Law&Crime Sidebar - 5 New P. Diddy Allegations from Teen Who Claims He Was Raped at Club

Episode Date: February 11, 2025

One of the latest lawsuits filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs in New York alleges that the music mogul raped a 17-year-old boy in a private back room of a nightclub in 2012. John Doe claims he was surrounded by Combs’ entourage, including male and female sex workers and strippers, who were drinking heavily and using drugs. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber has the very latest.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Download the FREE Upside App at https://upside.app.link/sidebar to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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We have a new lawsuit filed against Sean Combs, and this one alleges that the rapper and music mogul raped a 17-year-old boy in a nightclub. Time to break down these horrifying bomb shell allegations in this new complaint. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Got yet another Sean Diddy Combs lawsuit to break down for you. So this lawsuit

was filed in New York State Supreme Court. So this is a state case, not a federal case. And I think the best way to review this case and kind of understand what we're talking about is to start with the opening paragraph. I think it pretty much sums up what we're going to be reading in the rest of these pages, quote, defendant Combs sexually assaulted a 17-year-old minor male while at a popular nightclub in New York City. This case seeks compensatory and punitive damages for that sexual assault. The assault occurred in Soho, New York after Doe was drugged and taken to a private area of a nightclub by Combs associates. The conduct described herein is shockingly typical of how defendant Sean Combs conducted himself for many years. Many individuals and entities

facilitated and conspired with this abhorrent conduct. Sean Combs believed he was above the law. He is not. Now, quite the way to start a lawsuit, right? Now, I will tell you, though, it is very characteristic of the lawsuits that have been filed by the attorney behind this one. I'm talking about Tony Busby, that Texas attorney, who apparently represents several Combs accusers, in those lawsuits, this language is very similar.

And most recently, we've been talking about him a lot here on Sidebar. The reason you might know about him is because his name has been in the news for filing a lawsuit on behalf of a Jane Doe who claims that Combs and rapper Jay-Z Sean Carter sexually assaulted her at a VMA's after party back in 2000 when she was just 13 years old. There is a big legal war going on between the parties here. Jay-Z's legal team argued that Busby should be sanctioned for what he's doing. They basically have argued that he filed this lawsuit without doing the proper due diligence into Jane Doe's claims. reason is because NBC had reported that there were some discrepancies in her story. And Jay-Z's team has been saying, these claims are not supported by the evidence. Now, Tony Busby has fired back and says that they actually are backed up by the evidence, so they can't be disproven at this point.

But actually, I'll tell you this, they also, in their legal war between Jay-Z and Tony Busby, they also highlight AVA Law Group, which actually jointly filed this John Doe lawsuit that we're talking about. And AVA Law Group is the firm that Busby had claimed. referred the J-Z Jane Doe case to him, and they initially vetted her claim. So both Tony Busby, AVA Law Group, they're part of this current litigation, but their names have come up recently in the media because of the whole J-Z situation. Okay, now I'm not going to get into all that, just establishing the connection for you. By the way, little side note on the J-Z case, while J-Z, Sean Combs, Combs, Global, Bad Boy Entertainment, and other bad boy entities

remain defendants. Bad Boy Records LLC was voluntarily dismissed. from that case. Just a little side note on that one. And listen, guys, thank you so much for following us on our continued coverage of all of these ditty cases. I know it can be kind of tough to hear this, but for that, I have to thank also one of our sponsors, who with their support helps us to produce these kinds of shows, and that's Upside. Now, Upside's great. Upside is a free app that gets a cash back on Daily Essential, so I pump my gas, I can use Upside. I go out to lunch at Chipotle, Upside. Maybe get some gum, Tic Tacs at 7-Eleven. Upside. Why not get cash back when I do all these things? things, right? And yes, this is actual real cashback. It's money that appears in your

Upside app that you transfer right into your bank account. So once you have the free upside app, you claim an offer for whatever you're buying an upside. You pay as usual using a debit or credit card. You follow the steps on the app, you get paid. So to find out how much you can earn, you click the link in the description to download upside or you scan the QR code on screen. But make sure to use our promo code sidebar because you get an extra 25 cents back on every gallon on your first tank of gas. Okay, back to the current litigation, back to this lawsuit. So when I say the way that this lawsuit is very character or consistent with the other lawsuits that Tony Busby filed, the first opening pages are usually not even about this Jane or John Doe specifically in the case, but rather it lays out the larger picture.

