Last fall, stars assembled in London at the over-the-top clubstaurant Lavo to celebrate one of their own. Janet Jackson smiled in a velvet booth with Idris Elba. The supermodel Naomi Campbell, the evening's host, posed in a black dress.

At the center of it all was Sean "Diddy" Combs in a leather jacket and Cartier sunglasses cutting into a bright red cake featuring artwork from his latest release. It was the mogul's 54th birthday party, as well as a celebration of his "The Love Album." As far as partygoers and paparazzi could tell, he was on top of the world.

Since his rise to fame in the late 1990s as a rapper and producer, Combs had built a business empire and become one of the richest and most well-connected entertainers of all time.

Behind the scenes that November, though, Combs' life was about to start crumbling. Negotiations were failing between Combs and the R&B singer Cassie Ventura, his ex who was on the brink of going public with details of their relationship.

Exactly one week after his star-studded party, the tensions bubbling under the surface boiled over when Ventura sued Combs. The lawsuit alleged a cycle of physical abuse, as well as rape by Combs, who Ventura also said forced her to have sex with sex workers.

Combs' lawyers alleged that her lawyers tried to extort $30 million in exchange for stopping a tell-all book about their 10-year relationship last year.

He eventually apologized to Ventura after CNN released surveillance footage of him physically abusing her at a hotel in 2016. He settled the lawsuit and, at the time, denied any wrongdoing — a stance he has maintained amid a flurry of subsequent allegations — but it marked the beginning of a year that turned his world upside down.

Over the next 12 months, Combs went from being one of the richest music moguls in history, known for his wide network in the entertainment industry and business savvy, to being behind bars, facing a criminal indictment, dozens of civil lawsuits, and an empire in decline.

Combs' freedom, reputation, and finances are all in jeopardy. If he's found guilty of criminal charges, it would mean one of the most celebrated entertainers is also a heinous criminal.

"He looked like he was the king of the world — as flossy as possible, blinged out, with the family, and everything's good," Kenny Hull, a reality show director who worked on the second iteration of "Making the Band," which featured Combs, told Business Insider about the last time he saw Combs, a few years ago at a park in Los Angeles.

"From the top to the absolute bottom," he added. "Canceled and done."

Combs has vehemently and consistently denied all accusations of sexual assault and sex trafficking since Ventura's lawsuit was filed, and each time a new allegation has been made against him.

"Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone — man, woman, adult or minor," lawyers for Combs told BI.

A birthday behind bars

Combs celebrated his 55th birthday not at a luxe international club but at the notorious Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, where, a person previously told BI, he was sharing a dormitory with the crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.

Instead of flowing Champagne or DeLeón, a jailhouse dinner was served on Combs' November birthday, consisting of Salisbury steak or black-eyed peas, mashed potatoes, and green beans. There was no partying with A-listers, though he did receive a phone call from his kids.

Combs has been in jail pretrial since he was arrested in September, following a monthslong investigation that led to a grand jury indictment on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution for allegedly causing victims and paid sex workers to cross state lines.

The Bad Boy Records founder faces anywhere from 15 years to life in prison on a federal indictment alleging that for decades, he used violence, threats, and drugs to coerce women into sexual performances, including at elaborately planned, dayslong parties called "freak offs."

Combs has pleaded not guilty, insisting through his lawyers that the sex was consensual and that his accusers have financial motives to implicate him. His next court date is Wednesday.

And more criminal charges may be coming, as prosecutors have said grand jurors are weighing a new indictment that could include allegations of obstruction of justice. Prosecutors allege that Combs has used phone accounts belonging to other people held at the jail to contact family members and associates and enlist them to plant negative stories about his accusers and funnel payments to a witness.

They also say agents recovered three AR-15 rifles with defaced serial numbers when search warrants were executed in March at Combs' homes in Miami and Los Angeles and at a Florida airport. And in September, when Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt, a five-star hotel in midtown Manhattan, they recovered bags of pink powder that prosecutors said in September they believed contained ecstasy and other drugs. Prosecutors have not revealed the results of a drug test they said was conducted in September.

Since his arrest, Combs has made three unsuccessful attempts to be released on bail ahead of his criminal trial, which is scheduled for May 5.

"No condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community," including of witnesses and prospective jurors, US District Judge Arun Subramanian wrote in the most recent bail denial, issued the day before Thanksgiving.

An avalanche of lawsuits

Just two weeks after Combs was arrested and subsequently locked up at the Brooklyn jail, the Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee held a press conference to announce that his firm was representing 120 people accusing Combs of sexual misconduct.

"We are going to follow this evidence wherever it takes us. We will find the silent accomplices. We will expose the enablers who enabled this conduct behind closed doors," Buzbee said of his legal offensive.

Since Ventura's bombshell November 2023 lawsuit, more than 30 civil lawsuits have been filed accusing Combs of sexual abuse, including about 20 from Buzbee's clients, all listed as John Doe or Jane Doe.

"It feels really good to know he's behind bars," Adria English, who is not a Buzbee client, told BI. She worked as a dancer at Combs' famous white parties and filed a lawsuit in July accusing him of sex trafficking. "What we're having to speak of already sounds like we're lying — it already sounds like a movie because it's so horrible," she said. "It's so disgusting."

Attorneys for Combs pointed BI to a statement previously released in response to English's lawsuit, saying in part: "No matter how many lawsuits are filed it won't change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted, or sex trafficked anyone."

