Sean 'Diddy' Combs accused of sexual misconduct by 120 people, attorney says

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs accused of sexual misconduct by 120 people, attorney says

2024-10-02 06:39 Last Updated At：06:41

HOUSTON (AP) — An attorney said Tuesday he is representing 120 accusers who have come forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hip-hop mogul who is awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Houston attorney Tony Buzbee said he expects lawsuits to be filed within the next month, with most expected to be filed in New York and Los Angeles. Buzbee described the victims as 60 males and 60 females, and that 25 were minors at the time of the alleged misconduct. One individual alleged he was 9 years old when he was abused, Buzbee said. The allegations cover a period from 1991 to this year.

“This type of sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation should never happen in the United States or anywhere else. This should have never been allowed to go on for so long. This conduct has created a mass of individuals who are injured, scared and scarred,” Buzbee said at a news conference.

Following the announcement of the accusations in Texas, an attorney for Combs said the performer “cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.”

“That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors,” attorney Erica Wolff said in a statement. “He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”

Buzbee said more than 3,280 individuals contacted his firm and alleged they were victimized by Combs and that after vetting the allegations, his firm decided to represent 120 people. Other cases are still being reviewed. He said some of his clients have spoken with the FBI.

The individuals that Buzbee’s firm is representing are from more than 25 states, with the majority from California, New York, Georgia and Florida.

The abuse that’s being alleged took place mostly at parties held in New York, California and Florida where individuals were given drinks that were laced with drugs, Buzbee said.

Some of the alleged conduct took place at auditions where “many times, especially young people, people wanting to break into the industry were coerced into this type of conduct in the promise of being made a star,” Buzbee said.

Combs, 54, has been locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since pleading not guilty Sept. 17 to federal charges that he used his “power and prestige” to induce female victims into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances with male sex workers in events dubbed “Freak Offs.”

Other alleged victims have already filed lawsuits against Combs that include allegations of sexual assault.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His attorney said he is innocent and will fight to clear his name.

Combs is one of the best-known music executives, producers and performers across hip-hop, having won three Grammys and worked with artists such as Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112. He founded Bad Boy Records in 1993, the influential fashion line Sean John, a vodka brand and the Revolt TV network. He sold off his stake in the latter company in June of this year.

Buzbee has also represented women who accused NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual assault and misconduct.

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

Iran fires at least 180 missiles into Israel as regionwide conflict grows

2024-10-02 06:37 Last Updated At：06:41

JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel on Tuesday, the latest in a series of escalating attacks in a yearslong conflict between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatens to push the Middle East closer toward a regionwide war.

The orange glow of missiles streaked across Israel's night sky as air raid sirens sounded and residents scrambled into bomb shelters. Israel vowed retaliation for Iran’s barrage, which it said had caused only a few injuries.

Before Iran's attack, Israel had landed a series of devastating blows in recent weeks against the leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon. It then ratcheted up the pressure on the Iran-backed militant group — which has been firing rockets into Israel since the war in Gaza began — by launching what it said is a limited ground incursion in southern Lebanon.

Israel has said it will continue to strike Hezbollah until it is safe for citizens displaced from homes near the Lebanon border to return. Hezbollah has vowed to keep firing rockets into Israel until there is a cease-fire in Gaza with Hamas, which is also supported by Iran.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the country’s air defenses intercepted many of the incoming Iranian missiles, though some landed in central and southern Israel. Israel’s national rescue service said two people were lightly wounded by shrapnel. In the West Bank, Palestinian officials said a Palestinian man was killed by a missile that fell near the town of Jericho, though it wasn't clear where the attack originated.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed late Tuesday to retaliate against Iran, which he said "made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it.”

Israel and Iran have fought a shadow war for years, but rarely have they come into direct conflict.

Israel considers Iran to be its greatest foe -- citing Iran’s repeated calls for Israel’s destruction, its support for Arab militant groups and its nuclear program. Iran denies Israeli accusations that it is developing a nuclear weapon.

Moments before Iran launched its missiles, a shooting attack in Tel Aviv left at least six people dead, police said, adding that the two suspects who had opened fire on a boulevard in the Jaffa neighborhood had also been killed.

