Sean “Diddy” Combs arrested after grand jury indictment

Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested in Manhattan on Monday night after a grand jury indicted the hip-hop mogul, authorities said. The arrest followed Department of Homeland Security raids on the Bad Boy founder's homes in late March that appeared to be prompted by a wave of sexual abuse lawsuits against him.

Last November, Combs' ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, filed a explosive sex trafficking and sexual abuse lawsuit against him that made headlines around the world. A day later, he privately settled with her, but the legal fallout only grew. Eight other women and one man have since come forward to sue Combs with allegations ranging from sex trafficking to sexual assault.

The exact charges Combs now faces were not disclosed Monday evening, but the prosecution is being led by the Southern District of New York, which confirmed the news. “This evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs on a sealed indictment from the SDNY,” Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, said in a statement. “We expect to be able to unseal the indictment tomorrow morning and will have more to say then.”

After the arrest, Combs' attorney said he was “disappointed” in the SDNY's decision to pursue an “unjustified prosecution.” “Sean 'Diddy' Combs is a music icon, a self-made entrepreneur, a loving family man and a proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children and advocating for the advancement of the Black community. He is not a perfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said in a statement. “To his credit, Mr. Combs has been consistently cooperative with this investigation and voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve judgment until you have all of the facts. These are the actions of an innocent man with nothing to hide and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

The attorney representing accusers Liza Gardner, Rodney (Lil Rod) Jones and April Lampros in their separate sexual assault lawsuits against Combs said Rolling Stone He was not surprised by the charges. “The long-awaited arrest of Sean Combs is the first step in getting justice for our clients,” said attorney Tyrone Blackburn after the charges were announced. “We will leave the criminal aspect of this case to the people and the justice system. As for the civil cases, we will wait until the facts come to light and we will seek the justice our clients deserve. We also expect more victims to come forward. We knew this would come. The evidence is very clear and it was only a matter of time. This is an important step toward justice for all of Mr. Combs' victims, including my clients.”

In early July, NBC News reported that a grand jury had heard evidence related to the criminal investigation. Federal agents executed a search warrant at Combs' homes on March 25, raiding his properties in Los Angeles and Miami. They reportedly seized Combs' phones after officers stopped him at Miami-Opa Locka Airport. Another of Combs' attorneys, Aaron Dyer, called the raids a “gross abuse of military force” and a “witch hunt based on baseless allegations in civil suits.”

In May, Rolling Stone released its six-month investigation into the mogul, uncovering a previously undisclosed allegation of violence against a woman on the Howard campus, new details of the alleged physical aggression and allegations that Combs sexually harassed a freelance employee at a party in 2001. Several people who have spoken to Rolling Stone described Combs as a serial offender who for decades used his fame, fortune, industry status and reputation as a fun-loving party host to hide his short temper and disturbing, narcissistic behavior.

Combs' fall from grace began with Ventura's lawsuit, in which she alleged that during their decade-long relationship, Combs regularly physically assaulted her and forced her to have drug-fueled sex with male sex workers during arrangements he called “freak-offs.” She also described a 2016 physical attack at a Los Angeles hotel after a freak-off, which was later confirmed by unearthed hotel surveillance video showing Combs chasing a fleeing Ventura. He is seen throwing and kicking her to the ground before attempting to drag her away. He later throws a glass vase in her direction. Although Combs' attorney had previously called Ventura's 35-page lawsuit extortion “riddled with baseless and outrageous lies,” Combs apologized after the video surfaced, saying he was “at rock bottom” and “sincerely sorry” for his behavior in the disturbing footage. In response, Ventura's lawyers called Combs' mea culpa “pathetic.”

Following Ventura's lawsuit – just before the Adult Survivors Act expired in New York – two other women came forward on Thanksgiving Day with similarly disturbing allegations against Combs. Joi Dickerson-Neal claimed that Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1991 when she was a student at Syracuse University. The woman claimed that Combs filmed the incident and showed the video to others, which was described as “revenge porn.” Through a spokesperson, Combs denied the allegations. “This last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned on its head.” [This] The 32-year-old story is made up and not credible … This is just about making money and nothing more,” the spokesman said.

The second woman, Gardner, claimed she was 16 when Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping her after an Uptown Records event in 1990. She further claimed that a day later, Combs “became angry and began attacking and choking her” until she nearly “passed out” because he was afraid she would spill the beans about what had happened. “These are fabricated allegations that falsely allege wrongdoing from over 30 years ago and were filed at the last minute,” a spokesman for Combs said of Gardner's lawsuit. “This is nothing more than a money-making scheme.”

In early December, a fourth accuser claimed that Combs' former Bad Boy president Harve Pierre and a third gang raped her in Combs' New York recording studio in 2003 when she was 17 years old. In February, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones sued Combs for sexual assault, harassment and failure to compensate for his work on the Grammy-nominated The Love Album. On May 21, model Crystal McKinney became the sixth person to file a lawsuit against Combs in six months, alleging that Combs drugged her and forced her to perform oral sex on him in his New York recording studio in 2003. In early July, former Hustler's Club dancer Adria English claimed that Combs sexually trafficked her at his legendary “white parties” when she was allegedly expected to perform sexual acts with guests.

And the week before Combs' arrest, former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard filed a lawsuit against Combs, corroborating Ventura's allegations of physical abuse. She claimed that Combs repeatedly groped and sexually harassed her and made death threats.

Combs has denied any wrongdoing in all cases. Yet he resigned as chairman of his media company Revolt TV and sold his stake in the company, while more than a dozen companies left his e-commerce platform. In January, spirits giant Diageo fired him in a private settlement that no longer includes Combs as a co-owner of the DeLeón tequila brand and has no ties to Cîroc Vodka.