The "I'll Be Missing You" rapper has been accused by both men and women of rape, sexual assault, and lacing drinks with drugs. Over half a dozen of the lawsuits allege the abuse of boys and girls between 10 and 17 years old. Four lawsuits allege that sexual attacks happened at Combs' famed A-list white parties throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, and two of those four lawsuits allege teenagers were victimized.

Timeline of events

Earlier this month, a woman accused the rapper Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, of raping her with Combs when she was 13 years old at a party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. An unnamed plaintiff originally filed the lawsuit in October, identifying Carter only as "Celebrity A."

Carter, in a statement through the X account of his entertainment company, Roc Nation, denied the allegations, calling them "heinous" and accusing Buzbee, the plaintiff's lawyer, of trying to "blackmail" him.

Attorneys for Combs continue to call all the lawsuits brought by Buzbee publicity grabs.

"Mr. Buzbee's lawsuit against Jay-Z and Mr. Combs and the recent extortion lawsuit Jay-Z brought against Mr. Buzbee exposes Mr. Buzbee's barrage of lawsuits against Mr. Combs for what they are: shameless publicity stunts, designed to extract payments from celebrities who fear having lies spread about them, just as lies have been spread about Mr. Combs," attorneys for Combs told BI Thursday.

The accuser in the lawsuit filed against Combs and Carter said in a recent interview with NBC News that there were some inconsistencies in her story but that she stood by the allegations.

Combs' lawyers are challenging the claims in at least seven lawsuits, which are ongoing. He has not responded in court to the lawsuits brought by Buzbee, which were all filed after his arrest.

A Los Angeles entertainment attorney, Camron Dowlatshahi, who's not involved in the lawsuits against Combs, told BI that though the rapper is still considered wealthy, litigating each of these cases through trial and potentially being exposed to multimillion-dollar judgments "does not seem prudent."

"Each of the lawsuits piggy-back on the other, and witnesses will be plenty," Dowlatshahi, a partner at the law firm Mills Sadat Dowlat, said.

Dowlatshahi said that lawsuits typically settle before trial and that he anticipated the same in Combs' case.

"Diddy will have to be strategic, however, in which cases he settles first and for how much," Dowlatshahi said.

Down with Diddy's empire

As the allegations against Combs have piled up, so have his legal bills.

Combs was once estimated to be worth $820 million, according to Forbes. He'd created an assortment of lucrative revenue drivers that contributed to regular eight-figure annual paydays, including a deal with Diageo; his lifestyle brand, Sean John; a record label; and a music catalog.

One by one, those income streams have dried up.

When the civil lawsuits started, Combs was already engaged in a legal back-and-forth with Diageo, his most bankable partner.

Combs signed with the liquor giant in 2007, agreeing to be the face of Cîroc vodka in exchange for a cut of sales. The partnership became one of the most lucrative celebrity liquor deals in history, expanding further when Combs and Diageo launched DeLeón, a co-owned tequila line. Over 15 years, the company paid him nearly $1 billion, Forbes reported.

While Combs originally sued Diageo in May 2023, alleging the company did not support his ventures, the mounting sexual abuse lawsuits did him in, in the end.

"Mr. Combs is well-aware that these lawsuits make it impossible for him to continue to be the 'face' of anything," Diageo lawyers wrote in a letter to a judge in December 2023.

By January, the matter was resolved. Combs received $200 million for his stake in DeLeón tequila and not a penny for his longtime work with Cîroc.

It's a similar story for his other ventures.

Combs' lifestyle company, Sean John, had already slipped: In 2016, he sold a majority stake in the business, which at that point included fragrances and furnishings, to Global Brands Group for $70 million, Forbes reported. Just five years later, Global Brands Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and Combs bought back the business for $7.55 million, just over 10% of what it was once worth.

The clothing line's website has gone defunct, its Instagram scrapped, and it is no longer sold at Macy's, once the exclusive home of the brand's sportswear line — and one of its last remaining retailers. The department store, which was accused by one of Buzbee's clients of covering up a 2008 sexual attack by Combs, did not comment on whether the removal of his Sean John line had to do with the compounding lawsuits. Macy's didn't respond to the allegations of covering up a sexual assault in court or to a request for comment about them from BI.

The disintegration of Combs' entertainment businesses, though, was a direct reaction to his mounting legal problems.

Soon after Ventura filed her lawsuit, Combs stepped down as chair of Revolt, the cable network and media company he cofounded. By June, he'd given up his stake. A Hulu reality show that was supposed to follow Combs and his family was scrapped. Any chance of his being able to cash out and sell his music catalog is slim.

"There are so many lost opportunities," Clayton Durant, a professor who teaches music business at Long Island University's Roc Nation School, told BI in October. "There is no way a brand is touching Diddy — probably forever."

With no moneymaking on the table, Combs has taken to trying to sell the assets he does have.

Earlier this year, he listed his Los Angeles mansion in the tony Holmby Hills for $61.5 million. His private jet, LoveAir, is also listed for sale, and while he awaits a buyer, he's been renting it out.

It's not clear how much use he will have for it anyway, at least in the near future.

On the eve of Thanksgiving, Combs lost his third application to be freed on $50 million bail.

Subramanian ordered that he remain held pending his May 5 trial, citing the rap mogul's history of violence and of contacting and threatening prospective witnesses.

"Diddy's been the ultimate puppet master for the last 30 years, and people wanted to say something … they've been too afraid," English, the dancer who accused Combs in a lawsuit of sex trafficking, told BI. "But now because of the raids, everybody's about to be exposed, regardless, so it's going to come out."

• Jay-Z was named in an amended complaint to a lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, filed in October.
• The filing accuses Jay-Z and Combs of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000.
• Experts said that Jay-Z's response could have been stronger if it included an explicit denial of the claims.

