Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: I want to know them. Combs asked Judge for identities of his accusers
The embattled Hip-hop legend and entertainment mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, popularly known as Puff Diddy, has demanded that the identities of his accusers be revealed.
According to Manhattan federal court statement, through his lawyer, Combs who was charged with wide-range sex trafficking and racketeering, has labelled all accusation brought against him “baseless” and he wants prosecutors handling his trial to reveal the identities−names−of his accusers.
In a letter submitted to judge Arun Subramanian on Tuesday, the fifty-four years old says he needs to identify his accusers in preparation for his May fifth trial.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: I Want To Know Them
However, Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him and he is awaiting trial.
“This case is unique, in part because of the number of individuals levying allegations against Mr. Combs due to his celebrity status, wealth” and extensive media coverage of lawsuits and other legal proceedings against him, they argued.
“This has had a pervasive ripple effect, resulting in a torrent of allegations by unidentified complainants, spanning from the false to outright absurd.”
Three days ago, on Monday, it was reported that three people filed civil complaints against Combs and the identities of these people are not known.
The attorney at the helm of this trial claimed at a recent press briefing that he would be representing 120 accusers who also filed suits against Combs and disclosed that his legal firm had received thousands of calls in a day with Combs’ associates also indicted.
“These accusations came on the heels of more than a dozen lawsuits previously filed and currently pending, several of which have already been discredited but only after irreparably damaging Mr. Combs’s character and reputation.”
According to the attorneys for the Bad Boy Records, “these 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.”
Combs’ legal team stated that they had asked the prosecutors to reveal the alleged victims because they names are not indicated on the suit files. But the prosecutors, at this point, are opposed to the idea.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is facing charges of racketeering conspiracy involving sex trafficking by force or fraud, and transportation to take part in prostitution.
The indictment stated that “Combs’ shady enterprise had been for decades and that the Hip-Hop legend abused, threatened and forced ladies and people around to meet his sexual cravings, shield his reputation and cloud his conduct.”
Combs, as alleged, with the aid of his cohorts, under the guise of his vast empire, perpetrate a “criminal enterprise” coupled with verbal, emotional, physical and sexual abuse against women and that he “manipulated women to participate in highly orchestrated performance of sexual activity with male commercial sex workers.”
It is alleged that Combs influenced these women’s action with drugs and promise of career, as well as finances. Federal prosecutors also alleged many of these abuse were revealed to be “freak offs,” which have been described as “elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded”.
According to prosecutors, sometimes, these alleged “freak-offs” would be active for a few days and after they ended, Combs and his accusers “typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use.”
Obviously, this indictment pointed at Cassandra Ventura, widely known as “Cassie,” Combs’ ex-girlfriend−apparently the first victim−who accused Combs of sexual assault and abuse in her 16th November, 2023 law suit against the music mogul during their time together but the case was settled a day later.
Combs’ legal team narrating the judges’ gesture while demanding the identities of the accusers, “they said that it was so broad, this could be interpreted as treating Mr. Combs’s entire sexual history over the past 16 years as part of the alleged criminal conspiracy”.
“Without clarity from the government, Mr. Combs has no way of knowing which allegations the government is relying on for purposes of the indictment. Other than Victim-1, there is no way for Mr. Combs to determine who the other unidentified alleged victims are,” they wrote. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: I Want To Know Them
“The number of potential alleged victims and the length of time alleged in the indictment both weigh in favor of” disclosing accusers,” they (judges) also said.“Moreover, to the extent Mr. Combs is forced to mount a defense against criminal allegations that the government does not seek to prove at trial, he is entitled to know that, they said.
“Without knowing the identities, the government is forcing him, unfairly, to play a guessing a game – one made all the more challenging by the onslaught of baseless allegations that desperate plaintiffs are lodging at him (for the most part anonymously) in civil suits designed to exact a payoff from Mr. Combs and others.
“Because there is so much evidence, and its provision is expected to take lots of time, Combs would not probably be able to figure out the identities of unnamed accusers.
“Mr. Combs also anticipates that the discovery will contain voluminous evidence of consensual sexual activity – making it all the more difficult for Mr. Combs to ascertain which of his prior sexual partners now claim, years later, that they felt coerced,” his lawyers argued.
When asked to comment on the new development, the Manhattan US attorney’s office rebuffed, but instead, pointed to the indictment.
The embattled hip-hop icon is awaiting trial and has been denied bails on several occasions.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: I Want To Know Them