Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested in Manhattan on Monday after a grand jury indicted the hip-hop mogul. The arrest followed Department of Homeland Security raids on the Bad Boy founder’s homes in late March that appeared to be sparked by a wave of sexual abuse lawsuits against him.
Combs’ arrest came nearly a year after his ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, filed a explosive sex trafficking and sexual abuse lawsuit against Combs in November. (He privately settled with Ventura a day after the lawsuit was filed.) Eight other women and one man have since come forward to sue Combs, with allegations ranging from sex trafficking to sexual assault.
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The investigation is being led by the Southern District of New York, which confirmed the news Monday evening. “This evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY,” attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “We expect to be able to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say then.”
In early July, NBC reported that a grand jury had heard evidence related to the sex trafficking and organized crime investigation. Federal agents executed a search warrant for Combs’ homes on March 25 and raided his properties in Los Angeles and Miami. They reportedly seized Combs’ phones after officers stopped him at Miami-Opa Locka Airport. The hip-hop executive’s attorney, Aaron Dyer, called the raids a “gross abuse of military force” and a “witch hunt based on baseless allegations in civil suits.”
“We are disappointed in the U.S. Attorney’s decision to pursue what we believe is an unjustified prosecution of Mr. Combs. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, a self-made entrepreneur, a loving family man and a proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children and advocating for the advancement of the black community. He is an imperfect human being, but he is not a criminal,” said Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo. Rolling Stone in a statement. “To Mr. Combs’ credit, he has been consistently cooperative with this investigation and voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve judgment until you know all of the facts. These are the actions of an innocent man with nothing to hide and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
In May, Rolling Stone released its six-month investigation into the mogul, uncovering a previously undisclosed allegation of violence against a woman on the Howard campus, new details of the alleged physical aggression and allegations that Combs sexually harassed a freelance employee at a party in 2001. Several people who have spoken to Rolling Stone described Combs as a serial offender who for decades used his fame, fortune, industry status and reputation as a fun-loving party host to hide his short temper and disturbing, narcissistic behavior.
Combs’ fall from grace began with Ventura’s lawsuit, in which she alleged that during their decade-long relationship, Combs regularly physically assaulted her and forced her to have drug-fueled sex with male sex workers during arrangements he called “freak-offs.” She also described a 2016 physical attack at a Los Angeles hotel after a freak-off, which was later confirmed by unearthed hotel surveillance video showing Combs chasing the fleeing Ventura. He is seen throwing her to the ground, kicking and stomping on her before attempting to drag her away, and later throwing a glass vase in her direction. Although Combs’ attorney had previously called Ventura’s 35-page lawsuit an extortion “riddled with baseless and outrageous lies,” Combs issued a video apology after the video surfaced, saying he was “at rock bottom” and “sincerely sorry” for his behavior in the disturbing footage. Ventura’s attorneys responded by saying Combs’ mea culpa was “pathetic.”
Following Ventura’s lawsuit – just before the expiration of New York’s Adult Survivors Act – two other women came forward on Thanksgiving Day with similarly disturbing allegations against Combs. Joi Dickerson-Neal claimed that Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1991 when she was a student at Syracuse University. The woman claimed that Combs filmed the incident and showed the video to others, which was described as “revenge porn.” Through a spokesperson, Combs denied the allegations. “This last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned on its head. (This) 32-year-old story is fabricated and not credible… This is pure money-making and nothing more,” the spokesperson said.
The second woman, Liza Gardner, claims she was 16 when Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping her after an Uptown Records event in 1990. She further claimed that a day later, Combs “became angry and began attacking and choking her” until she nearly “passed out” because he was afraid she would spill the beans about what had happened. “These are fabricated allegations that falsely allege wrongdoing from over 30 years ago and were filed at the last minute,” a spokesman for Combs said of Gardner’s lawsuit. “This is nothing more than a money-making scheme.”
In early December, a fourth accuser claimed that Combs’ former Bad Boy president Harve Pierre and a third gang raped her in Combs’ New York recording studio in 2003 when she was 17 years old. In February, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones sued Combs for sexual assault, harassment and failure to compensate for work on the Grammy-nominated The Love Album. On May 21, model Crystal McKinney became the sixth person to file a lawsuit against Combs in six months, alleging that Combs drugged her and forced her to perform oral sex on him in his New York recording studio in 2003. In early July, former Hustler’s Club dancer Adria English claimed that Combs sexually trafficked her at his legendary “white parties” when she was allegedly expected to perform sexual acts with guests.
And the week before Combs’ arrest, former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard filed a lawsuit against Combs, corroborating Ventura’s allegations of physical abuse. She claimed that Combs repeatedly groped and sexually harassed her and made death threats.
Combs has denied any wrongdoing in all cases. Yet he resigned as chairman of his media company Revolt TV and sold his stake in the company, while more than a dozen companies left his e-commerce platform. In January, spirits giant Diageo fired him in a private settlement that no longer includes Combs as a co-owner of the DeLeón tequila brand and has no ties to Cîroc Vodka.
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