As if Sean “Diddy” Combs needed another lawsuit thrown his way, that’s exactly what he got on Thursday (April 3). But unlike previous suits, this one appears to involve some of the most high-profile names yet.
According to USA Today on Thursday, Joseph Manzaro is suing the Bad Boy mogul over claims of sexual assault. He’s also filing claims of human trafficking, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, racketeering and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Other defendants in the suit include Eric Mejias, Brendan Paul, Emilio Estefan (husband to Latin singer Gloria) and Adria English.
In the 64-page suit, Manzaro alleges he was drugged and taken to a Miami home owned by Gloria Estefan back in 2015 for Christian “King” Combs birthday. However, per his timeline, it appears he was first taken to Mejias’ home where he noticed a “greasy substance resembling Vaseline.”
After allegedly witnessing a drug deal go down between Mejias and Diddy’s alleged drug mule Brendan Paul, Manzaro was later taken to Estefan’s home for King Combs’ birthday because Diddy allegedly wanted him there for a “freak-off” event.
Once there, Manzaro claimed he ran into LeBron James in a hallway and later Jay-Z and Beyonce who were allegedly present in another area in the home. However, the star studded meeting was less than ideal as Manzaro claimed he was made to walk around with a “cock mask” tied to his face and later “forcibly paraded through multiple rooms” before being forced to strip down naked and put into a shower where he was forcibly washed by women.
Afterwards, Manzaro alleges he was forced to wear a “small thong bikini bottom and a black leather mask with a rubber dam forcibly inserted and zipped closed over his head” while performing “degrading and non-consensual acts.”
As noted by PEOPLE, neither Bey, Jay or James are named in the suit. However, reps for the Los Angeles Lakers star and Jay-Z have denied Manzaro claims, alleging that their respective clients weren’t even in Miami at the time of the incident and pointed to “ basic internet searches” and “easily findable public activities” that support their timeline as opposed to Manzaro’s. Beyonce has yet to respond while reps for the Estefans also vehemently deny the claims.
Lawyers for Diddy have also denied this latest suit, saying in a statement:
“This complaint demonstrates the depraved lengths plaintiffs will travel to garner headlines in pursuit of a payday. No sane person reading this complaint could credit this story. Mr. Combs looks forward to having his day in court where these lies – and the perverse motives of those who told them – will be revealed.”
As a result of the ordeal, Manzaro claims he’s experienced “ongoing campaign of targeted harassment,” from Mejias which included death and kidnapping threats. He also claims that in the years following, he’s had to deal with “catastrophic physical injuries, including severe internal trauma, permanent groin damage, sexual maiming and multiple inguinal hernias.”
Manzaro is seeking compensatory, treble and unspecified punitive damages “in an amount sufficient to punish” Combs and others in an attempt to “deter them and others from engaging in similar misconduct in the future.”