Sean “Diddy” Combs has been arrested in New York and criminally indicted by a federal grand jury. He has been charged with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Diddy pleaded not guilty to all charges on Tuesday (September 17) in court. He was also denied bail and will remain in custody.
In March, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) raided Diddy’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami in connection with a federal sex trafficking investigation. Since then, federal prosecutors have worked silently and out of the spotlight, reportedly delivering subpoenas to potential witnesses while building a case against Diddy.
When HSI raided Diddy’s homes in March, a spokesperson for the department said, “Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners.” That same day, Diddy’s lawyer called their actions “a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed” and said that Diddy was “never detained, but spoke to and cooperated with authorities.”
In a new statement, shared on Monday night with Pitchfork, Diddy’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, wrote:
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. Sean “Diddy” Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person, but he Is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.
The federal government’s indictment, obtained by Pitchfork, begins by saying that Sean “Diddy” Combs has, for decades, “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.” It continues, “To do so, COMBS relied on the employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled—creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
The indictment is signed by Damian Williams (the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York). In the document, Williams details Diddy’s alleged “verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual” abuse, and he also builds a case “a criminal organization” that he calls “the Combs Enterprise.”
The organization, Williams argues, “engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other activities, sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.” He also writes that the alleged activity occurred “[f]rom at least in or about 2008, through on or about the date of the filing of this Indictment.”
Williams clarifies that the Combs Enterprise’s purposes included the operation of Diddy’s various companies, “[p]reserving, protecting, promoting, and enhancing the power, reputation, and brand of” the musician and his associates, “[s]ecuring absolute loyalty from members of the Combs Enterprise, including through acts of violence and threats,” and more.
Diddy is being charged with racketeering conspiracy due to alleged activities that involved “interstate and foreign commerce.” The alleged acts include kidnapping, arson, bribery, “the possession with intent to distribute, or distribution of narcotics and controlled substances.”
He is being charged with sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion because he allegedly “knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, advertised, maintained, patronized, and solicited by any means a person […] to engage in a commercial sex act.”
Diddy’s third charge, transportation to engage in prostitution, is because he is alleged to have “knowingly transported an individual in interstate and foreign commerce with intent that the individual engage in prostitution.”
Williams further discussed the case during a press conference on Tuesday.
Since late 2023, Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sued several times for alleged sexual assault. The first major lawsuit came from Cassie, the singer and his former girlfriend, who accused Diddy of physical and sexual assault. That lawsuit was settled the day after it was filed, with Diddy’s lawyer saying, “Mr. Combs’ decision to settle the lawsuit does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims.” Months later, CNN released hotel surveillance footage that captured Diddy hitting, dragging, and physically assaulting Cassie in 2016. Diddy posted an apology video without mentioning her by name, and Cassie thanked people for their support of her in a rare public statement, saying, “My only ask is that EVERYONE open your heart to believing victims the first time. It takes a lot of heart to tell the truth out of a situation that you were powerless in.”
(Douglas H. Wigdor, an attorney for Cassie, said neither he nor his client has any comment on the Diddy indictment.)
A number of other people have since come forward to sue Diddy. Last November, Joi Dickerson-Neal accused the producer of assault, battery, sex trafficking, and more, while Liza Gardner claimed that Diddy and R&B singer Aaron Hall sexually assaulted her and a friend in the early 1990s. The next month, a Jane Doe alleged that Diddy, former Bad Boy Entertainment president Harve Pierre, and an unnamed third person “sex trafficked and gang raped” her in 2003 when she was a 17-year-old high school student. In February, music producer Rodney Jones Jr. said that Diddy sexually assaulted and groomed him, in addition to other claims. Former model Crystal McKinney also sued Diddy in May for sexual assault, as did April Lampros, who alleged that Diddy sexually assaulted her on several occasions in the 1990s.
Several more lawsuits were raised against Diddy this summer. In July, Adria English, a former adult-film star, accused him of alleged sex trafficking, sexual assault, and other allegations. English claims Diddy hired her to work as a “go-go dancer” at a party in 2004, before rehiring her for parties with drugged drinks where she was coerced into having sex with guests. Last week, Dawn Richard also sued Diddy for sexual assault, battery, sex trafficking, abuse, and copyright infringement. Her claims date back to the early 2000s, when she was on the reality show Making the Band, and stretch through to 2011, two years after Danity Kane disbanded. According to the lawsuit, Richard also witnessed Diddy abuse Cassie and other women.
Diddy has repeatedly denied all allegations of sexual assault. “Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth,” the rapper and mogul said in December 2023. He did, however, acknowledge his culpability for physically attacking Cassie in March 2016 after CNN released footage of that specific incident. “My behavior on that video is inexcusable,” he said. “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.” Diddy also stepped down as chairman of Revolt, which he co-founded in 2013, and sold his remaining shares in the media company.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, we encourage you to reach out for support:
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline
https://rainn.org
1 800 656 HOPE (4673)
Crisis Text Line
SMS: Text “HELLO” or “HOLA” to 741-741
This article was originally published on Monday, September 16, 2024, at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. It was last updated on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 4:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
Source : Pitchfork
