Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested in Manhattan after being indicted by a grand jury, the New York Times reports. The exact contents of the indictment are unclear as of now, but over the past 10 months, Combs has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and a federal investigation stemming from allegations including sexual, physical, and verbal abuse, sex trafficking, and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms.
UPDATE: The indictment against Combs has been unsealed. You can read it in full here. The charges against him include sex trafficking and racketeering.
UPDATE 2: Combs has pled not guilty to all charges, TMZ reports.
The first count against Combs begins:
For decades, SEAN COMBS, a/k/a “Puff Daddy,” a/k/a “P. Diddy,” a/k/a “Diddy,”
a/k/a “PD,” a/k/a “Love,” the defendant, abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around
him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct. 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 later asserts that Combs and his associates used his business enterprise to exploit women and “to engage in unlawful acts of violence, including sexual violence; sex trafficking; forced
labor; interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution; coercion and enticement to engage in
prostitution; narcotics distribution; and other crimes, and concealing the commission of such acts.” It accuses him of “securing absolute loyalty from members of the Combs Enterprise, including through acts of violence and threats” and “protecting the Combs Enterprise and its members and associates, including
COMBS, from detection and prosecution by law enforcement authorities through acts of intimidation, manipulation, bribery, and threats of retaliation against individuals who witnessed the crimes committed by members and associates of the Enterprise.”
Combs’ legal team told the Times they were disappointed in the decision to prosecute him, noting that he “voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges.” A further statement from his counsel: “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.”
The allegations against Combs have picked up since Cassie Ventura, his former girlfriend and a former artist for his record label Bad Boy, sued him for rape and a pattern of physical abuse last November and quickly reached a settlement. CNN later published graphic hotel surveillance video of Combs beating Ventura up in 2016.
Since Ventura came forward, Combs has faced several similar lawsuits, including one recently from another former Bad Boy artist, Dawn Richard. In another lawsuit alleging sexual assault, he was recently found liable for $100 million. Tonight’s arrest appears to stem from the investigation that led to federal raids of Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles.
