Sean “Diddy” Combs Hip-hop icon Michael Jackson was arrested in Manhattan on Monday night after a grand jury indicted the singer, authorities said. The arrest follows Homeland Security raids on the Bad Boy founder's homes in late March, apparently sparked by a wave of sexual assault lawsuits against him.
Combs’ arrest comes nearly a year after his ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, sued Combs in November for sex trafficking and sexual assault. (He reached a private settlement with Ventura a day after the lawsuit was filed.) Since then, eight more women and one man have come forward to sue Combs on charges ranging from sex trafficking to sexual assault.
It was not immediately clear what charges he had been charged with as of Monday evening, but the investigation is being conducted by the Southern District of New York, which confirmed the news. “Earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, pursuant to a sealed indictment filed by the Southern District of New York,” Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, said in a statement. “We anticipate moving to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”
Combs’ attorney said Monday evening that he was “disappointed” with the Southern District of New York’s decision to pursue what he called an “unfair prosecution.” “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the past 30 years building an empire, doting on his children, and working to uplift the black community. He is imperfect, but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said in a statement. “Fortunately, Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation, and voluntarily moved to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the actions of an innocent man who has nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
The attorney representing civil plaintiffs Lisa Gardner, Rodney (Lil Rod) Jones and April Lambros in their separate sexual assault lawsuits against Combs said: Rolling Stone Attorney Tyrone Blackburn said in a statement Monday night that he was not surprised by the charges. “The long-awaited arrest of Sean Combs is the first step in getting justice for our clients,” he said. “We are leaving the criminal side of this case in the hands of the public and the justice system. As for the civil cases, we are biding our time for the facts to come out and seeking the justice our clients deserve. We also anticipate more victims. We knew this was coming. The evidence is so clear, it was only a matter of time. This is an important step toward justice for all of Mr. Combs’ victims, including my client.”
In early July, NBC News reported that a grand jury was hearing evidence related to the criminal sex investigation. Federal agents executed a search warrant on Combs’ homes on March 25, raided his properties in Los Angeles and Miami, and reportedly seized Combs’s phones after officials stopped him at the Miami-Opa-Locka airport. Combs’ other attorney, Aaron Dyer, called the raids “a blatant military-level abuse of force” and “a witch hunt based on baseless allegations made in civil lawsuits.”
in May, Rolling Stone She published her six-month investigation into the business mogul, uncovering a previously unreported allegation of violence against a woman on Howard's campus, new details of the alleged physical assault, and allegations that Combs sexually harassed a freelance employee at a 2001 party. Several people who spoke to Rolling Stone Combs was described as a serial predator who used his fame, wealth, industry standing and reputation as a fun-loving party host to hide his volatile moods and disturbing narcissistic behavior for decades.
Combs' fall from grace began with Ventura's lawsuit, in which she alleged that Combs routinely physically assaulted her and forced her to have drugged sex with male sex workers during arrangements he called “flirts” throughout their 10-year relationship. She also detailed a 2016 physical assault at a Los Angeles hotel following a fling, which was later corroborated by video footage unearthed from hotel surveillance showing Combs chasing a fleeing Ventura. He is seen throwing her to the ground, kicking her and stomping on her before attempting to drag her away, then throwing a glass vase in her direction. Although Combs' attorney previously called Ventura's 35-page lawsuit a racket “filled with baseless and outrageous lies,” Combs issued a video apology after the video surfaced, saying he was “at the lowest point” and was “truly sorry” for his behavior in the disturbing footage. In response, Ventura's lawyers called Combs' admission of guilt “pathetic.”
After Ventura’s lawsuit — just as New York’s adult survivors law was about to expire — two more women came forward on Thanksgiving Day with similarly troubling claims against Combs. Joy Dickerson Neal alleged that Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her when she was a student at Syracuse University in 1991. The woman alleged that Combs filmed the incident and showed the video to others in what she described as “revenge porn.” Combs denied the claim through a representative. “This last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned upside down,” she said. [This] “The 32-year-old story is fabricated and unbelievable,” the company’s spokesperson said. “This is just an attempt to grab money and nothing more.”
The second woman, Lisa Gardner, alleges she was 16 when Combs and songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping her after an Uptown Records concert in 1990. She also claims that a day later, Combs “became enraged and began assaulting and choking” her until she “nearly blacked out” because he was worried she would reveal what had happened. “These are fabricated allegations that falsely allege misconduct from over 30 years ago and were brought at the last minute,” a Combs spokesperson said of Gardner’s lawsuit. “This is nothing more than a money grab.”
In early December, a fourth accuser alleged that Combs' former Bad Boy frontman, Harvey Pierre, and a third man gang-raped her at Combs' recording studio in New York in 2003 when she was 17. In February, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones sued Combs for sexual assault, harassment and failure to compensate him for his work on the Grammy-nominated song. Love AlbumOn May 21, model Crystal McKinley became the sixth person to file a lawsuit against Combs in six months. She alleged that Combs drugged her and forced her to perform oral sex on him at his New York City recording studio in 2003. In early July, former Hustlers dancer Andrea English alleged that Combs trafficked her for sex at his legendary “white parties” when she was expected to engage in sexual activity with guests.
The week before Combs' arrest, former Danity Kane member Dawn Richards filed a lawsuit against Combs, asserting Ventura's allegations of physical abuse, alleging that Combs repeatedly groped and sexually assaulted her, as well as threatened her life.
Combs has denied wrongdoing in each case. However, he has stepped down as chairman of his media company, Revolt TV, and sold his stake in the company, while more than a dozen companies have fled his e-commerce platform. In January, liquor giant Diageo shed him in a private settlement that will see Combs no longer co-owner of the Dillon tequila brand or have any ties to Ciroc vodka.
