(NewsNation) — Seven new lawsuits have been filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs, including one alleging the rape of a 13-year-old girl.
The lawsuit filed Sunday alleges that a 13-year-old girl, who was invited to a party by a limousine driver after the Video Music Awards in Manhattan in September 2000, was raped by a “male celebrity” and then by Combs as individuals identified only as “Celebrity A,” a male, and “Celebrity B,” a female, watched.
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, discussed the latest lawsuits with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo.
“The story with the 13-year-old would break anybody’s heart,” Aidala said on “CUOMO.” “It is a 24-year-old story. … It makes you wonder why she never complained to anybody, any one of the days in the last 24 years.”
The latest lawsuits are drawn from what lawyers say are more than 100 accusers who are planning legal action against Combs. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Tony Buzbee announced the planned litigation at an Oct. 1 news conference and posted a toll-free number for accusers to call.
“All these hotline numbers make me nervous. They did (that to) my client, Harvey Weinstein,” Aidala said. “Diddy’s lawyers need to think about whether or not this is just a big money grab.”
In the lawsuits filed Sunday in state and federal courts, four men and three women, all anonymous, allege they were sexually assaulted by Combs at parties over the last two decades.
Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking charges contained in an indictment unsealed the day after his Sept. 16 arrest. Charges include allegations he coerced and abused women for years, aided by associates and employees, and silenced victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
He has remained incarcerated pending a May 5 trial after two judges denied bail in rulings being appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Combs’ lawyers asked a judge Sunday to order potential witnesses and their lawyers to stop making statements that could prevent a fair trial.
As before, Combs’ representatives dismissed the latest lawsuits as “clear attempts to garner publicity.” They said Combs and his legal team “have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process.”
Combs “has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman,” they added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.