Summary
- A former child actor has accused Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of sexually assaulting him at a 2007 Hollywood Hills networking event.
- Combs denies the allegations and is currently incarcerated while appealing his federal conviction.
- The anonymous accuser filed his lawsuit this week in California.
AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.
A former child actor has accused Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually assaulting him in 2007 at a networking event in the Hollywood Hills.
The anonymous male accuser filed his lawsuit against Combs this week in California. CNN has obtained a copy of the suit.
The lawsuit is the latest in the mounting and continuous legal troubles for the incarcerated music mogul, who is currently appealing his conviction on federal charges in New York on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, for which he was sentenced to more than four years in prison. He also has a case under active review by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, according to a spokesperson for that office.
In the new lawsuit, Combs is accused of guiding the child actor into a backroom at a networking event where he offered him an alcoholic drink before touching the minor and then performing oral sex on him, the complaint states.
A representative for Combs denied the new allegations.
“Mr. Combs unequivocally denies these allegations. This complaint describes events that allegedly occurred nearly twenty years ago and is based solely on the plaintiff’s account. We will review the complaint carefully and respond through the appropriate legal process. We are confident that the facts will demonstrate these claims are without merit,” Juda Engelmayer, a spokesperson for Combs, told CNN.
According to the complaint, Combs told the child actor that “he wanted to speak to him privately about some potential opportunities” and told him he would be a “good candidate for an upcoming project.”
Once Combs and the minor were in a back room, Combs offered him his alcoholic beverage and made small talk before he “began to rub on” the minor’s arm, the complaint alleges. The male accuser told Combs “that he did not feel comfortable with the way Defendant Combs was touching him.” Combs tried to make him relax, according to the complaint.
“Then, Defendant Combs pulled down Plaintiff’s pants and underwear and began to fondle Plaintiff’s genitalia all while Combs was simultaneously touching himself,” the lawsuit states. “Defendant Combs then performed oral copulation on the minor Plaintiff while continuing to touch himself. Defendant Combs then pulled up his pants and told Plaintiff he would see where they would go from there for the role he had in mind.”
The accuser filed his suit under the pseudonym “John YH Roe.” He is described as launching his “career as a child actor” around 2004, but no other details are provided regarding his identity or the roles he booked. His age at the time was not divulged, other than stating that around the time of the alleged assault in May 2007, the plaintiff “was a minor child under the age of 18.”
The accuser is also suing his former talent agency, claiming they did not adequately protect him as a minor and should have had an adult chaperone accompanying him at the networking event to which they invited him.
This is not the first time Combs has been accused of sexual assault by a minor. He has faced lawsuits from plaintiffs who allege they were teenagers at the time they were allegedly assaulted with one accuser who claimed he was just 10 years old when he was assaulted by Combs. Many accusers have said they were allegedly assaulted at auditions or other business events.
Combs has denied all allegations against him and has said he has never sexually assaulted a minor, or anyone else for that matter.
In previous statements, attorneys for Combs have told CNN, “Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone—man or woman, adult or minor.”
Aside from the dozens of civil suits Combs is facing, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing a sexual assault case against Combs, determining whether the case is strong enough to move forward with pressing charges.
“In the fall of 2025, LAPD and LASD each presented a separate sexual assault investigation for one victim to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. We are reviewing the case,” a spokesperson for Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told CNN last week.
That case comes after Jonathan Hay, a music publicist who spoke extensively to CNN last year, accused Combs of masturbating in front of him on one occasion in 2020 and forced him to perform oral sex on him in 2021.
Combs’ team did not respond to CNN’s request for comment regarding the DA’s office review of the case against Combs in Los Angeles. But ever since Hay filed his civil suit against Combs, the musician’s attorneys have fiercely denied his allegations.
“As Mr. Combs’ legal team has repeatedly stated for over a year now, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a media circus. Let me make it absolutely clear, Mr. Combs categorically denies as false and defamatory all claims that he sexually abused anyone,” Jonathan Davis, a civil attorney for Combs, previously told CNN in a statement.
“Knowing that the Los Angeles County District Attorney Office is actively reviewing my case is a profound moment of validation,” Hay told CNN via email this week. “I am committed to seeing that justice is served. Those responsible for their actions must finally face the consequences mandated by the law.”
CNN has also reached out to the former child actor’s attorney for further comment on the suit filed this week.
