Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs charged with sex trafficking and organized crime

Rapper and producer Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing sex trafficking and organized crime charges in an indictment unsealed in federal court on Tuesday, accusing him of beating and abusing women for more than a decade and running a sordid sex crime empire.

The indictment details allegations from 2008 that he abused, threatened and coerced women over the years “to satisfy his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his behavior.”

He is accused of luring female victims and male sex workers into drugged sexual performances, sometimes lasting days, which the indictment describes as “freak offs.” The indictment also indirectly mentions an attack on his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, which was captured on video.

Combs was arrested late Monday (Sept. 16) in the lobby of a Manhattan hotel, according to a person familiar with the arrest who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

This is just the latest chapter in a series of sordid legal battles for Combs, after several people filed lawsuits against the star accusing him of sexual and physical abuse.

Marc Agnifilo, Combs' attorney, said the rapper is cooperating with the ongoing investigation and has moved to New York in anticipation of the charges.

Agnifilo said they were “disappointed” with the decision and that Combs was “not a perfect person, but not a criminal.”

What has Diddy been accused of?

The charges brought against Combs in New York unsurprisingly represent an escalation of the situation since Homeland Security raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami on March 25.

His attorney, Anthony Dyer, called the raids a “crude use of military force” while the Department of Homeland Security was executing search warrants as part of a sex trafficking investigation.

The first allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced last November, when R&B singer and ex-girlfriend Cassie accused him of years of abuse, beatings, forced sex with other men and rape between 2005 and 2007, after she signed to his label.

It also says that he forced her to help him traffic male sex workers, with whom Combs then wanted Cassie to have sex while he was filming.

The case was settled the next day, but its aftermath would last much longer. Combs lost final allies, supporters and those holding off on judgment when CNN aired a leaked video in May of him punching, kicking and throwing Cassie to the ground in a hotel hallway.

Combs publicly confirmed the lawsuit, post a video Say, “I was disgusted when I did it” and “I am disgusted now.”

This was just the beginning of the sexual abuse lawsuits filed against Combs. In February Music producer He filed a lawsuit claiming that Combs forced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

Another of Combs' accusers was a woman who claimed the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

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April Lampros, another woman who filed the lawsuit, said she met Combs as a college student in 1994 and that there were a series of “terrifying sexual encounters” with Combs and those around him that lasted for years.

Combs and his lawyers have denied almost all of the allegations made in the lawsuit.

Who is Diddy?

Sean John Combs, better known by his stage names “Puff Daddy” and “P.Diddy” or simply “Diddy”, is an American rapper, producer, record executive, and entrepreneur who founded Bad Boy Records in 1993.

He is considered one of the most influential figures in the entertainment industry and has discovered greats such as Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans and Usher.

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Known at the time as Puff Daddy, he was the partner and producer of Notorious BIG, who was shot in 1997, and was at the center of the hip-hop battles between the East and West Coasts of the 1990s.

Outside of music, Combs has successfully ventured into areas such as fashion, perfume and media. He has been a brand ambassador for vodka brand Cîroc since 2007 and co-founded the television channel and news website Revolt in 2013.

Forbes estimated his net worth at $1 billion (€922 million) in 2022.

Combs has been arrested several times before and was at the center of one of the hip-hop industry's biggest trials of its time decades ago.

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The trial was prompted by a shooting in a Manhattan nightclub in 1999 in which three people were injured. His girlfriend at the time, singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, was also present when the shots were fired.

Combs was eventually acquitted of charges that he took an illegal gun to the club and attempted to bribe his driver to take the blame for the gun. His protégé at the time, Shyne, was convicted of assault and other charges related to the shooting and served about eight years in prison. He now serves as a member of the House of Representatives in his native Belize under the name Moses Barrow.

Also in 1999, Combs was arrested for allegedly beating up a record executive in New York. Combs pleaded guilty to harassment, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to anger management classes.