SMusic mogul “Diddy” Combs, who has been involved in numerous legal battles over allegations of physical and sexual abuse, has been charged with three counts of sex trafficking, organized crime and transportation for the purpose of prostitution.
Combs was arrested in New York on Monday evening and the federal court indictment was released on Tuesday. The indictment alleges that Combs “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct.” It accuses Combs of “establishing a criminal enterprise” that included sex trafficking, forced labor and kidnapping, among other things.
Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said outside the courthouse Tuesday that Combs would plead not guilty to the charges, the Associated Press reported.
Combs is alleged to have manipulated women into engaging in sexual activity with male sex workers by coercing them through, among other things, drugging them, controlling their careers and using violence, the indictment states. The indictment describes various incidents of alleged Combs is accused of committing abuse since 2008, including an apparent reference to an attack on his ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. Combs’ arrest came after federal agents searched his homes in Los Angeles and Miami in March as part of the investigation, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Since November 2023, Combs has been accused of abuse by several people, including Cassie, née Casandra Ventura. Ventura and Combs reached a settlement in November, just one day after she filed her lawsuit, although Combs denied the allegations at the time. But in May, CNN released video footage showing Combs punching and kicking Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016, after which Combs posted a video statement on Instagram admitting to assaulting Ventura.
Two other women filed lawsuits in November accusing the music mogul of sexual harassment, beating and forcible drugging in the early 1990s. Another woman sued Combs in December, claiming he and two other men raped her in 2003 when she was 17.