Jay-Z's response to the rape accusations against him is missing something, according to one crisis-PR expert.

The "99 Problems" singer — whose real name is Shawn Carter — was accused in a civil lawsuit Sunday of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl at an MTV Video Music Awards after-party alongside Sean "Diddy" Combs in 2000.

Carter responded to the "heinous" allegations hours later in a statement posted on his company Roc Nation's X account, calling the accuser's attorney, Tony Buzzbee, "deplorable" and saying he engaged in "a blackmail attempt."

"Whoever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree?" the statement reads, in part. "These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case."

Still, the statement doesn't include "a flat unmistakable denial that he'd ever engaged in behavior like that in this case or otherwise," said Evan Nierman, the CEO of crisis-PR firm Red Banyan.

"I think Jay-Z was strong in pointing out the heinous nature of the crimes and that he views them as unconscionable," Nierman said. "But I would've liked to have seen a little bit more of a flat denial."

The allegations against Carter stem from one of the slew of civil sexual assault lawsuits filed against Combs, who's in a Brooklyn jail while awaiting trial on separate criminal sex trafficking charges. Combs has denied the accusations against him.

In the original lawsuit, filed in October, the anonymous Jane Doe plaintiff from Alabama accused Combs of raping her at a party in New York City as two other unnamed celebrities watched. The stars were only identified in the civil lawsuit as "Celebrity A" and "Celebrity B."

The updated lawsuit filed Sunday identifies Carter as "Celebrity A."

The other celebrity was described as a "female" but has otherwise not been identified in court documents.

Attorneys for Carter and Combs did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider. A day after Carter's statement was published, his lawyer, Alex Spiro, more forcefully denied the allegations in a court filing.

"For the avoidance of doubt, Mr. Carter is entirely innocent," he wrote. "This is a shakedown."

A PR expert says Jay-Z's statement had 'bravado'

In his social media statement, Carter took aim at Buzbee, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiff, and said that his lawyer "received a blackmail attempt" to pressure him into settling out of court. He has separately filed an extortion lawsuit against Buzzbee.

Buzbee told Business Insider that he sent a letter to Carter requesting that Carter and the plaintiff mediate before Sunday's filing.

The amended complaint said Carter responded to the letter by filing a lawsuit and "orchestrating a conspiracy of harassment, bullying, and intimidation" to silence the accuser from naming him.

Camron Dowlatshahi, a partner at Los Angeles-based Mills Sadat Dowlat LLP, told Business Insider that the back-and-forth negotiations referenced by Carter are typical, "especially in a case involving a high-profile individual."

What caught peoples' attention was the more casual tone of Jay-Z's statement, which includes informally styled words in all caps and a sentence that ends with two exclamation points.

"He infused it with the kind of bravado that he's known for," Nierman told Business Insider. By reiterating his rough upbringing — "I'm a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn" — Nierman added that he's "saying, 'You misjudged me by trying to play with me the way you deal with other people.'"

Despite the informal tone, Dowlatshahi said it's highly likely that the statement was crafted with lawyers and publicists.

"I thought it was unorthodox but important to come from him," Dowlatshahi told Business Insider. "It personalizes everything that he's going through instead of being defensive."

Carter's statement said his accuser's lawyer should "file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!!" Still, only prosecutors representing the government, not individual accusers, can file criminal indictments.

Damian Williams, the US Attorney overseeing the criminal case against Combs in Manhattan, told Business Insider in October that the "investigation is very active and ongoing" when asked whether additional people would be charged.

Nierman and Dowlatshahi said it was nonetheless smart for Carter to point out that he was not charged with a crime.

"Something involving essentially a rape of a 13-year-old is not something that you have an afterthought about and amend your complaint about," Dowlatshahi said. "It's something that's at the forefront of a case, and typically a criminal case."

Experts don't think the allegations will tarnish Jay-Z's reputation if it's an isolated incident

Nierman and Dowlatshahi think Jay-Z is too rich and powerful for his reputation to ultimately be damaged by the suit.

He's "too big to cancel, and his brand is too strong to be destroyed by a civil lawsuit," Nierman said.

Dowlatshahi agreed. "Right now, this is a pretty contained isolated thing."

If more allegations against Carter surface or he faces criminal charges, indictments, or arrests, it could be career-ending.

"This is a civil lawsuit being filed by an attorney who's been very aggressive about his demand letters and going after celebs in the interest of securing financial settlements for his client," Nierman said. "So I don't see this as creating a permanent stain on Jay-Z's brand."

Nierman and Dowlatshahi said that Carter's mention of the allegations' impact on conversations with his kids, whom he shares with Beyoncé, also humanized him outside his celebrity persona.

Nierman said that Carter made his response "personal" by directly questioning Buzbee's integrity and values. "When you come out of the gates with such a strong statement like what Jay-Z made, and you make it so personal, both in his defense of himself and his attack on his accuser, he's already set," Nierman said. "It's going to be very hard to come back from that. So I expect him to be extremely aggressive in defending his reputation."

On Monday, Carter's lawyer filed a flurry of motions in federal court to dismiss the case or disclose the accuser's identity in the civil lawsuit.

"These claims are not about justice for victims. Nor are they about giving victims of sexual violence a voice," Carter's attorney Alex Spiro wrote in a filing. "Instead, they are merely the next chapter in Attorney Buzbee's sprawling extortion saga — a saga whose aim is base and measured in dollars."

Spiro didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Dowlatshahi said this is a common next step as Carter's team explores every possible option to defeat the claims. In Nierman's view, the aggressive strategy is working in the court of public opinion.

