Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs’s legal woes reached a new level this week when he was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York. Below, find all the details that have come out so far about the 54-year-old rap mogul’s arrest – and the alleged pattern of abusive behaviour that brought him to this point.
When and where was Sean “Diddy” Combs arrested?
Combs was arrested in a Manhattan hotel lobby late on Monday 16 September, after his indictment by a federal grand jury earlier that day. The arrest followed raids of Combs’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami back in March, when Homeland Security Investigations agents discovered multiple AR-15 guns, large-capacity magazines, and over 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant on his properties. A judge denied bail for Combs on Tuesday, meaning he will likely remain in custody until his trial.
What charges was Combs indicted on?
The 14-page indictment unsealed on Tuesday includes three counts of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors allege Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others” to “fulfil his sexual desires” in a “recurrent and widely known” pattern of abuse that goes back to at least 2009. Many of the current charges being levelled against Combs stem from “freak offs”, Combs’s term for coerced sex acts that he would allegedly orchestrate and record.
Who has spoken out about Combs’s alleged abuse?
Singer Cassie Ventura, a former girlfriend of Combs’s, sued him for sexual abuse in November, alleging that Combs engaged in sex trafficking by “requiring her to engage in forced sexual acts in multiple jurisdictions” and “harbouring [and transporting Ventura] for purposes of sex induced by force, fraud, or coercion”. Six months later, video surfaced of Combs punching, kicking, and throwing Ventura to the ground in a hotel hallway. Almost half a dozen other alleged victims of Combs’s abuse sued him after Ventura’s lawsuit, including one who claimed that Combs raped her two decades ago, when she was 17 years old.
Has Combs spoken publicly about the indictment?
No, but his attorney has. “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr Combs by the US Attorney’s Office,” Combs’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo said on Monday, describing his client as a “loving family man” and adding: “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”