NEW YORK (AP) — For ten months there have been rumors, lawsuits, raids and mounting allegations of widespread sexual abuse Sean “Diddy Combs”The business empire, cultural prestige and fatherly image he had built in the decades since his rise to become the hot young hip-hop mogul in the 1990s began to crumble.
On Tuesday, these waves became a wave with the publication of a comprehensive indictment detailing years of Sex trafficking and conspiracyHe pleaded not guilty before a federal judge jailed him and released him without bail pending trial.
The Prosecutor accuses Combs He stands over a sordid empire of sex crimes that abuses his “power and prestige” for “sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for the purpose of prostitution, drug offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.”
It describes how female victims and male sex workers were lured into elaborately staged drugged sexual performances known as “freak offs.” Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during and often filmed them. The events sometimes lasted several days and required IV fluids to recover from, the indictment says, and Combs used his co-workers as if they were a film crew.
It alleges that he coerced and abused women over a period of years, using blackmail methods (including videos he made himself) and shocking acts of violence to keep his victims in line, all coordinated and facilitated by a top-down network of accomplices and associates.
Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo declared his client’s innocence and said they would appeal the bail decision. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Combs, 54, was led out of the courtroom without handcuffs and turned to face his family as he left.
“Sean Combs has never dodged, avoided, evaded or run from a challenge in his life,” the defense said in a court document. “He’s not going to start now.”
Despite all the revelations that came to light on Tuesday, most of the acts described therein had already been reported in the original lawsuit by his former long-time girlfriend and protégé, R&B singer Cassiewhose real name is Cassandra Ventura. The lawsuit was settled the next day, but the allegations were far from resolved.
Descriptions of beatings, sexual assaults, silence tactics and “freak offs” ran throughout the indictment, even though neither her name nor the names of other women were mentioned in it.
Agnifilo, who did not name Ventura but clearly referred to her, argued at Tuesday’s arraignment that the entire criminal case was the result of a long-standing, difficult but consensual relationship that broke down due to infidelity.
Agnifilo claimed that the “freak offs” were an extension of that relationship and did not represent coercion.
“Is this sex trafficking?” asked Agnifilo. “Not if everyone wants to be involved.”
Prosecutors, however, portrayed the scope as much larger. Court documents said they had interviewed more than 50 victims and witnesses and expected the number to rise.
Like many aging hip-hop figures—including many of those he feuded with alongside Notorious BIG in bi-coastal rap feuds in the 1990s—Bad Boy Records founder Combs had built a softer, more urbane public image as a loving father of seven and a respected international businessman whose annual “White Party” in the Hamptons was once a must-attend event for the jet-setting elite.
But prosecutors said he used the same companies, people and methods to commit his crimes that he used to build his business and cultural power. They said they would prove this with financial, travel and billing records, electronic data and communications, and videos of the “Freak Offs” to bolster their case.
Both Ventura’s lawsuit and a court filing filed Tuesday by prosecutors say Combs set another person’s car on fire by slashing the convertible top and throwing a Molotov cocktail inside. They also describe how he beat Ventura, dragged her by her hair and kicked her in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
A surveillance video broadcast by CNN in May showed the beating. Combs soon apologizedand said, “I was disgusted when I did that.” But it was to be a major turning point in public perception. At the request of New York Mayor Eric Adams, he returned a key to the city, and Howard University severed ties with him.
“One year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed a key to New York City,” said Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Damian Williams at a press conference on Tuesday. “Today, he was indicted and must face justice.”
The AP does not typically name people who report sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, like Ventura.
Combs was arrested late Monday in a Manhattan hotel, about six months after federal authorities raided his luxurious houses in Los Angeles and Miami and announced that they were conducting sex trafficking investigations.
During the searches, officers seized narcotics, videos of the “Freak Offs” and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to prosecutors. They said officers also seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with obscured serial numbers.
The indictment portrays Combs as so violent that he caused injuries that often took days or weeks to heal. His co-workers and colleagues sometimes witnessed his violence and prevented victims from leaving or tracked down those who tried, the indictment says.
If convicted on all counts, a prison sentence of 15 years, possibly even life imprisonment, would be required.
Combs and his lawyers denied similar allegations made by others in a series of lawsuits filed after Ventura’s case.
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Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.
