Anonymous male celebrity files extortion lawsuit against attorney representing Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accusers

By Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN

(CNN) — An anonymous male celebrity says he is the victim of an extortion scheme and is suing a high-powered Texas attorney who is representing several people in civil lawsuits that accuse Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual assault.

The unnamed plaintiff, described in the lawsuit as “a celebrity and public figure who resides in Los Angeles,” filed his complaint under a “John Doe” pseudonym this week in Los Angeles Superior Court. He has accused Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee and his firm of “shamelessly attempting to extort exorbitant sums from him or else publicly file wildly false horrific allegations against him.”

A spokesperson for Quinn Emanuel, the law firm representing Doe, confirms that the complaint was filed on Monday.

Buzbee has said he is representing at least 120 alleged victims of Combs. Over the past month, he has filed more than a dozen civil lawsuits against Combs, in some cases accusing the producer of drugging and sexually assaulting plaintiffs, some of whom allege they were minors at the time.

Combs, who is in jail awaiting his criminal trial, has denied the allegations against him.

The lawsuit filed by the anonymous celebrity claims that Buzbee’s firm is trying to capitalize off the “explosive allegations against Sean Combs” by roping in public figures who have been acquainted with Combs.

Attorneys for Doe claim that Buzbee sent a demand letter earlier this month in which his firm “threatened to unleash entirely fabricated and salacious allegations of sexual assault” that include “multiple instances of rape of a minor, both male and female” if their client “refuses to comply with their demands.”

In the demand letter, attorneys for the male celebrity said that Buzbee characterized their famous client as “having been friends with Mr. Combs based on the fact that the two often attention similar events frequented by celebrities.”

“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,” the lawsuit states.

Doe’s lawsuit states that he is filing anonymously to avoid “irreparable harm to reputation.”

Buzbee denied the extortion claims against him, in an Instagram post in which he wrote that his firm “won’t allow the powerful and their high-dollar lawyers to intimidate or silence sexual assault survivors,” and in a statement to CNN.

“If you are trying to hide your identity and you claim you did nothing wrong, doesn’t seem very smart to take this approach,” Buzbee told CNN in an email on Monday. “We will address it in due course.”

“I have confidence that with full public disclosure all of this will sort itself out,” Buzbee wrote.

Questions about claims by unnamed accusers

The celebrity’s lawsuit applauds Combs’ accusers who have spoken out with their names attached to their lawsuits but cast doubt on some of the allegations filed anonymously as a “Jane Doe” or “John Doe,” stating that Buzbee’s firm has “managed to find some 120 plaintiffs” who “claim to have been sexually assaulted by Combs.”

The lawsuit accuses Buzbee of creating “a pocket industry that capitalizes on the bravery of those victims who came forward to shakedown innocent celebrities, politicians, and businesspeople with an army of masked accusers.”

Last month, a judge ruled that one of Buzbee’s civil suits against Combs could not proceed with the female accuser filing under a pseudonym, stating that Combs has the right to defend himself by investigating the plaintiff. Shortly after her “Jane Doe” status was denied, the accuser refiled her complaint under her real name.

In an interview with CNN last month, Buzbee explained that his firm initially files cases anonymously in an effort to protect the safety of his clients. But he said that each of his 120 clients are prepared to testify and publicly reveal their names.

“They think that (if) the person’s name is revealed that maybe they’ll go crawl back under a rock and we’ll never hear from them again,” Buzbee said. “I’ve told every client when we file your case, be prepared that your identity will be revealed.”

Buzbee has said that he does not believe Combs acted alone in his alleged misconduct. He said in a press conference last month that his clients have shared information pertaining to celebrities, entertainment executives, business entities and other high-profile individuals that were complicit or engaged in Combs’ alleged abuse.

In Doe’s lawsuit this week, his attorneys paint a different picture.

“It is a cynical extortion scheme that is dressed up in vindicating victims of actual sexual abuse,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants corrupting this righteous cause by trying to monetize the victimization of the women who suffered at the hands of this one guy.”

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