Let me tell you what I mean. This complaint reads, quote, for decades, Sean Combs abused, molested, raped, assaulted, threatened, and coerced men, women, minors, and others for sexual gratification to assert dominance and to conceal his abhorrent conduct. He accomplished these acts by and through a criminal enterprise built on his success as a rapper, record producer, and record executive. Combs is one of the wealthiest musical artists in the world. Behind the facade of being a three-time Grammy award winner, discovering and developing multiple famous musical artists and ranking on Forbes list of the highest paid entertainers in the world, there existed something sinister, a dark underbelly of crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, bribery, and prostitution. Combs is a menace to society, women, and children. While his wealth has kept him above consequence for years, Combs now faces the awesome power of the American judicial system,

and ultimately, a jury of his peers who will be asked to punish him for the deplorable conduct described herein. Now, you don't usually see an opening like that in a lawsuit, making a lot of allegations and statements about the defendant. Now, on one hand, it could be important if you're going to be suggesting later on why this John Doe didn't come forward earlier, with his claims? Well, look at the power, the influence, the prestige, the resources of Sean Combs. Keep that in mind. But I will tell you what I find interesting, and I'll get into the

legal point of this, why that opening paragraph's important. It almost reads like the criminal indictment that Combs is facing out in New York, where he's charged with the federal crimes of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by forced fraud or coercion, transportation to engage in prostitution. It is so similar. Namely, prosecutors alleged that he used his business empire and his resources to abuse and traffic women, including through commercial sex acts, and that this criminal enterprise that he was allegedly running engaged in a long list of crimes, not just sex trafficking, but forced labor, kidnapping, arson. That's what prosecutors have been alleging.

But again, this lawsuit mirrors that. And by the way, a little side note also before we continue. Sean Combs has denied all wrongdoing. Okay, he has denied all of the criminal charges. He has denied all the sexual assault allegations and all. his lawsuits. He says he's looking forward to his day in court. And he's innocent. He's innocent until proven guilty. And he hasn't been found liable in any of these cases. Just want to make that clear. But let me go back to the complaint because again, it's similar to the criminal

indictment. So the complaint reads, Combs' business enterprise is central to the pervasive acts of sexual assault and abuse committed by him during the last decades. On the surface, each of these businesses served a legitimate purpose related to entertainment, music, and other subjects. But in reality, Combs by and through himself and his agents, employees, and contractors use these businesses to sexually assault, abuse, threaten, and coerce hundreds of individuals through sexual quid pro quo schemes, as well as to take advantage of individuals with impunity thinking the victims would never seek recourse. Combs and his agents, employees, and contractors through these Combs businesses, would tell victims, this is what it takes to be famous. What are you willing to do

to become a star and perform this sexual act or else to coerce the victim into performing a non-consensual sexual act for the gratification of Combs and his cohorts. Again, parallel to what is being alleged at the criminal federal level. And from there, it lists out Combs' legal history, from having been convicted for threatening a photographer back in 1996 to his arrest for the 1999 nightclub shooting in which he was acquitted, to everything that he's facing now. I mean, John Doe lists out the multiple people who have sued Sean Combs,

Cassandra Ventura, Joy Dickerson, Neal, Rod Jones, Adrian English, and more. And John Doe also explains the criminal charges as well. Now, while a lot of that may not be per se relevant to the case, this is key to list this out. Why? Because aside from setting up the context of the scene, there is another important legal reason for including all of this. So John Doe, and we will get into all of the allegations in a moment about what he says happened to him, But John Doe is suing under the New York City Gender Motivated Violence Protection Act. The argument is that forced sexual contact is a crime of violence and that it was motivated by the fact that he is a man.

