Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with racketeering, sex trafficking
The music mogul is to make his first appearance in a Manhattan court on Tuesday morning and his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, told reporters he would plead not guilty.
US producer-musician Sean "Diddy" Combs poses with the Global Icon award in the press room during the MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on 12 September 2023. Picture: AFP
NEW YORK - Sean "Diddy" Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday that accuses the superstar rapper of engaging in decades of sexual abuse of women.
Combs, 54, who was arrested by federal agents on Monday, also faces a charge of "transportation to engage in prostitution."
The music mogul is to make his first appearance in a Manhattan court on Tuesday morning and his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, told reporters he would plead not guilty.
"He's innocent of these charges," Agnifilo said.
He added that Combs's "spirits are good" and "he's going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might."
The indictment alleges that Combs - for decades - "abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct."
It accused him of "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."
Combs allegedly engaged in a "persistent and pervasive pattern" of verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of women, the indictment said.
"On numerous occasions from at least in or about 2009 and continuing for years, Combs assaulted women by, among other things, striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them," it said.
Combs is the target of several civil lawsuits that characterize him as a violent sexual predator who used alcohol and drugs to subdue his victims.
The rapper's luxury homes in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by agents in March in an operation that indicated a criminal case was being mounted against Combs.
BOMBSHELL SUIT
The powerful music industry figure, who has gone by various monikers including Puff Daddy and P Diddy, was credited as being key to hip hop's journey from the streets to luxury clubs.
He has amassed vast wealth over the decades, not least due to his ventures in the liquor industry.
Despite his efforts to cultivate the image of a smooth party kingpin and business magnate, a spate of lawsuits describe Combs as a violent man who used his celebrity to prey on women.
Combs has no major convictions but has long been trailed by allegations of physical assault, dating back to the 1990s.
The floodgates opened last year after singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rape.
The pair met when Ventura was 19 and Combs was 37, after which he signed her to his label and they began a relationship.
The bombshell suit was settled out of court, but a string of similarly lurid sexual assault claims followed - including one in December by a woman who alleged Combs and others gang-raped her when she was 17.
Disturbing surveillance video emerged in May showing Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Ventura, corroborating allegations she made in the now-settled case.
GLOBAL FAME WITH DARK SHADOW
Born Sean John Combs on 4 November 1969, in Harlem, the artist entered the industry as an intern in 1990 at Uptown Records, where he eventually became a talent director.
He gained a reputation as a party planner, which would be central to his brand as his fame rose.
In 1991, he promoted a celebrity basketball game and concert at the City College of New York that left nine people dead after a stampede.
The event was over capacity by thousands and resulted in a string of lawsuits, with Combs blamed for hiring inadequate security.
He was fired from Uptown and founded his own label, Bad Boy Records.
That began a quick ascent to the top of East Coast hip hop, along with his late disciple, The Notorious B.I.G.
Combs boasted a number of major signed acts and production collaborations with the likes of Mary J Blige, Usher, Lil' Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men.
He was also a Grammy-winning rapper in his own right, debuting with the chart-topping single "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" and his album "No Way Out."
With an unapologetic swagger, he also ventured into Hollywood, reality television and fashion and had high-profile romantic links with the likes of Jennifer Lopez.