Just when it seemed like Tony Buzbee, the attorney representing over 100 alleged victims of harm at the hands of Sean โDiddyโ Combs, was moving problem-free in his pursuit of justice โ it looks like heโs now facing a major issue himself.
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In a shocking report from Rolling Stone published on Monday, it appears Buzbee is being sued by a self-proclaimed โpublic figureโ and โcelebrityโ who alleges that the lawyer made an extortion attempt against him. Specifically, the John Doe claims that he was sent a demand letter from Buzbee that included โwildly false horrific allegationsโ and claimed that Doe โraped multiple minors, both male and female, who had been drugged at parties hosted by Combs.โ Doe also claimed that Buzbee said heโd โtake a different courseโ if he did not agree to confidential mediation, which he took to imply that Buzbee would either go to the federal authorities and more. He is suing for extortion and infliction of emotional distress.
Rolling Stone has more:
โPlaintiff presently faces a gun to his head โ either repeatedly pay an exorbitant sum of money to stop defendant from the wide publication of wildly false allegations of sexual assault that would subject plaintiff to opprobrium and irreparably harm plaintiffโs reputation, family, career and livelihood, or else face the threat of an untold number of civil suits and financial and personal ruin,โ the lawsuit alleges. โThis is textbook extortion.โ
The plaintiff claims Buzbee is focusing attention on third parties with โdeep pocketsโ because Combs is sitting in a Brooklyn jail awaiting a sex trafficking trial. โWith Combs behind bars, and payments 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 โ no matter how remote,โ the lawsuit states.
Buzbee has since responded to the suit in a post to Instagram, describing it as a โlast-ditch attempt to stop me from revealing names in public lawsuitsโ that โwonโt workโ and an intimidation tactic to silence the accusers heโs representing. He also said that the demand letter was โno different than the ones routinely sent by lawyers across the country in all types of cases.โ
โHere is the deal: The case filed against my firm is not only without legal merit, it is laughable. Here is why: On behalf of two clients who allege sexual assault, we sent a standard demand letter to a New York lawyer that we know represents an alleged perpetrator and potential defendant,โ Buzbee said in part. โThe letters were sent seeking a confidential mediation in lieu of filing a lawsuit. No amount of money was included in the demand letters. No threats were made.โ
He concluded by saying that the suit against him is a prime example of abuse in the legal system and expressed confidence that โfull disclosureโ would sort the whole situation out soon.
As previously reported by The Root, Buzbee is representing over 100 plaintiffs in myriad pending lawsuits against the Bad Boy Entertainment founder. Heโs been vocal about the fact that there were numerous A-list stars that could expect to be sued next, but that a handful of them have already responded to his firmโs demand letters and opted for a monetary settlement instead of making the suit public.
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