Faced with a growing mountain of sex-abuse lawsuits, lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs would very much like to know who’s been saying what.
The disgraced mogul’s team argues in a new court filing that, because of the “unique” aspects of the case—namely Diddy’s “celebrity status” and “wealth,” as well as the sheer volume of allegations—they should get to know the names of his accusers, The Guardian reports.
His attorneys say the “torrent” of claims “by unidentified complainants, spanning from false to outright absurd,” has created a “pervasive ripple effect.” They reportedly gesture toward recent efforts by Texas lawyer Tony Buzbee to sign up alleged victims: Buzbee says at least 120 people have come to him with complaints about the rapper, and on Monday, his clients filed six anonymous sexual assault complaints. Diddy’s team wrote that “swirling allegations have created a hysterical media circus that, if left unchecked, will irreparably deprive Mr. Combs of a fair trial, if they haven’t already.”
Last month, Diddy was arrested after being indicted on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors believe he directed a sweeping criminal enterprise, forcing women to participate in elaborate group-sex scenarios for his pleasure. He allegedly subjected these women to physical, emotional, and verbal abuse as well, as exemplified by leaked video footage of him brutally beating his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
Diddy has pleaded not guilty, but since he was taken into custody, more alleged victims have come forward, some anonymously and some not. “Without clarity from the government, Mr. Combs has no way of knowing which allegations the government is relying on for purposes of the indictment,” the filing argues, according to The Guardian. “Other than Victim-1, there is no way for Mr. Combs to determine who the other unidentified alleged victims are.”
The name of at least one of these new accusers will be known to Diddy’s legal team: Ashley Parham, who just filed a lawsuit against the rapper, alleging he used a television remote to “violently” rape her at knifepoint, TMZ reports.
According to the lawsuit, Parham first met Diddy via FaceTime in 2018, after she got to talking to a friend of his in a bar. She allegedly remarked that she thought Diddy had been involved in the death of Tupac Shakur, a long-running rumor.
About a month later, she says she was at the man’s California house when Diddy showed up and started threatening her with a knife, saying he would slash open her face before stripping her, pouring a liquid she believes was either lube or oil all over her body, and trying to penetrate her with an object he called an “IUD.” When that didn’t work, he allegedly got the TV remote, then invited several of his buddies to join him in raping her both anally and vaginally.
Afterwards, when she attempted to leave, she says Diddy told her he’d given her “enough drugs to take out a horse,” tried to pay her off, and ultimately said that if she reported him, he’d go after her family, allegedly showing her a live-stream of her sister’s home.
When she eventually did make it out, Parham says she called the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department, the Walnut Creek Police Department, and the Orinda Police Department but that she doesn’t believe any of them ever looked into her allegations.
According to TMZ, Parham only named Diddy to the sheriff’s deputy. She’s asking for a jury trial and $50 million in damages.
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