And that, quote, Combs' long history of violence and sexual abuse against men evinces a deep contempt and desire for domination over men. In other words, in order for John Doe to prove that what happened to him was motivated by an animus towards men and animus towards his gender, courts have held. that to determine if an act of violence is gender-motivated, you can look to the totality of the circumstances. And there is an argument that a plaintiff should be allowed to present evidence of a pattern of alleged sexual misconduct or assaults to prove a specific violent act was motivated by gender. So maybe what we'll see as this case develops and heads towards trial is that this John Doe will be allowed to present other prior alleged bad acts by combs involving other men, that it may be used to potentially show and prove the underlying claim

of gender-motivated violence. That's why I think it's important to explain what else Sean Combs has been accused of and the similar claims. I think that's maybe where we're going. But now I want to talk about the actual allegations of unnamed John Doe, who was listed as residing in Brooklyn. By the way, currently he is operating under a pseudonym. We shall see if the court allows him to continue this in other Sean Combs cases. The courts there have said not so fast, you can't continue as a Jane Doe because in the interest of justice, in the interest of a defendant being able to face the person who is suing him. This person should have to identify themselves. The defendant has a right to investigate who this person is, investigate their claims.

And unless there is enough evidence to suggest that revealing their identity would cause them harassment or harm or risk their safety of some kind, you need, actual evidence to demonstrate that. Or you should suggest, oh, revealing my identity will have a severe emotional and psychological impact on me that maybe you need mental health professionals who can provide a declaration to that or a testimony to that in some regard. So again, we will see if John Doe is allowed to continue as John Doe. And by the way, if this actually does progress towards a trial, you imagine a lot of this is going to be coming from the testimony of John Doe. Keep that in mind. All right. So what are the allegations? It says, quote, in the summer of

2012, John Doe, a 17-year-old minor from Indiana, traveled to New York City to visit his brother and friends. Staying in Soho, Doe spent his time exploring the city's nightlife with his brother and friends. One night, Doe went to a well-known club in Soho. Doe was only 17, but paid the bouncer $100 to enter. By the way, 2012, you got to wonder if there's surveillance video. Maybe that's still available. That could be discovered and produced to prove he was actually there. Once inside, Doe danced and socialized and was invited from the public crowd to a table in the private table area of the club. Soon after, he was invited to another table, which he realized was defendant Combs' table. At Combs' table, there were approximately 12 people, including

women, entourage members, security, and ostensibly other guests. At the table, Combs and his entourage distributed Sorok Vaca to those at the table, handing a shot to Doe. At some point, Doe saw Combs whispered to someone in his entourage before immediately leaving the table. Moments later, an individual approached Doe and invited him to a back room. The request was firm. Doe followed as instructed. In the back room, various people unknown to Doe were smoking weed and using cocaine. Many members of Combs' entourage were also present, as were what appeared to be strippers and escorts, both male and female. In this crowd, Doe spotted Combs. Doe sat three to four seats away, but Combs soon moved closer. At that point, Combs handed Doe another shot of Surrock, which Doe drank.

Doe and Combs then talked about music, modeling, the city, and the entertainment industry as a whole. At some point, Doe began to realize something was wrong. Doe began to become hazy and disoriented. Things became unclear. Doe could feel himself losing consciousness and control of his body. It became clear to Doe that the two drinks he was given were spiked with something and that he had been drugged with a substance that was impacting his faculties.

A photograph of an actual exemplary container used by Combs and or his agents' employees to insert GHB in alcoholic drinks is seen below. Now, that is a photo that has appeared in other Tony Busby lawsuits as well. And moreover, that allegation of drugging, that has been repeated in multiple lawsuits and the federal criminal indictment as well. Going back to the lawsuit, quote, Doe began to go in and out of consciousness. He was aware of what was happening, but could not stop it. And from there, John Doe claims he was raped by Sean Combs in the back room of that nightclub. The complaint continues, he could not stop the assault on him. He was defenseless.

To this day, Doe often has nightmares of being in the back room of the nightclub watching as Combs takes him from behind. The next morning, Doe woke up in the apartment with his brother and friends. And he explains that when he woke up, he experienced pain in his rear and lower body. As a result of Combs' sexual assault, Doe experienced damages including pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment, and emotional torment. The interaction continues to humiliate and cause shame on Doe. Now that is important in terms of harm and damages, which I'll get to in a minute.

