An attorney planning to slap lawsuits against Sean “Diddy” Combs on behalf of 120 alleged sex abuse victims claims a hotline he set up to deal with additional cases was inundated with a staggering 12,000 calls in roughly 24 hours.
Texas-based lawyer Tony Buzbee publicized the hotline earlier this week when he revealed a fresh wave of accusers — including one who was just 9 at the time — were planning to sue the embattled music mogul for alleged sexual abuse and exploitation.
Since then, the hotline has exploded with calls from people leveling similar complaints against Combs, the lawyer told Law&Crime in a Wednesday interview.
“From the press conference we had yesterday, we’ve had 12,000 calls in about 24 hours,” Buzbee said.
“So, our Herculean task is to try to sift through every one of these calls and make sure that we’re identifying those who are victims and those who are witnesses and collect evidence.”
He added: “We have almost 100 people working on this task.”
The attorney said his team was trying to ensure that the claims made by any additional alleged victims — on top of the 120 cases they’ve already identified — are airtight before taking further action.
“The 120 that we announced yesterday, those are claims that we could file right now against Sean Combs, but we’re trying to make sure that when we file the cases… that we include every potentially liable party,” Buzbee told the outlet.
The hotline revelation came after the lawyer told a press conference that the fresh wave of complaints by 120 accusers were allegedly split evenly by gender, spanned three decades and involved 25 minors — including one kid who was just 9 at the time.
The children allegedly abused by the rapper were “seeking TV or music careers with promises of ‘I’ll make you a star,” the lawyer alleged.
Here’s what we know about the allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs
Buzbee claimed publicly that the alleged assaults will implicate “many powerful people” and reveal “many dirty secrets.”
Most of the new suits are expected to be lodged in New York and Los Angeles within the next month, Buzbee said.
The claims are the latest in a surge of accusations leveled against the Bad Boy Records founder after he was arrested on sex-trafficking charges in New York late last month.
The federal indictment unsealed last month detailed troubling allegations that Combs manipulated women and plied them with drugs in order to participate in “Freak Offs” — or violent sex sessions that were sometimes recorded against their will.
Combs, who is currently being held without bail in federal custody in Brooklyn, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
His reps did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Friday.