"Jay-Z is not going to be defined by these allegations," Nierman said. "I don't think that this is even going to be a footnote to his obituary."

• In the past year, Sean Combs has been hit by dozens of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse, as well as a federal indictment.
• Some suits include allegations against other known figures — but not all are listed as defendants.
• These are the stars associated with the accusations piling up against Diddy.

The lawsuits against Sean Combs, more commonly known as Diddy, continue to pile up.

Since his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura sued Combs in November 2023 accusing him of rape, abuse, and drugging, more than 30 civil suits have been filed against the hip-hop mogul.

In September, Combs was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Combs and his lawyers have denied all the allegations against him.

"Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process," the lawyers said. "In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman."

"We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the US Attorney's Office," Marc Agnifilo, Combs' lawyer, said in a statement to Business Insider following the federal charges.

While the federal indictment lists only Combs as a defendant, it refers to some of his employees and associates as members of the criminal enterprise he led. The series of civil suits that have hit him over the past year have also identified several powerful and wealthy people in Combs' orbit.

Some are outright accused by plaintiffs of wrongdoing — whether that be witnessing the abuse and not stopping it or providing drugs to Combs. Others — such as Prince Harry, Nicki Minaj, or Usher — are simply mentioned in passing and not accused of any wrongdoing.

In one of the most recent and serious lawsuits, an anonymous woman accuses Combs and Shawn Carter, known as Jay-Z, of drugging and raping her when she was 13 years old.

Here are the well-known people linked to the accusations against Combs.

Jay-Z

In December, an unnamed plaintiff filed an amended complaint accusing Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, and Combs of drugging and raping her in 2000, when she was 13 years old.

The incident occurred at a house party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, the amended complaint alleges.

The complaint was initially filed in October and referred to Jay-Z as "Celebrity A." A third celebrity — as yet unnamed — "stood by and watched as Combs and Carter took turns assaulting the minor," the complaint says.

Carter has strongly denied the allegations.

R&B singer Aaron Hall

Aaron Hall, an R&B singer who was part of the group Guy, was named as a defendant in a complaint filed against Combs last November in the New York Supreme Court ahead of the expiration date for New York's Adult Survivors Act, which provided a one-year window in which people could bring cases of sexual assault outside the typical statute of limitations.

The plaintiff, named Liza Gardner, accuses Combs and Hall of sexually assaulting her and a friend in Hall's apartment after a music-industry event hosted by MCA Records in 1990 when she was 16 years old. She says that Combs "coerced" her into having sex with him and that afterward, "Hall barged into the room, pinned her down, and forced" her to have sex with him too.

The plaintiff also alleges that Combs found her at her home and choked her until she passed out; he was worried his girlfriend would find out about the incident, the complaint says.

In one YouTube video cited in the complaint, Hall says in an interview that "Puffy" — what Combs was known as in the 1990s — had seen him have sex.

Hall couldn't be reached for comment. His lawyer wasn't yet identified in court documents as of April 8.

Music producer Harve Pierre

The music producer Harve Pierre was named as a defendant in two lawsuits filed against Combs ahead of the Adult Survivors Act's expiration date. Both lawsuits were filed anonymously, one in the New York Supreme Court and the other in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York, with the plaintiff listed as Jane Doe on both documents. He was also listed as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by Dawn Richard.

Pierre was Combs' first employee at Bad Boy Records and the president of his Bad Boy Entertainment, and he worked with artists such as The Notorious B.I.G. and Faith Evans.

In the first complaint, filed in November 2023, a former employee of Bad Boy who worked as Pierre's assistant accuses Pierre of using his position of power "to groom, exploit, and sexually assault her." The complaint says Combs and his companies enabled the abuse.

In a second lawsuit filed in December 2023, the plaintiff alleges that when she was 17 in 2003, Combs, Pierre, and an unnamed third defendant gang raped and sex trafficked her. Specifically, she alleges that Pierre smoked crack cocaine and then forced her to give him oral sex before bringing her from Detroit to New York City on a private jet.

The complaint alleges that in New York, at a studio owned by Combs, the defendants provided the plaintiff with drugs and alcohol before raping her.

Pierre's lawyer didn't respond to a request for comment from BI. He has denied the accusations made in both complaints.

"This is a tale of fiction. I have never participated in, witnessed, nor heard of anything like this, ever. These disgusting allegations are false and a desperate attempt for financial gain," he said in a statement obtained by TMZ.

Actor Cuba Gooding Jr.

An amended complaint filed in March in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York by Rodney Jones Jr. — a music producer who goes by Lil Rod — lists Cuba Gooding Jr. as a defendant. Jones accuses Gooding of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Specifically, Jones accuses Combs of grooming him to "pass him off" to Gooding. The complaint says the two were left alone in a makeshift studio on a yacht rented by Combs.

There, Gooding began "touching, groping, and fondling Mr. Jones' legs, his upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks, and his shoulders," the complaint alleges.

The actor previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of forcible touching.

Gooding's attorney didn't respond to a request for comment from BI.

Justin Dior Combs

While not necessarily a celebrity in his own right, Justin Dior Combs — Combs' 30-year-old son — is a defendant in Jones' amended complaint in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York.

In a wide-ranging list of allegations, Jones accuses Justin Combs of soliciting sex workers and underaged girls, as well as engaging in "freak-offs."

He also says the younger and older Combs were the only other people present in the room when "G," a friend of his, was shot at a recording studio — implying one of them shot G.