But the complaint continues because of Combs' power and notoriety, because of Doe's own embarrassment and shame, Doe was afraid to immediately report what had happened. The longer he waited, the more difficult it was to report. Doe became yet another sexual assault victim of Combs through the same pattern. and abuse of influence Combs exercised over others previously. Now, this is all meant to address why John Doe waited to come forward, because that will certainly be a question brought up by Combs' defense if this were to go to trial. After all, Combs would most likely argue that everyone is coming out of the woodwork now

to sue him to jump up the bandwagon, that this is all a money grab. Now, aside from our understanding of sexual assault, and our understanding has changed over the years, we definitely have a better understanding of what it means to be a sexual. assault survivor. And again, these are just allegations at this point. But there are a number of reasons why people don't come forward earlier, aside from who the alleged perpetrator is, even if they're not a Sean Combs, there's a number of reasons. But here, the main argument is that, again, given Combs' power, his influence, his status, it is not easy coming forward against one of the

biggest stars in Hollywood in the music industry. Not easy coming forward until others did. Now, to be clear, this is not to say that Combs is liable. These are only allegations. He hasn't been found liable. In any of these cases, as I said, he's innocent until proven guilty. He's denied all the allegations. In fact, in a statement to people regarding this lawsuit, Combs' legal team wrote, as we've said before, Mr. Combs cannot respond to every new publicity stunt, even in response to claims that are facially ridiculous or demonstrably false. Mr. Combs and his legal team have 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. That has been basically the same statement that has been released after every one of these lawsuits. By the way, this lawsuit is not just again, Sean Combs. Now, also named as defendants are Diddy's House Recordings, Combs Global, Bad Boy Entertainment, Bad Boy Productions, Bad Boy Books, Bad Boy Records, and other identified organizations and individuals. So why are they on the hook? How could they be liable for this? well. The complaint reads, quote, the Combs' business enabled and conspired with Combs to commit the crime of violence motivated by gender because Combs sexually assaulted plaintiff had a party related to or referencing Combs' business. On information and belief, Combs' businesses routinely

committed sexual assault and gender-motivated violence as detailed in other civil lawsuits to further the business purpose of Combs' enterprise. Given Combs' long-standing pattern and practice of committing sexual violence against young men, the Combs' business had and or should have had knowledge of Combs using such parties and venues for this unlawful conduct and did nothing to stop it. So, in other words, if this party was somehow thrown by Sean Combs' businesses or he was using the resources to pay for things at the club, that's one thing. Maybe that's a way to get them on the hook. But I think the other way of what they're saying, we've seen this before, is that these corporate entities allegedly benefited by this sexual assault. In other words, you keep

Sean Combs happy, you keep him satisfied, allow him to do what he wants to do, because you keep Sean Combs happy and satisfied, it means more money is coming in for the companies. That's essentially my understanding of what is being alleged and what we've seen before, and that it was their duty to stop this from happening. Now, John Dole also claims that the Combs businesses had a duty to, quote, protect plaintiff from a known danger and or have sufficient policies and procedures in place to prevent sexual assault and or train their employees on identifying and preventing sexual assault. So maybe that also means about the people who've been around Combs. That could be what that means too. And that they failed to properly supervise Sean Combs.

John Doe also alleges that the Combs corporations enabled and conspired with Combs by actively placing, maintaining, and or employing Combs in positions of power and authority, despite the fact that they knew and or should have known that Combs had a widespread and well-known practice of committing sexual assault and gender-motivated violence, including on premises owned and or operated by defendants. Combs used his titles and authority conferred by the Combs business, including a CEO, founder, and chairman to facilitate and perpetuate the violent assault on plaintiff and to intimidate and force plaintiff to keep quiet in subsequent years.

Now, that is an interesting connection. And just generally, how these corporate entities are being listed, that they promoted and maintained Combs to such an elevated level. And at being at that elevated level, that's maybe how he got. got that table, how he had people to bring John Doe over. In other words, that's how he had the ability to essentially or allegedly assault somebody at a nightclub and then have people who allegedly facilitated this assault. It's a bit looser than if you have somebody who directly uses company resources to commit an assault or assault somebody while on duty or assault somebody on

company premises. But we'll see how that argument shakes out and what happens to the corporate defendants. But then finally, the complaint says, on information and belief, plaintiff alleges that defendant organizational dose 1 through 10, inclusive are other parties not yet identified, who have enabled and conspired with Combs to commit the crime of violence motivated by gender in the ways articulated above and or in other ways. Now, first, upon information and belief, it means I don't have direct proof other than what I have been told and I believe to be true, but during the course of the litigation, you know, I hope to get the evidence to prove it. And that's why I reserve the right to later name these unidentified individuals and entities who contributed or allegedly contributed to this attack.

