Diddy’s impending wave of lawsuits will ignite a “firestorm” due to other celebrities being implicated in his alleged crimes, according to lawyer Tony Buzbee who is overseeing 120 complaints against the embattled mogul.
Speaking to TMZ, Buzbee said: “Everyone’s focused on what other celebrities were involved, who’s going to be named, who’s going to be outed. I don’t expect that to happen this week.
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“We want to make sure that if we name individuals beyond Mr. Combs [Diddy] that we’ve done our homework as it’s going to create a firestorm.”
He added: “If you were attending one of these parties, if you will, and you attended before or you knew what was going to happen — that is you knew that a particular drug was being used in drinks that was causing people to be coerced and taken advantage of — and you were there in the room or you participated or you watched it happen and didn’t say anything or you helped cover it up, in my view, you have a problem.
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“Who will be named, when they will be named — all that will come out in due course. But the bottom line is: a lot of people attended these parties, a lot of people saw this activity going on, a lot of people allowed it go on, said nothing, didn’t intervene, maybe benefitted from it, profitted from it.
“All of these individuals and entities, in my view, have exposure here.
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Asked if these celebrities have the same level of fame as Diddy, Buzbee replied: “I would expect so, yes.”
The Texas-based attorney also revealed that he has attempted to reach confidential settlements with a number of celebrities before filing a public lawsuit.
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Buzbee is representing 120 different clients who claim to be victims of Diddy, including 25 who were minors at the time of the alleged incidents.
The allegations span “violent sexual assault or rape, facilitated sex with a controlled substance, dissemination of video recordings [and] sexual abuse of minors,” he said at a news conference last month.
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The youngest alleged victim was nine years old at the time and claims to have been sexually abused by Diddy during an audition for Bad Boy Records.
The majority of the cases, Buzbee said, had a “typical M.O.”: alleged victims were invited to a party and made to take a drink.
The lawyer claimed that the drink was drugged and the plaintiff would be sexually assaulted and “passed around” partygoers while others “enjoyed the show.”
Afterwards, he alleged, the victim was threatened in order to keep him or her quiet.
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The spree of lawsuits are expected to be filed in the coming weeks.
In response to the allegations, Diddy’s attorney Erica Wolff issued a statement saying: “As Mr. Combs’ legal team has emphasized, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.
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“That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors.
“He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”
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Beyond the mounting lawsuits, Diddy is awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges following his arrest in New York last month.