More than 100 people are suing rap musician Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs for sexual assault, rape and sexual exploitation, a US lawyer has said.
Texas-based lawyer Tony Buzbee said that some of the alleged victims include minors as young as nine years old.
“This is an important matter that we intend to aggressively pursue,” Mr Buzbee told reporters.
The lawsuit marks the first time that Mr Combs has been accused of sexually abusing children.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Mr Buzbee said he and his team “will leave no stone unturned to find potentially liable parties” in the alleged abuse, or “any individual or entity who participated in or benefited from this egregious behaviour”.
The legal action is the latest against Mr Combs.
Mr Combs was arrested last week and is facing criminal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. He is currently in federal custody after he was denied bail, which his lawyer is appealing.
He continues to deny all allegations of criminal wrongdoing. The BBC has approached Mr Combs’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, for comment on the latest civil lawsuit.
According to Mr Buzbee, who is licensed to practice law in Texas and New York, the total number of alleged victims he is representing is 120, with half of them being men and the other half women.
He added that 25 of the alleged victims he is representing were minors.
The allegations span between 1991 to as recently as this year with the incidents taking place in Los Angeles, New York and Miami, Mr Buzbee said. He added most of the incidents occurred after 2015.
Most of the plaintiffs, he said, allege they were date raped after parties hosted by Mr Combs that were held at well-known venues, as well as private residences and hotels.
Mr Buzbee said the parties were either to mark an album release, as well as New Year’s Eve parties and US Independence Day parties. Others occurred at what he said were auditions where the alleged victims were trying to break into the entertainment industry.
Mr Buzbee said that this is not a class action lawsuit and that there will be individual cases filed for each alleged victim.