So what is John Doe looking for? Now, remember I mentioned harm, right? So compensatory damages. Looking for compensatory damages for all physical injuries, emotional distress, psychological harm, anxiety, humiliation, physical and emotional pain and suffering, family and social disruption and other harm in an amount to be determined at trial. Now, this is to restore John Doe, to make him whole. What was lost? What did he suffer?

These are known as actual damages. He's also asking for punitive damages, though. These are a form of punishment. It's for really egregious, intentional, willful, bad conduct. And here, the allegation of sexual assault, that would seem to fall into that. John Doe's also asking for attorney's fees, costs, interests. And then he explains to the court that he's attaching any and all of Combs' real property and assets under federal rule of civil procedure 64.

This is about seizing a defendant's property to satisfy a judgment. Now, here's the big picture. Look, it's hard to know what to make of these claims, right? They are grotesque. They are disturbing. They are eerily consistent with what we've heard in other lawsuits and the criminal case. But at this stage of the litigation, John Doe only has to lay out the bare minimum in a complaint for it to proceed forward.

We will see if and how he can prove this and what the defenses will be from Sean Combs, but this is yet another lawsuit in a long line of recent lawsuits. So putting aside all of the other lawsuits that Combs is facing, here is just a sample of recent ones, okay? This month, two Jane Does filed lawsuits claiming they were assaulted by Sean Combs in the 90s. One claim she was drugged and raped by multiple men at Combs' direction. Another claims Combs subjected her to sexual assault, coercion, abuse, and violence, including being allegedly assaulted by Combs' bodyguard.

Tony Busby filed another lawsuit earlier this. month on behalf of an aspiring male musician, and this person claims that Combs drug and assaulted him in 2015. A woman named La Troia Grayson filed the lawsuit against Combs, claiming that after winning a radio contest awarding her a ticket to a Sean Combs party in New York City back in 2006, she woke up at the hospital. No memory of what happened, but she was in pain, and she believes she was assaulted. We have another John Doe just filed a lawsuit against Combs. Also being represented by Tony Busby claims he was drugged and raped by Combs back in 2022. Recent allegedly happened at a party. His lawsuit states because of Combs' power and notoriety

and because he was shocked and embarrassed, Doe did not report what had happened. And then we recently did this one on sidebar where a former male adult entertainer, a dancer claims in a lawsuit that Combs sexually, physically and psychologically abused him over a five-year period. This one was particularly disgusting. Okay. I couldn't even go through all the detail. when I did it on sidebar, but according to John Doe, he claims during strip shows that he performed for Combs, there would be men and or women present. He was required to get undressed. Combs would allegedly barricade everybody in the room while this was all going on. He claims Combs had a gun on him or with him, meaning he felt trapped and in fear. He says he was forced to apply baby oil to his

own body that was potentially drug, laced with drugs because he would feel drowsy, lethargic, weak, numb. And he claims he would stumble over, furniture, he'd be disoriented. He claims that Combs would keep pushing the oil on him, saying things like you're getting a little dull, rub some more baby oil on yourself. And John Do alleges that if he didn't do this, Combs would become very angry, that he would squirt the baby oil on him. And he says, Combs forced him to drink unknown substances and pills, slipped in Viagra, all disturbing allegations. And then he says that while he was in this drowsy and confused state, he claims that Combs ordered him to pleasure himself and engage in sexual activities with the women. And again, I'm sorry, I won't get too graphic,

but he alleges that Combs actually groped his private area, including literally physically forcing him to have sex. And he alleges that Combs would get up close and personal as the sexual encounters were happening to make sure John Doe and a woman were in fact engaging in sex. That's the allegation here. He said these encounters would last a long, long time. Just disturbing allegations, another lawsuit and a long list of lawsuits. That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your

podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Thank you.