2 weeks ago
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Well, this is messed up!
Prosecutors have been saying that Diddy is fighting DIRTY against his sex trafficking charges! They claim that he’s communicating to family members from his jail cell — and getting them to help him “blackmail victims and witnesses.” Horrifying if true — not to mention super illegal.
But now, it turns out that’s just one prong of his attack. There’s some legal hardball being played, too! And we’re not talking about a defense strategy.
No, this isn’t about the criminal charges at all. It’s about the many other accusations he’s facing. As you’ve likely heard, Diddy has been hit with a shocking number of lawsuits from alleged victims of sexual misconduct, many of whom were minors at the time. Attorney Tony Buzbee has been leading that effort, saying he has at least 120 plaintiffs who have come forward — many of whose allegations have already been made public. And they are BAD!
Related: Diddy Accused Of Sexually Abusing A 9-Year-Old Boy!
So what is Diddy doing about it? Well, not Diddy — but a celebrity friend of his!
Yes, a man who would only identify himself as John Doe filed a suit anonymously in LA County Superior Court on Monday morning against Buzbee! He’s accusing the lawyer of extortion and intentional infliction of emotional distress! Whoa!
OK, first off — who the heck is this defender caping for Diddy? We know he’s a celeb because he described himself in the filing as a “high profile individual.” He said he knows Diddy and attended parties with him. And he claims Buzbee and his clients are using that well-known information and “shamelessly attempting to extort exorbitant sums from him.”
In the filing, obtained by The Mirror and other outlets, Doe claims Buzbee sent him a demand letter threatening to name him in a lawsuit with allegations that would tarnish his reputation — that he supposedly raped a child at a Diddy Freak Off!
Just the threat of making this kind of accusation public could be enough to get someone to pay. And there are a LOT of celebs who have been at Diddy events who would be easy targets: we’re talking A-listers like Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Donald Trump, and of course his longtime friend JAY-Z. And many, many more. Diddy’s parties were the place to be for years! The question of who knew about what happened at the afterparties — allegations of drugging and nonconsensual sex made public in the indictment against him — has been at the forefront of this case. And this star now claims Buzbee is using that fact to make millions!
The celeb says Buzbee’s letter included “entirely fabricated and malicious allegations of sexual assault — including multiple incidents of rape of a minor, both male and female.” Whoa! Per the suit, Buzbee made clear the allegations would be made against the celeb in a public lawsuit “if he refuses to comply with their demands” — AKA, a huge payout.
But the celeb says he’s innocent! And if that’s true, Buzbee is fraudulently extorting him and others! And if he is, all the lawsuits against Diddy, will fall apart, too.
(c) Derrick Salters/WENN, Fox 26 Houston/YouTubeSeems like a desperate last attempt to make sure this anonymous celeb’s name stays safe, right?
However, it seems that Buzbee is sending the exact types of demand letters the celeb describes! During a convo with TMZ‘s Harvey Levin last month, the Texas attorney was asked if he’d threatened a public suit against a celebrity if they didn’t settle out of court — and he acknowledged he had! Buzbee confirmed:
“We have … And then because it’s in the best interest of the victim, we attempt to resolve these matters without the filing of a public lawsuit. And we have done that already. We’ve done that.”
He also said about naming other celebs:
“Everyone is focused on what other celebrities were involved, who is going to be named, who is going to be outed. I don’t expect that to happen this week. We want to make sure if we name individuals beyond Mr Combs that we have done our homework because it is going to create a firestorm, and we understand that.”
But then he added ominously:
“If you were there in the room, participated, watched it happen and didn’t say anything or helped cover it up, in my view, you have a problem.”
Well, these people should be outed! But is that the plan? Because it seems like the plan is to get a bunch of money… which is obviously the job of a civil attorney. Maybe it makes sense that the victims can only get the money with the threat of exposure on the table. After all, once the celeb’s name is out, there’s far less incentive for them to settle. But it does feel scarily close to extortion the way this lawsuit describes it.
And in Doe’s suit, he makes the bold claim that “this is not the first time” Buzbee and even some of his clients “have been involved in an extortionate scheme to extract money from high profile individuals by threatening baseless legal action.” WHAT?! Yes, the celeb says the FBI investigated one of Buzbee’s clients as there was concern they were extorting NFL star Deshaun Watson for sexual misconduct. The complaint noted:
“Ultimately, the criminal cases Defendant threatened to pursue against Watson were rejected by two separate grand juries and were never criminally prosecuted, further evidence that the baseless sexual misconduct claims in Defendants’ demand letter would not have held up in civil court either.”
If Buzbee really is trying to jump on the bandwagon by weaponizing this #MeToo movement just to make a bunch of money, that’s awful in so many ways. Not just because it’s a lie that destroys the lives of the falsely accused, but also because it hurts the legitimate allegations against people like Diddy.
But is that what’s happening? Or is a Diddy pal involved in the Freak Offs just trying to discredit the case against the music mogul — and ultimately himself?? Either way, it’s gross. Either a beloved public figure is about to get outed for raping children or the man going after Diddy is a huge fraud.
Damn. What do YOU think, Perezcious readers??
[Image via The Ellen DeGeneres Show/YouTube.]
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