Sean “Diddy” Combs has been indicted on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering as he allegedly hit and abused women for over a decade.
The rapper-turned music mogul, 54, was arrested by officers at the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, New York, yesterday and is due to appear in court this evening.
The indictment detailed allegations dating to 2008 and accused Combs of abusing, threatening and coercing women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.
He is accused of inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes days-long sexual performances dubbed “Freak Offs” in the indictment.
His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said outside the courthouse on Tuesday morning that Combs would plead not guilty and that he would “fight like hell” to try to get his client released from custody.
In a press conference this afternoon, US attorney for the southern district of New York, Damian Williams, said “I’m not taking anything off the table” when asked about more charges being brought against Combs and his associates, adding: “We are not done.”
Williams alleged that Combs used his business empire “to carry out criminal activity, including sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and the obstruction of justice”.
The indictment also alleges that Combs used his employees “including high-ranking supervisors in the business, personal assistants, security staff and household staff…. to facilitate the Freak Offs”.
Williams said: “They booked the hotel rooms and stocked them with the supplies, including drugs, baby oil, personal lubricant, extra linens and lighting.
“When the hotel rooms got damaged, they helped clean it up. They arranged for victims and commercial sex workers to travel for the Freak Offs, and they delivered large quantities of cash to Combs to pay for the commercial sex workers.”
Williams also said that Combs often recorded the “Freak Offs” and used the recordings “as collateral against the victims”.
Combs maintained control over his victims “by giving them drugs, by giving and threatening to take away financial support or housing, by promising them career opportunities, by monitoring their whereabouts, and even by dictating their physical appearance,” Williams said.
The drugs allegedly used by Combs – which included ketamine, ecstasy and GHB – were intended to keep victims “obedient and compliant”, the attorney said.
“When Combs didn’t get his way, he was violent and he subjected victims [to] physical, emotional, and verbal abuse so that they would participate in the Freak Offs, and… Combs hit, kicked, threw objects at, and dragged victims at times by their hair,” Williams said.
“The indictment alleges that the victims did not believe they could refuse Combs without risking their security or facing more abuse,” he added.
Combs, formerly known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, was recognised as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop until November, when former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, filed a lawsuit saying he had beaten and raped her for years.
Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, accused Combs of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fuelled settings.
The suit was settled in one day but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her on a floor.
After the video aired, Combs apologised, saying, “I was disgusted when I did it.”
Combs has faced several civil lawsuits by women and men who accused him of sexual assault and other misconduct.
His lawyers have been fighting those cases in court. Federal agents raided his homes in Los Angeles, and Miami Beach, Florida, six months ago.
Singer Dawn Richard, formerly of Danity Kane, last week accused Combs in a lawsuit of sexual assault, battery, sex trafficking, gender discrimination and fraud.
A Michigan judge this month ordered Combs to pay $100m (£76m) to Derrick Lee Smith, who said Combs drugged and sexually assaulted him at a party almost 30 years ago, after Combs failed to show up to defend himself in court.
A lawyer for Combs said he would seek to dismiss that judgment.
Combs has also rejected claims in a February sex trafficking lawsuit by Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who Combs employed as a producer on his 2023 release “The Love Album: Off the Grid”.
The indictment is not Combs’ first brush with the law.
He was acquitted in March 2001 of bribery and weapons charges in a criminal trial stemming from a nightclub shooting that left three people wounded.
Following the indictment on Tuesday, Combs’ lawyer, Agnifilo, said his client’s “spirits are good” and he was “confident”. skynews