In the U.S., White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called Iran’s missile attack a “significant escalation,” although he said it was ultimately “defeated and ineffective,” in part because of assistance from the U.S. military in shooting down some of the inbound missiles. President Joe Biden said his administration is “fully supportive” of Israel and that he’s in “active discussion” with aides about what the appropriate response should be to Tehran.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for Wednesday morning to address the escalating situation in the Middle East.

Iran launched another direct attack on Israel in April, but few of its projectiles reached their targets. Many were shot down by a U.S.-led coalition, while others apparently failed at launch or crashed in flight.

Iran said it fired Tuesday's missiles as retaliation for attacks that killed leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Iranian military. It referenced Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, both killed in an Israeli airstrike last week in Beirut. It also mentioned Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader in Hamas who was assassinated in Tehran in a suspected Israeli attack in July.

Earlier Tuesday, Israel said it had begun limited ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire pounded southern Lebanese villages, and Hezbollah responded with a barrage of rockets into Israel. There was no immediate word on casualties.

While Hezbollah denied Israeli troops had entered Lebanon, the Israeli army announced it had also carried out dozens of covert ground raids into southern Lebanon going back nearly a year.

If true, it would be another humiliating blow for Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in the Middle East. Hezbollah has been reeling from weeks of targeted strikes that killed Nasrallah and several of his top commanders.

On Tuesday morning, Israel warned people in southern Lebanon to evacuate to the north of the Awali River, some 60 kilometers (36 miles) from the border and much farther than the Litani River, which marks the northern edge of a U.N.-declared zone intended to serve as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah after their 2006 war.

The border region has largely emptied out over the past year as the two sides have traded fire. But the scope of the evacuation warning raised questions as to how deep Israel plans to send its forces into Lebanon.

An Associated Press reporter saw Israeli troops operating near the border in armored trucks, with helicopters circling overhead, but could not confirm ground forces had crossed into Lebanon.

Ahead of the Israeli announcement of an incursion, U.S. officials on Monday said Israel had described launching small ground raids inside Lebanon as it prepared for a wider operation.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon has seen sporadic incursions by Israeli military forces, but “they have not witnessed a full-scale invasion.”

Hagari, the Israeli army spokesman, said Israel had carried out dozens of small raids inside Lebanon since Oct. 8, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel after the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

Hagari said Israeli forces had crossed the border to collect information and destroy Hezbollah infrastructure, including tunnels and weapons. Israel has said Hezbollah was preparing its own Oct. 7-style attack into Israel. It was not immediately possible to confirm those claims.

Hagari said Israel’s aims for its current ground offensive in Lebanon were limited. “We’re not going to Beirut,” he said.

The Israeli military was accused of lying to the media in 2021 when it released a statement implying ground troops had entered Gaza. The military played down the incident as a misunderstanding, but well-sourced military commentators in Israel said it was part of a ruse to lure Hamas into battle.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched rockets at central Israel on Tuesday, setting off air raid sirens and wounding a man. Hezbollah said it fired salvos of a new kind of medium-range missile at the headquarters of two Israeli intelligence agencies near Tel Aviv. Hezbollah had also launched projectiles at Israeli communities near the border, targeting soldiers without wounding anyone.

Israel's statements indicated it might focus its ground operation on the narrow strip along the border, rather than launching a larger invasion aimed at destroying Hezbollah, as it has attempted in Gaza against Hamas.

Hezbollah and Hamas are close allies backed by Iran, and each escalation has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East that could draw in Iran and the United States, which has rushed military assets to the region in support of Israel.

Israeli strikes have killed over 1,000 people in Lebanon over the past two weeks, nearly a quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.

Hezbollah is a well-trained militia, believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate, and both sides have spent the past two decades preparing for their next showdown.

Recent airstrikes wiping out most of Hezbollah’s top leadership and the explosions of hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah indicate Israel has infiltrated deep inside the group’s upper echelons.

The group’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, said Monday that Hezbollah commanders killed in recent weeks have already been replaced.

As the fighting intensifies, European countries have begun pulling their diplomats and citizens out of Lebanon.

Mroue reported from Beirut and Madhani reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut and Zeke Miller and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war