Justin Combs was at Combs' Los Angeles home when it was raided by feds and was seen handcuffed on the lawn outside, though he wasn't arrested.

Justin Combs' lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, said on his radio show, "Beyond the Legal Limit," that the complaint was "utterly bonkers."

"It's clearly written in an effort to get as much publicity as possible, not only for the case but for the lawyer whose name I don't even remember, literally some maniac," he said.

Lichtman didn't respond to a request for comment from BI.

Jacob the Jeweler

Jacob Arabo, better known as Jacob the Jeweler, is named as a defendant in a complaint filed against Combs by Adria English in July.

In the lawsuit, English accuses Combs of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and sex trafficking. The complaint alleges that she worked at Combs' famous white parties as a go-go dancer for years and that, at at least one of the parties, he forced her to have sex with Arabo, one of the party guests.

"Plaintiff, fearing not only her safety, but her and her then-boyfriend's job security, did as instruct and went with Defendant Jacob where she engaged in forced sexual intercourse with Defendant Jacob at the demand and behest of Defendant Combs. Plaintiff knew refusing Defendant Combs demands was not an option," the complaint says.

The complaint also says English saw Arabo "solicit and ingest narcotics." In a photograph included in the complaint, English and Arabo are together.

Arabo has been a character on the hip-hop scene for decades, with early clients including Notorious B.I.G. and Combs. Jay-Z raps about him in Beyoncé's "Upgrade U," as does Kanye West in Rick Ross' "Live Fast, Die Young."

"I really wanted to make statement pieces," he told BI in 2016 about the flashy pieces that became his signature.

"They would stand there waiting for me to be available to see them to show them jewelry. A line of people waiting," he added of his A-list clientele. "Before you know, you have Michael Jackson as a client, you have David Beckham, you have Madonna, you have all these celebrities."

The complaint against him is not Arabo's first run-in with the law. In 2006, he was arrested on money-laundering charges. As part of a plea deal, he was sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison for falsifying records and making false statements, CBS reported.

Arabo didn't respond to a request for comment from BI.

Rapper Yung Miami

Yung Miami, a member of City Girls, is mentioned in Jones' amended complaint, filed in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York. She isn't a defendant, nor is she accused of sexual misconduct.

She's listed as being a part of Combs' sex-trafficking operation and accused of bringing Combs tuci, a drug sometimes called "pink cocaine," on a private jet.

The complaint says she was retained on a monthly stipend as one of Combs' sex workers. It also alleges that her cousin, named as Jane Doe 1, assaulted Jones, forcibly giving him oral sex without consent.

A representative for Yung Miami didn't respond to a request for comment from BI.

DJ and producer Stevie J

Jones alleges in his amended complaint filed in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York that the Grammy winner Stevie J, Combs' longtime collaborator, recruited sex workers and participated in Combs' "freak-offs," though he doesn't name Stevie J as a defendant.

Jones accuses Combs of instructing Stevie J to teach him "the type of sex workers to solicit, and way to solicit them."

Jones also accuses Stevie J of sending threatening messages when Jones publicly asked Combs to pay him for his work on Combs' "The Love Album."

The complaint also says Combs used his connection to Stevie J — Jones' "idol" — to pressure Jones into sex.

"I've never seen my man doing anything foul like they talking about," Stevie J told TMZ earlier this month, adding: '"I've never seen it. I've known him for 29 years."

His attorney didn't reply to a request for comment from BI.

Singer Kalenna Harper

Kalenna Harper was a member of the group Diddy — Dirty Money, along with Dawn Richard and Combs.

In Richard's complaint, she says she and Harper were at Combs' home, where they witnessed him yell at and choke Ventura before throwing a "scalding hot pan of eggs" at her and dragging her up the stairs.

Richard's complaint says that Harper led her out of the house but that the two of them later spoke to Ventura and encouraged her to leave the relationship. Combs responded by threatening them, the complaint says.

The complaint also says that Combs forced Richard and Harper to work for days on end without breaks to sleep or eat and that the two weren't properly compensated for appearances.

In response to the lawsuit, Harper posted on Instagram.

"While I fully respect Dawn's right to recount her experiences, l want to emphasize that her account reflects her personal perspective and should not be interpreted as a universal truth applicable to everyone involved," she wrote in an Instagram story, according to People.

"It's important to understand that while I was present in some of the same professional settings mentioned, many of the allegations and incidents described in this suit are not representative of my experiences, and some do not align with my own truth."

Harper was also mentioned by federal prosecutors during Tuesday's bond hearing, during which prosecutors argued that Combs shouldn't be released ahead of trial.

The prosecutor, discussing Combs' contact with witnesses, said that between September 10, the day Richard filed the lawsuit, and September 14, the day Harper made her statement on Instagram, Combs called or texted Harper 58 times.

Interscope Records cofounder Jimmy Iovine

Richard's complaint also includes mention of Jimmy Iovine, the cofounder of Interscope Records and Beats Electronics.

The complaint recounts a dinner party held by Combs in the months leading up to a deal between his Bad Boy Entertainment and Iovine's Interscope Geffen A&M Records.

The complaint says that at the dinner, in front of Iovine, as well as the dinner guests Ne-Yo and Usher, Ventura and Combs had an argument that resulted in Combs punching her in the stomach, "causing her to double over in visible pain, crying."

"Even after Mr. Iovine watched Mr. Combs commit a violent assault in front of numerous high-profile witnesses, the Bad Boy-Interscope deal took place and remained in effect, providing Mr. Combs with immense financial rewards and enabling him to commit further acts of violence without fear of repercussions," the complaint says.

