A lawyer representing several alleged victims of Sean “Diddy” Combs says the potential number of civil legal cases against the musician “is probably in the 300 range”.
Tony Buzbee told the BBC his team had received about 3,000 calls since he held a news conference calling for clients in October.
He has already issued 20 lawsuits from men and women seeking damages from the musician; and says that “realistically” the final total will be “about 100 to 150”. Others will not make it to court because the time limit for filing claims has expired in certain states.
Mr Combs has denied all the charges against him, calling the accusations “sickening” and the result of people looking for a “quick payday”.
His lawyers have characterised the multiple civil lawsuits, including the claims of 300 potential victims, as a part of a “reckless media circus”.
They said Mr Buzbee’s press conference, and the creation of a toll-free phone number for tip-offs, were “clear attempts to garner publicity”.
In a statement to the BBC, his attorney Erica Wolff said: “Mr Combs has full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process.
“In court, the truth will prevail: That Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone – man or woman, adult or minor.”
The musician is currently being held in Manhattan’s Metropolitan Detention Center, awaiting trial on separate criminal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, which he also denies.
‘We get calls every day’
Mr Buzbee, whose practice is based in Houston, is an outsized character in US legal circles, once described by the New York Times as “a big, mean, ambitious, tenacious, fire-breathing Texas trial lawyer”.
A former Marine and a TV show host, he made his name suing the energy giant BP after an explosion at an oil refinery in Texas City killed 15 people; and successfully defended former Texas governor Rick Perry against abuse-of-power allegations.
More recently, he helped a sizeable group of women reach out-of-court settlements with American Football player Deshaun Watson over allegations he had sexually assaulted them during private massage sessions.
His involvement with Mr Combs began last year – after his co-counsel Andrew Van Arsdale, who previously represented hundreds of victims in a sexual abuse lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America, began receiving calls about the star.
“I think he got a little bit overwhelmed, and he realised that this might be more than he could handle [on his own]”, Buzbee says.
After agreeing to help, Buzbee asked potential victims to come forward via an Instagram post. In the next 10 days, he estimates his team received 3,000 calls.
Those claims were screened by a team of lawyers and former law enforcement officials, who arrived at a list of clients with cases “that are viable, that have been thoroughly vetted, that will ultimately be filed”, he says.
“We still get [calls] every single day,” he added. “I think that the potential [number of] cases is probably in the 300 range, but I think realistically, it’ll ultimately be about 100 to 150.”
The alleged victims include a roughly equal number of men and women; whose accusations span a 20-year period.
Anonymity will be waived
Among them are a woman who claims Mr Combs raped her in a hotel room in 2004 when she was a 19-year-old college student; and an aspiring young musician who alleges the musician drugged him and forced him to perform oral sex when he was 10 years old.
Lawyers for Mr Combs have denied the allegations, saying in a statement to the BBC that he “has never sexually assaulted anyone – adult or minor, man or woman”.
The lawsuits have so far been filed anonymously, with the alleged victims referred to in court documents as John Doe or Jane Doe.
However, Mr Combs’ laywers have asked the courts to release their identities so he can adequately prepare for any potential trial.
In three cases so far, including that of the 19-year-old woman, a judge has ruled that they will have to reveal their names for their claims to move forward.
“It happens a lot,” Mr Buzbee told the BBC. “If the plaintiff is forced to reveal her or his or her identity, Mr Combs hopes that they will quietly go away and never bring the claim again.
“The good news is, that’s not going to happen. That’s something I screened for… so if they’re forced to reveal their identity, they’ll reveal their identity, and we’ll keep pressing forward.”
Mr Buzbee added that he had taken similar measures in the DeShaun Watson case, where several women publicly attached their names to the lawsuits following a challenge from the sportsman’s lawyers.
Celebrities ‘likely’ to be named
One lawsuit has received particular attention because it claims other celebrities were involved in Mr Combs’ alleged crimes.
The case, filed in New York in October, regards a 13-year-old who claims she became disorientated and dizzy after accepting a drink at one of Mr Combs’ parties.
Soon after, she claims that a man, originally identified as “Celebrity A” removed her clothes and raped her, while Mr Combs and a woman named as “Celebrity B” watched.
On Sunday, the plaintiff updated the lawsuit to identity the first celebrity as the rap legend Jay-Z.
In an extensive statement, Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, called the claims “idiotic” and accused Mr Buzbee of attempting to blackmail him by threatening to make his name public.
“My heart and support goes out to true victims in the world, who have to watch how their life story is dressed in costume for profitability by this ambulance chaser in a cheap suit,” he added.
The musician had previously filed an anonymous lawsuit in Los Angeles, accusing Mr Buzbee of “shamelessly” trying to extort him.
Mr Buzbee fired back that the “frivolous” lawsuit was a “last-ditch attempt” to stop Mr Carter’s name being made public.
“I am a US Marine,” he wrote in an Instagram statement. “I won’t be silenced or intimidated. Neither will my clients.”
Mr Combs’ legal team also deny the claims, and said the extortion charge against Mr Buzbee “expose his barrage of lawsuits… for what they are: Shameless publicity stunts, designed to extract payments from celebrities who fear having lies spread about them, just as lies have been spread about Mr Combs”.
The back and forth has only fuelled speculation that more high-profile music industry figures will become ensnared in the upcoming trials.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Buzbee called that eventuality “very likely”.
“If you just look at the conduct that’s being alleged, it’s pretty ubiquitous. There was a culture that was created, a party culture, where anything goes,” he says.
“There was just a general feeling that he [Mr Combs] was above the law, that he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, with whomever he wanted.”
Social media has seen a flurry of speculation, linking people to Mr Combs’ alleged crimes – based on little more than photos of showbusiness parties in the 1990s and 2000s.
Needless to say, there is no evidence to back up those allegations.
There have also been widely-discredited fakes, including a tell-all biography purportedly written by Mr Combs’ late partner, Kim Porter; and a viral song, in which Justin Bieber purportedly sang, “I lost myself at a Diddy party”. The latter turned out to be an AI-generated fake.
Lawyers for Mr Combs have argued that the number of “false and outrageous” claims being made by “government agents, plaintiffs’ attorneys, and others with questionable motives” could be “perceived as prejudicing potential jurors”.
Mr Buzbee disagrees.
“Obviously, the people who come into the court as jurors, don’t come in in a vacuum,” he tells the BBC.
“They read the press, and they know what’s going on, but I think most people are willing to say, ‘Let’s judge this claim on its merits. What is the proof and what is the defence?'”
In the end, Mr Buzbee’s clients may face a long wait to have their cases heard in court.
Jennie VonCannon, a former federal prosecutor with experience of sex trafficking and racketeering cases, says the criminal trial against Mr Combs will have to conclude before the civil claims can proceed.
“That’s because the Fifth Amendment gives you the right to remain silent,” she told the BBC.
“So you need the criminal case to go first, because if you made statements in the civil cases in order to defend yourself, you could possibly incriminate yourself.”
The BBC understands that Grand Jury hearings for Mr Combs’ criminal trial have continued since charges were filed against him in September.
Some of the alleged victims who are suing him in civil court are believed to have given testimony in these hearings. VonCannon says the government could easily amend their case as a result.
“There’s a school of thought that no investigation is ever complete,” she says.
“It sounds like the government is still actively producing discovery, so it’s possible they will supersede [replace or amend] the indictment, and even add more defendants.”
The criminal trial is currently scheduled to begin in May 2025.
