinged hits like “Fu-Gee-La” and “Killing Me Softly,” and Ms. Hill broke out with her 1998 solo album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” which won the Grammy Award for album of the year.But the group’s history has long been tumultuous, and fans have been waiting decades for a proper tour. According to Mr. Michel’s suit, the latest troubles began as soon as their first batch of reunion dates was announced in 2021.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More