Sean “Diddy” Combs attends REVOLT X AT&T 3-Day Summit in Los Angeles – Day 1 at Magic Box on October 25, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
Philip Faraone | Getty Images
Sean “Diddy” Combs used his fame as a hip-hop mogul to coerce women into performing humiliating sex acts as part of a decades-long sex trafficking and extortion scheme, according to a three-count federal indictment unsealed Tuesday.
Prosecutors say that beginning in 2009, Combs used his vast media empire, including his record label, Bad Boy Entertainment, to transport female and male prostitutes across state lines to take part in taped sex acts known as “freak offs,” which the music mogul would watch and masturbate to.
The 54-year-old rapper and producer was arrested in Manhattan on Monday night and is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Robin Tarnovsky on Tuesday at 2:30 pm EDT (18:30 pm GMT). Combs could face decades in prison if convicted of three felony counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation for the purposes of prostitution.
The charges were filed by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damien Williams’ office, who is seeking to keep Combs in custody pending trial.
Prosecutors said Combs lured the women with drugs like ketamine and ecstasy, financial support, career assistance and promises of romantic relationships. He then secretly recorded them having sex as “pledge” to keep them quiet, and displayed weapons to intimidate victims and witnesses to the abuse, according to the indictment.
“The victims did not believe they could reject Mr. Combs without endangering their safety or subjecting them to further abuse,” Williams said at a news conference.
The indictment accuses Combs of assaulting the women by hitting them and throwing objects at them, but does not include any allegations that Combs engaged in unwanted sexual contact with them directly.
Download the full indictment.
Combs’ attorney, Mark Anifilo, did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the indictment was made public, but expressed disappointment Monday night in the decision to pursue the “unfair” charges against his client.
“Sean Diddy Combs is a music icon, a self-made entrepreneur, a family man and a proven philanthropist who has built an empire over the past 30 years, loves children and works to uplift the black community,” Anifilo said Monday night. “He is an imperfect human being, but he is not a criminal.”
Combs is the most high-profile music industry figure to face criminal charges of sexual misconduct since R&B singer R. Kelly, who was convicted in New York in 2021 and in Chicago in 2022 of sex trafficking, racketeering and child sex crimes charges and sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison.
Combs, who was also known as P. Diddy and Puff Daddy during his career, founded Bad Boy Records and is known for making rappers and R&B singers such as Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, The Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars in the 1990s and 2000s.
His career and reputation have been tarnished over the past year. Last November, his former girlfriend, Cassandra Ventura, known as the R&B singer Cassie, filed a lawsuit alleging that he repeatedly physically abused her, sexually enslaved her and raped her during their 10-year relationship. She agreed to an undisclosed settlement the day after filing the lawsuit, but Combs denied the allegations.
Combs has since faced several civil lawsuits from men and women who accuse him of sexual assault and other misconduct. His lawyers are fighting those lawsuits in court. Federal agents searched Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Florida, six months ago.
“An icon of the music world”
Combs’ attorney, Mark Anifilo, did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the indictment was made public, but expressed disappointment Monday night in the decision to pursue the “unfair” charges against his client.
“Sean Diddy Combs is a music icon, a self-made entrepreneur, a family man and a proven philanthropist who has built an empire over the past 30 years, loves children and works to uplift the black community,” Anifilo said Monday night. “He is an imperfect human being, but he is not a criminal.”
Combs is the most high-profile music industry figure to face criminal charges of sexual misconduct since R&B singer R. Kelly, who was convicted in New York in 2021 and in Chicago in 2022 of sex trafficking, racketeering and child sex crimes charges and sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison.
Combs, who was also known as P. Diddy and Puff Daddy during his career, founded Bad Boy Records and is known for making rappers and R&B singers such as Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, The Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars in the 1990s and 2000s.
His career and reputation have been tarnished over the past year. Last November, his former girlfriend, Cassandra Ventura, known as the R&B singer Cassie, filed a lawsuit alleging that he repeatedly physically abused her, sexually enslaved her and raped her during their 10-year relationship. She agreed to an undisclosed settlement the day after filing the lawsuit, but Combs denied the allegations.
Combs has since faced several civil lawsuits from men and women who accuse her of sexual assault and other misconduct. Her lawyers are fighting those lawsuits in court. Federal agents searched Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Florida, six months ago.
Baby oil, AR-15 rifles
According to the indictment, Combs’ employees helped organize the “Freak Offs” by booking hotel rooms and purchasing controlled substances and other items for use during sexual acts.
According to the indictment, authorities searched Combs’ homes in Miami, Florida, and Los Angeles and found drugs, 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, and an AR-15 rifle with the serial number obliterated.
The indictment did not disclose how many women were allegedly victims of the scheme.
This is not Combs’ first brush with the law. He was acquitted of bribery and weapons charges in a March 2001 criminal trial connected to a shooting at a nightclub that injured three people.
The civil lawsuits facing Combs include one filed last week by singer Dawn Richard, a former member of Danity Kane, who accuses Combs of sexual assault, battery, sex trafficking, sex discrimination and fraud.
Also this month, a Michigan judge ordered Derrick Lee Smith to pay Combs $100 million for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting him at a party nearly 30 years ago. Combs’ lawyers said the defendants will seek to have the case dismissed.
Combs also denies allegations in a sex trafficking lawsuit filed in February by Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, whom he hired as a producer on his 2023 album, The Love Album: Off the Grid.