Usher, Ne-Yo, and Iovine didn't reply to a request for comment from BI about the allegations in Richard's complaint.

Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge

The CEO of Universal Music Group and father-in-law to Sofia Richie, Lucian Grainge, was originally listed as a defendant in Jones' amended complaint filed in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York, along with Universal Music Group and its label Motown Records. He has since been removed.

He was initially accused of aiding and abetting Combs, specifically in racketeering and sex trafficking. Universal's Motown Records had a licensing agreement with Combs' Love Records.

The complaint says that as CEO, Grainge "had a duty to ensure that the financial support they provided to Sean Combs and Love Records was not being used for sex workers, drugs, and laced alcohol."

Attorneys for Grainge filed a motion to dismiss, in which they called the accusations "offensively false." In a sworn statement to the court, Grainge called the accusations "completely untrue and absurd" and said he planned to "pursue both plaintiffs and his counsel for having made such false accusations."

Grainge also noted that he's the CEO of a "multi-national public company" — and said he wasn't involved in the "day-to-day operations" of the company's "thousands of agreements."

In a statement to BI when the lawsuit was first filed, Grainge's attorney Donald S. Zakarin called the complaint "offensively reckless" and said they would seek legal repercussions against Jones' attorney.

"The plaintiff has now attempted to amend his claims against Sir Lucian, removing the original set of outrageous falsehoods related to Sir Lucian, replacing them with wholly contradictory new falsehoods that are equally absurd," he said. "Not only will we demonstrate the offensive falsity of these claims, but we will seek recovery of every penny of cost and damage caused by their assertion."

In May, Jones' attorney dropped the claims against Grainge, Motown Records, and Universal Music Group with prejudice — which means they cannot be refiled at a later date.

"Based on my examination of all of the papers submitted in support of both motions to dismiss, which addressed the issues I had, I have concluded that there is no legal basis for the claims and allegations that were made against the UMG Defendants," Jones' attorney wrote.

October 16, 2024: This story has been updated with new details from a lawsuit.

• A new legal filing accuses Jay-Z of drugging and raping a 13-year-old in 2000.
• The rapper strongly denied the accusations, which come as part of a lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs.
• Read hip-hop billionaire Jay-Z's full statement below.

Shawn Carter, better known as the rapper Jay-Z, has responded to a civil lawsuit that accuses him and Sean "Diddy" Combs of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.

The accusation, which comes from an unnamed plaintiff, is included in an amended complaint to a lawsuit originally filed in October that accuses the two hip-hop moguls of assaulting the girl at an after-party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Prior to the amended complaint, Carter was referred to as a "Celebrity A."

The amended complaint marks the first time that Carter has been accused in a lawsuit of any wrongdoing in conjunction with Combs.

Carter strongly denied the accusations in a statement on his company Roc Nation's X account.

The complaint comes as Combs remains behind bars, awaiting trial on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He also faces more than 30 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.

He has denied any wrongdoing, and a lawyer for Combs has said he will not be making public statements on the case.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Tony Buzbee, who has filed more than a dozen lawsuits against Combs on behalf of unnamed plaintiffs, told Business Insider that he had attempted mediation with Carter prior to publishing his name.

Buzbee told Business Insider that before the filing of the amended complaint, he had sent a letter to Carter requesting that Carter and the plaintiff engage in mediation.

Carter's alleged response is detailed in the amended complaint.

"Jay-Z responded to said letter by not only filing an utterly frivolous lawsuit, but by also orchestrating a conspiracy of harassment, bullying and intimidation against Plaintiff's lawyers, their families, employees and former associates in an attempt to silence Plaintiff from naming Jay-Z herein," the complaint says. "Plaintiff chose to file this amendment as a result of the egregious conduct perpetuated by Carter."

"The pleading speaks for itself. This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court," Buzbee told BI.

Read Carter's full statement below:

My lawyer received a blackmail attempt, called a demand letter, from a "lawyer" named Tony Buzbee.

What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle.

No sir, it had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!

These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!!

Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree?

These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.

This lawyer, who I have done a bit of research on, seems to have a pattern of these type of theatrics!

I have no idea how you have come to be such a deplorable human Mr. Buzbee, but I promise you I have seen your kind many times over. I'm more than prepared to deal with your type. You claim to be a marine?! Marines are known for their valor, you have neither honor nor dignity.

My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people. I mourn yet another loss of innocence. Children should not have to endure such at their young age. It is unfair to have to try to understand inexplicable degrees of malice meant to destroy families and human spirit.

My heart and support goes out to true victims in the world, who have to watch how their life story is dressed in costume for profitability by this ambulance chaser in a cheap suit.

You have made a terrible error in judgement thinking that all "celebrities" are the same. I'm not from your world. I'm a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don't play these types of games.

We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain.

Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable.

I look forward to showing you just how different I am.

In response to Carter's denial, Buzbee told BI that the plaintiff never demanded money from Carter.

• Jay-Z was named in a new filing stemming from a lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs.
• The alleged incident occurred in 2000 following MTV's Video Music Awards.
• The victim, who is not named, said she was underage when she was drugged and raped by both men.

Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, has been accused of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in a new court filing stemming from a lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs.

The amended complaint, filed Sunday, says Combs and Carter assaulted the girl at an after-party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.

"Another celebrity stood by and watched as Combs and Carter took turns assaulting the minor," the amended complaint, which modifies an original complaint filed in October against Combs, reads. "Many others were present at the afterparty, but did nothing to stop the assault."

Carter was identified in the original complaint as "Celebrity A," the suit reads.

