Sean “Diddy” Combs, a rapper and music mogul credited with helping launch the careers of some of the biggest stars in recent years, was arrested by federal agents in New York on Monday, after facing months of civil lawsuits accusing him of sex trafficking, sexual abuse and rape.
In an indictment unsealed on Tuesday morning, federal prosecutors allege Combs and his associates threatened, abused and coerced women and others around him “to fulfill his sexual desires” – which allegedly includes forcing victims into engaging in recorded sexual activity which he referred to as “Freak Outs”.
A lawyer for the hip-hop artist called Combs “an innocent man with nothing to hide.”
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, told The Independent via email.
Combs, formerly known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and a host of other names, has undergone a myriad of reinventions since the start of his career – but has since entered a new and unwelcome “era.”
Federal agents with US Homeland Security raided two of the rapper’s houses in Los Angeles and Miami on March 25 as part of an investigation into the allegations brought against him.
The music mogul was also recently hit with a $100 million default judgment on September 9 over an alleged sexual assault from a 1997 party against Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith.
Lenawee County Circuit Court Judge granted the award to Cardello-Smith, an inmate who filed the lawsuit against Combs, accusing him of drugging and sexually assaulting him at a party 30 years ago.
Combs, 54, has strongly denied all of the allegations against him. His attorneys have branded the lawsuits and their accusations as money grabs, “baseless” or “sickening.”
On May 17, surveillence footage captured at a hotel in Los Angeles in March 2016 showed Diddy chasing his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura down the hallway before attacking her by the elevators. He then attempts to drag her back to his hotel room.
The following day, he shared an apology video to Instagram saying his behaviour was “inexcusable” and that he took “full responsibility for his actions in the video”.
The slew of allegations in lawsuits against Combs date as far back as the 1990s, when he founded his own record label, Bad Boy Records.
All the allegations against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs:
Lawsuits against the rapper began on 16 November 2023 when he was sued by singer and dancer Cassie, his former partner, who alleged years of abuse.
It was filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act, just before it expired. This act offered a one-year window for adult victims of sexual assault to come forward with civil claims regardless of the statute of limitations.
Casandra ‘Cassie’ Ventura
R&B singer Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit in 2023 alleging that she was trafficked, raped and beaten by Combs on many occasions over 10 years.
Her lawsuit claimed that Combs brought the singer into his “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle” not long after she met him, and signed her to his label in 2005 when she was just 19 and he was 37.
Ventura said that the pattern of abuse began as soon as their relationship started and that, as she was trying to end it in 2018, he forced himself into her Los Angeles home and raped her.
On May 17, surveillance footage obtained by CNN showed an incident which appeared to corroborate parts of Ventura’s original complaint. The video from March 2016 showed Combs chasing her down the corridor of a Los Angeles hotel and proceeding to punch and kick her outside a set of elevators.
According to the complaint, which cited the altercation as occurring “around March 2016,” Combs became “extremely intoxicated and punched Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye.”
The surveillance footage showed Combs leaving Ventura then returning and shoving her into a corner. He is then seen hurling an object at her, which was also cited in her complaint.
On Sunday (19 May), Combs released a video apologising for his actions in the video, calling his behaviour “inexcusable” and saying he “takes full responsibility for his actions in the video”.
The lawsuit against Combs was settled for an undisclosed amount of money a day after Ventura filed it.
Ventura told CNN she had chosen to “resolve this matter amicably,” while Combs’ attorney said the settlement was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing” and didn’t change his denial of the allegations.
Her accusations against Combs were brought through the New York Adult Survivors Act (ASA), which expired at midnight on 23 November 2023.
The act provided survivors a one-year window to pursue civil litigation regardless of when the abuse occurred, meaning incidents from decades were finally brought to light.
More than 2,500 cases were filed under the ASA before its expiry at midnight on 23 November 2023, court data sent to The Independent showed.
Survivors brought lawsuits against some of the state’s most powerful men, including major players in entertainment, such as Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Axl Rose, and Combs.
Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith
A lawsuit was filed by Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, 51, an inmate who claims Combs drugged and sexually assaulted him at a party 30 years ago, ccording to court documents obtained by Detroit’s Metro Times.
On September 9, Cardello-Smith was awarded a $100 million default judgment after Combs failed to appear for a virtual hearing.
A Lenawee County Circuit Court judge set up a payment schedule of $10 million per month for Combs, slated to start on October 1.
The lawsuit claims that Cardello-Smith and Combs met while he was working at a Detroit-area restaurant in 1997. During a night of drinking and weed-smoking, they reportedly had sex with a group of women, according to the suit. Cardello-Smith said he felt a man’s hand, which he claims was Combs, touching him.
The suit also alleges that Combs served him a spiked drink that caused him to pass out. When he woke up, Combs was having sex with a woman and allegedly said to him, “I did this to you too.”
Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, disputed the judgment and Cardello-Smith’s account.
“This man is a convicted felon and sexual predator, who has been sentenced on 14 counts of sexual assault and kidnapping over the last 26 years,” he said.
Combs has moved to dimiss the suit.
Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones
In the most recent lawsuit against Combs, filed on 26 February 2024 in New York, producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, alleged he was “subjected to unwanted advances by associates of Diddy at his direction” and that he was forced to engage in relations with the sex workers Combs had hired.
The producer, who worked for Combs between September 2022 and November 2023 claimed Combs sexually harassed, drugged and threatened him for more than a year.
He said he has video and audio evidence of Combs, his staff and others “engaging in serious illegal activity.” The lawsuit identified Rapper 50 Cent‘s former girlfriend and the mother of one of his children, Daphne Joy, as one of the alleged sex workers.
The lawsuit also alleges that Combs regularly hosted “sex-trafficking parties” with underage women and illegal drugs, and implies record label executives who looked the other way financially benefited from access to celebrities and dignitaries, including the British royal Prince Harry.
Prince Harry is not accused of any wrongdoing or of attending parties himself.
Combs’s attorney told The Los Angeles Times that the lawsuit contains “reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not” occur.
Ryan Mendelsohn, 20, who used to live in the area where Combs’ Los Angeles property was searched, told reporters he would see parties at the home and women outside until 6am, which was not usual.
“I drive by a lot, and I see that — a lot of girls, maybe five or six girls outside, some leaving, some not, some going in,” he said, according to NBC News.
“I never thought anything of it,” Mr Mendelsohn, who added that he did not know Combs lived there until Monday’s news broke. “But now, it’s crazy.”
