Sean "Diddy" Combs has been accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in 2005, according to a new lawsuit that joins more than two dozen others accusing the music mogul of sexual misconduct.
The civil lawsuit was one of two filed on Monday, local time, in a New York state court by Tony Buzbee, a lawyer who says he represents more than 150 victims of Mr Combs' abuse, and has filed at least 17 lawsuits.
In Monday's second lawsuit, another male accuser said he was a 17-year-old auditioning for the reality TV show Making the Band when Mr Combs and a bodyguard sexually assaulted him in 2008.
"The lawyer behind this lawsuit is interested in media attention rather than the truth," Mr Combs' lawyers said in a statement similar to those issued after earlier lawsuits filed by Mr Buzbee.
"In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor."
Mr Combs, 54, has also pleaded not guilty to criminal sex trafficking charges in federal court in Manhattan where he faces felony counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Federal prosecutors have accused the Bad Boy record label founder of coercing men, women and children into sex acts without their consent, bribing and intimidating them into keeping quiet, and employing his staff to cover up his crimes.
Mr Combs has been held for six weeks in a Brooklyn jail after being denied bail twice, and is appealing his detention.
In the complaint involving the 10-year-old, the California plaintiff known as John Doe said he was an aspiring actor and rapper when a consultant whom his parents had hired arranged an "audition" with Mr Combs at a New York hotel.
According to the complaint, after John Doe told Combs he would "do anything" to become a star, Mr Combs gave him a soda spiked with drugs, pushed him down, and forced him to perform oral sex.
John Doe said he lost consciousness, and upon waking was sore and had his pants undone.
He said he cried and asked to see his parents, leading Mr Combs to say he would hurt them "badly" if John Doe revealed what happened, the complaint said.
In the second complaint, a different California plaintiff also named John Doe, said Mr Combs forced him to perform oral sex on himself and the bodyguard, with Mr Combs framing the latter as a "test" of how much John Doe wanted to succeed in the music industry.
The second John Doe failed the audition after Mr Combs deemed him "untrustworthy due to his reservations about performing oral sex on his bodyguard," the complaint said.
Mr Combs' criminal trial is scheduled for May 5, 2025.
Reuters