Before the filing of the amended complaint, Tony Buzbee, an attorney for the plaintiff — who is unidentified in the filing — had sent a letter to Carter requesting he and the plaintiff engage in mediation, Buzbee told Business Insider.

"Jay-Z responded to said letter by not only filing an utterly frivolous lawsuit, but by also orchestrating a conspiracy of harassment, bullying and intimidation against Plaintiff's lawyers, their families, employees and former associates in an attempt to silence Plaintiff from naming Jay-Z herein," the complaint reads.

"This effort was meant to scare Plaintiff and to discredit her counsel. That effort failed. Indeed, Plaintiff chose to file this amendment as a result of the egregious conduct perpetuated by Carter."

Buzbee told BI, "The pleading speaks for itself. This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court."

Carter has been a longtime friend of Combs. Combs faces a series of sexual assault allegations, civil lawsuits, and federal sex trafficking charges and has previously vehemently denied the allegations against him.

On Sunday, after the allegations became public, Carter, through the X account of Roc Nation, his entertainment company, said in a statement that his lawyer was sent "blackmail" to pressure him into settling out of court for an undisclosed amount. Carter said the move had the "opposite effect" and instead made him want to expose his accusor "in a VERY public fashion."

"So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!" Carter's statement reads. "These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!! Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree? These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case."

Buzbee told Business Insider that the victim never demanded a penny from Carter.

"Instead, she only sought a confidential mediation," Buzbee said. "Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr. Carter has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this plaintiff. His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I'm very proud of her resolve."

The two hip-hop moguls, both 55, have created business empires, including Carter's label Roc-A-Fella Records and the streaming service Tidal, Combs' label Bad Boy Records, and partnerships with Cîroc vodka and DeLeón tequila.

Carter has an approximate net worth of $2.5 billion, Business Insider previously reported. Combs' business partnerships have dried up after the allegations against him, with Forbes estimating his net worth now to be about $90 million.

Attorneys for Carter and Combs did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• Sean "Diddy" Combs is facing five new sex assault lawsuits, including one involving a minor.
• One lawsuit alleges Combs sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl at one of his famed white parties.
• Combs' attorney denied the allegations, calling the lawsuits "publicity stunts" by attorney Tony Buzbee.

Sean "Diddy" Combs is facing five new sex assault lawsuits, including one that accuses the hip-hop mogul of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at one of his famed Fourth of July white parties in the Hamptons.

The plaintiff, now an adult only identified in court papers as "Jane Doe" from Texas, alleges in the lawsuit that as a teenage model she wound up at Combs' July 4, 2004 white-themed A-list bash at his Hamptons mansion.

"The event was lavishly decorated, featured live music performances, and boasted top-tier food and beverages — an atmosphere of opulence and luxury, full of celebrities," the lawsuit, filed late Tuesday in New York federal court, says. "Many unsuspecting individuals, like Plaintiff, were recruited to attend these parties."

The woman alleges that while at the party, she was drugged through a laced drink and ultimately lost consciousness.

"When she awoke, Plaintiff's underwear was missing, and she felt throbbing pains in her vaginal and anal areas," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges that at some point Combs and two of his bodyguards approached the then-teen and threatened her.

"Combs told Plaintiff that she would be in danger if she spoke about what had occurred, stating that he 'ran New York and would ruin her,'" the lawsuit says, adding, "At this point, Plaintiff recognized that at least Combs had sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious. She feared for her life."

The lawsuit does not say how the plaintiff was able to determine Combs was the person who assaulted her.

Erica Wolff, an attorney for Combs, denied the accusations in the lawsuits in a statement to Business Insider on Wednesday. She slammed the Texas attorney behind the latest batch of suits and a slew of others that have been filed against the "I'll Be Missing You" rapper.

"As his legal team has said before, Mr. Combs has full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process," said Wolff. "In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone—man or woman, adult or minor."

Tony Buzbee's law firm has brought more than 20 lawsuits against Combs

Following Combs' September arrest and indictment on federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution, Texas attorney Tony Buzbee said at a press conference that his firm is representing 120 accusers with sexual misconduct claims against Combs.

Since October, Buzbee's firm has filed more than 20 lawsuits on behalf of anonymous male and female plaintiffs against Combs, with some alleging the drugging and raping of minors. Two of those lawsuits allege that sexual attacks happened at Combs' 1998 and 2006 white parties.

The five new lawsuits lodged this week against Combs, who remains in jail, were among those filed by Buzbee and his firm.

In one of those lawsuits, an unnamed man from Florida alleges he was drugged and raped by Combs at a 2022 house party in Miami where many of the 50 partygoers were "recognizable public figures." The plaintiff said as he lost consciousness, Combs was "wearing a disturbing smile" and told him, "this is what you want."

An unnamed woman alleges in a separate lawsuit that in 2001, when she was 18 years old, she was drugged and ordered by Combs to perform oral sex on his bodyguards and then on him inside a limousine after attending a Halloween party at a Manhattan club.

Another unnamed man alleges in a lawsuit filed this week that in 2001, as an actor auditioning for a role in one of Combs' music videos, he was drugged, anally raped by Combs, and orally raped by a member of his entourage in a New York City hotel room.

The plaintiff, like several others, accuses Combs of using his power in the industry and prominence as a hip-hop mogul to lure him into his orbit.

Another male plaintiff alleges in one of the lawsuits filed this week that in 2022 at a New York City party hosted by Combs, he was drugged and sodomized by Combs.

"Plaintiff, in a state of shock and confusion, forcefully fought Combs off and fled the room, making his way to a nearby bathroom," the lawsuit says.

