Sean Combs, aka Diddy, has issued a statement defending himself against various claims from the last few weeks.
Combs was first sued by ex girlfriend, Cassie, for sex abuse and harassment. He settled that suit overnight with his lawyer, Ben Brafman, cautioning that a settlement was not an admission of guilt.
A second woman has sued Diddy, also. And a third.
Now a a woman who says that Combs and two other men gang-raped her in a New York recording studio 20 years ago, when she was 17 years old.
Is this a piling on? Or is there truth to the claims?
The unidentified woman is represented by Douglas Wigdor, who’s made a business with these kinds of lawsuits. He released a statement that said: “As alleged in the complaint, defendants preyed on a vulnerable high school teenager as part of a sex trafficking scheme that involved plying her with alcohol and transporting her by private jet to New York City where she was gang-raped by the three individual defendants at Mr. Combs’s studio.”
He added: “The depravity of these abhorrent acts …scarred” the woman “for life.”
Combs’s business, meantime, is falling apart amidst the allegations. He’s been dropped by the liquor company that’s helped make him a fortune. His music business was already a disaster after a flop album release this fall. Macy’s has dropped his Sean John line of clothing.
But Combs’s defense will be marked by his past behavior as well: his infamous nightclub shooting episode that involved Jennifer Lopez, and his attack on record executive Steve Stoute, who Combs attacked in his office with a Champagne bottle.
In his statement, Diddy said: “Enough is enough. For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
