Sex trafficking and racketeering: The charges against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

American rapper and record producer Sean “Diddy” Combs has been refused bail by a New York judge following his arrest by Homeland Security on Monday on suspicion of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and interstate transportation for prostitution.

On Tuesday, he was ordered to remain in jail while he awaits trial.

Detailing the charges, Damian Williams, lawyer for the Southern District of New York told a press briefing: “Combs abused, threatened and coerced victims to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”

In an interview with with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, insisted that Combs was fully cooperating with the authorities. “Mr Combs came to New York on September 5, as soon as we realised that this indictment was going to be coming down,” he said.

On Monday, a statement from Combs and his lawyer read: “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.”

In March, properties owned by Combs in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security as part of an ongoing federal investigation primarily focused on allegations of sex trafficking. The musician is also facing multiple court cases over allegations of sexual assault which span back to the 1990s.

Who is Sean “Diddy” Combs and how many times has he faced lawsuits or criminal charges in the past?

Who is Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs?

An American rapper and record producer from Harlem in New York City, Sean Combs has changed the name he is known by several times over the years.

He was known as “Puff Daddy” in the early 1990s when he first came to fame before changing his name to “P Diddy” in 2001. He dropped the “P” in 2005, becoming just “Diddy”.

Combs joined record production group Uptown Records as an intern in 1990 and swiftly rose through the corporate ranks, becoming talent director and later vice president of the record label. However, due to internal conflicts with Uptown Records founder, Andre Harrell, Combs was fired in 1993.

Combs then founded the record label, Bad Boy Entertainment, the same year, signing artists in hip-hop and R&B including stars such as The Notorious B.I.G (Biggie Smalls), Faith Evans, 112, Craig Mack, the Lox and Mase. Other big-name artists he helped establish included Mariah Carey and Mary J Blige.

Combs’s first solo album, No Way Out which was released in June 1997, included the popular song, “I’ll Be Missing You”. It was dedicated to The Notorious B.I.G who had died the previous month. The album premiered at the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart and received positive reviews from critics, ultimately earning him his inaugural Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

In 1997, Combs received the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Award for Songwriter of the Year.

In 2009, he won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for his role in “A Raisin in the Sun”, a 2008 television film adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry’s acclaimed play from 1959.

In 2013, Combs launched his cable news network, Revolt. But a rising number of sexual abuse allegations against him caused Combs to step down as chairman of the Revolt cable television network in November last year.

In 2022, Combs received the BET Lifetime Achievement Award for his “contributions to music and culture” over three decades.

Despite his successes, however, Combs has also hit the headlines because of his many and varied legal troubles.

When has Combs faced allegations and charges before?

In 1996, Combs was found guilty of “criminal mischief” for threatening a New York Post photographer with a gun. He was fined $1,000.

In December 1999, Combs and his then-girlfriend, the actor and singer Jennifer Lopez, were involved in a shooting incident in Club New York in Manhattan. Combs was charged with four counts of illegal gun possession and one count of bribery for allegedly persuading his driver, Wardel Fenderson, to claim ownership of a weapon discovered in the vehicle he used to leave the scene.

Although Lopez was arrested with Combs and held at a police precinct in New York City for approximately 14 hours she was eventually released with the charges against her completely dropped. Combs was later acquitted of all charges.

Combs has also faced a multitude of sexual assault allegations. Although many of the charges were brought against him only in the last couple of years, some of them relate to incidents that occurred in the 1990s and 2000s.

Combs with his former girlfriend, the actress Jennifer Lopez, at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York [Brad Rickerby/Reuters]

November 2023: Cassie Ventura files lawsuit for sexual abuse

Singer and dancer Cassie Ventura, 38, Combs’ partner from 2007 to 2018, filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Manhattan on November 16, 2023 alleging years of abuse, trafficking and rape over a 10-year period starting in 2008 when she was 19 and he was 37. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount the day after it was filed and never reached court. 

Although Combs denied any abuse of Ventura, in May this year, CNN obtained a 2016 surveillance video of Combs violently assaulting her in a hotel in California.

A 2016 surveillance video obtained by CNN shows Sean "Diddy" Combs violently grab, shove, drag and kick his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura during an altercation in a hotel in California. https://t.co/JrnJhWOaQt pic.twitter.com/xeRBtoGBDV

— CNN (@CNN) May 17, 2024

November 2023: Joi Dickerson files lawsuit for sexual abuse

Joi Dickerson and another unidentified plaintiff filed lawsuits against Combs in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City on November 23, 2023 alleging sexual abuse and coerced drug use during the early 1990s.

During Dickerson’s time as a student at Syracuse University, she worked with Combs on a music video project. This collaboration involved the 1990 song “Straight From The Soul”, performed by Finesse and Synquis, a hip-hop rap duo signed to Uptown Records, Combs’s employer at the time.

December 2023: Unidentified woman alleges rape

An unidentified woman, referred to as “Jane Doe”, is cited in a federal lawsuit against Combs in the US District Court in Manhattan, filed on December 6, 2023. The suit alleges that Combs and two other individuals raped the woman when she was aged 17 in 2003. The incident was alleged to have taken place after they transported her from Detroit to a studio in New York where they rendered her unable to defend herself by administering drugs.

In May, Combs’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit due to the statute of limitations and insufficient details in the case. The case is still pending.

February 2024: Music producer accuses Combs of sexual assault

Music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 26 this year accusing Combs of unwanted sexual contact, forced sexual acts with sex workers, and unlawful drug use forced by Combs.

March 2024: Combs residences raided by the Department of Homeland Security

On March 25, several residences in Los Angeles and Miami linked to Combs were raided by the investigation division of the Department of Homeland Security. At the time it was reported that the raids were connected to a sex trafficking investigation.

Combs’s lawyer, Aaron Dryer, stated at the time: “This unprecedented ambush – paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence – leads to a premature rush to judgement of Mr Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”

April 2024: Combs is named as co-defendant on sexual assault charges

Combs was named as a co-defendant in a criminal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on April 4, in which Grace O’Marcaigh alleges that Combs’s son, Christian “King” Combs, 26, sexually assaulted her on a yacht hired by Combs. The lawsuit further claims that Combs played a role in facilitating the assault and bribed the captain of the yacht to stay quiet about the incident.

May 2024: Fashion student alleges sexual assault

April Lampros, 51, a former student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 23 alleging that Combs subjected her to sexual assault on multiple occasions between the mid-1990s and early 2000s.

June 2024: Combs is accused of sexual assault at a party

Derrick Lee Smith, a 51-year-old prisoner from Michigan who is being held in Earnest C Brooks Correctional Facility, convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping from Michigan, accused Combs of drugging and sexually assaulting him at a party at a Holiday Inn in Detroit nearly three decades ago. As a result of the rapper’s failure to appear in court, Smith was granted a default judgement of $100 million on September 9.

However, this week lawyers for Combs moved to overturn the ruling, stating that the statute of limitations for filing the lawsuit expired in 2007 and the allegations lack credibility.

September 2024: Combs sued for sexual assault by Dawn Richard

On September 11, Combs was sued in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York by Dawn Richard, 41, from New Orleans. Richard is a former member of American girl group Danity Kane, which was formed in 2005 for the reality TV series Making the Band 3, created by Combs. She alleges sexual assault and psychological abuse by Combs during the time she was involved in the show.