Buzbee said in a statement posted to his Instagram on Tuesday that he expects to file cases weekly "naming Mr. Combs and others as defendants as we continue to gather evidence and prepare the filings."

Meanwhile, a mystery celebrity accused Buzbee in a lawsuit this week of orchestrating an extortion plot meant to destroy his reputation.

"With Combs behind bars, and payment unlikely to be forthcoming any time soon, Defendants devised a scheme to obtain payments through the use of coercive threats from anyone with any ties to Combs," Monday's lawsuit against Buzbee says.

Buzbee said the lawsuit was "not only without legal merit," but also "laughable."

Wolff, Combs' attorney, told BI on Wednesday, "The extortion lawsuit against Mr. Buzbee exposes his barrage of lawsuits against Mr. Combs for what they are: shameless publicity stunts, designed to extract payments from celebrities who fear having lies spread about them, just as lies have been spread about Mr. Combs."

• An anonymous celebrity has sued attorney Tony Buzbee, accusing him of an extortion plot.
• Buzbee represents clients in sex abuse lawsuits against Sean "Diddy" Combs.
• The Texas-based lawyer slammed the lawsuit as "not only without legal merit," but also "laughable."

A mystery celebrity has accused the high-profile Texas attorney who is representing dozens of clients in sex abuse lawsuits against Sean "Diddy" Combs of orchestrating an extortion plot meant to destroy his reputation.

The plaintiff, identified only as "John Doe," alleges in a newly filed lawsuit that attorney Tony Buzbee and his law firm are "shamelessly attempting to extort exorbitant sums from him or else publicly file wildly false horrific allegations against him."

The plaintiff's lawyer identified him in court papers as a "celebrity and public figure" who lives in Los Angeles. The plaintiff says in the lawsuit that Buzbee and his namesake firm have "threatened to unleash entirely fabricated and malicious" sexual assault allegations against him that include multiple accusations of the rape of a minor if he "refuses to comply with their demands."

"These baseless accusations are nothing more than a weapon in a calculated plot to destroy Plaintiff's high-profile reputation for profit, despite the complete absence of any factual basis for such claims," says the lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court by the high-powered law firm Quinn Emanuel.

The lawsuit also alleges that Buzbee and his firm have an "established pattern of making threats and then using third parties to contact the extortion victim, thereby acting as puppet masters, orchestrating their extortion plots from behind the scenes."

In a statement to Business Insider, Buzbee slammed the lawsuit against him and his Houston-based firm, the Buzbee Law Firm, as "not only without legal merit," but also "laughable."

"It is obvious that the frivolous lawsuit filed against my firm is an aggressive attempt to intimidate or silence me and ultimately my clients," Buzbee said. "That effort is a gross miscalculation."

Following Combs' September arrest and indictment on federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution, Buzbee said at a press conference that his firm is representing 120 accusers with sexual misconduct claims against Combs and promised to file a wave of lawsuits against the "I'll Be Missing You" rapper.

Buzbee said the cases will also include allegations against other celebrities.

Since October, Buzbee's firm has filed more than a dozen lawsuits on behalf of anonymous Jane and John Doe plaintiffs against Combs, with some alleging the drugging and raping of minors.

One of those lawsuits accuses Combs of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl at an after-party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards as two other unnamed celebrities watched. The lawsuit also alleges that one of those celebrities raped the girl.

Combs, who remains locked up in a Brooklyn jail, has vehemently denied the federal charges against him, as well as any sexual misconduct accusations that have been lodged against him in lawsuits. His attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

"With Combs behind bars, and payment unlikely to be forthcoming any time soon, Defendants devised a scheme to obtain payments through the use of coercive threats from anyone with any ties to Combs," Monday's lawsuit against Buzbee says.

The lawsuit says that in November, Buzbee made written "Extortion Demands" to the mystery celebrity plaintiff, which contained false allegations of "vile conduct" by him. The plaintiff was characterized in the letter as having been friends with Combs since the two often attended similar celebrity events, the lawsuit says.

The "Extortion Demands" alleged that the plaintiff raped multiple minors who had been drugged at Combs' parties, says the lawsuit, which accuses Buzbee and his firm of threatening to "take a different course" if the plaintiff did not commit to a "confidential mediation" to resolve the matter.

"Plaintiff presently faces a gun to his head—either repeatedly pay an exorbitant sum of money to stop Defendants from the wide publication of wildly false allegations of sexual assault that would subject Plaintiff to opprobrium and irreparably harm Plaintiff's reputation, family, career and livelihood, or else face the threat of an untold number of civil suits and financial and personal ruin," the lawsuit continues.

The plaintiff claims Buzbee and his firm are engaging in a "cynical extortion scheme that is dressed up in vindicating victims of actual sexual abuse."

Buzbee said in his statement to BI that his firm, on behalf of two clients alleging sexual assault, sent a standard demand letter to a New York lawyer he says represents an "alleged perpetrator and potential defendant."

"The letters were sent seeking a confidential mediation in lieu of filing a lawsuit," Buzbee said. "No amount of money was included in the demand letters. No threats were made. The demand letters sent are no different than the ones routinely sent by lawyers across the country in all types of cases."

Buzbee said in his statement that he and his clients won't be "silenced or intimidated" and vowed to move forward with filing a lawsuit.

"Since our professional efforts at resolution obviously have failed, we will instead disclose the demand letters we sent at the time we file suit," said Buzbee. "Abuse of the legal system unfortunately runs rampant. The lawsuit filed against my firm is a prime example of that. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. I have confidence that with full public disclosure all of this will sort itself out."