What to know about the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs arrest, lawsuits, raids
Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hip-hop mogul, was arrested Monday in New York amid a federal sex trafficking probe, officials told The Times. Federal prosecutors have charged him with three counts of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The charges, which he denies, mark a stunning fall from grace for the global superstar. The indictment caps years of allegations against the mogul made by women that have tarnished his image.
Among the charges are allegations that Combs used force, threats of force, coercion and controlled substances to get women to engage in sex acts with male sex workers. Combs referred to these incidents as “Freak Offs,” elaborately produced sex performances that the mogul allegedly arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded, according to the indictment.
Combs, who rose to fame as a rapper, producer and record label founder, is also facing multiple lawsuits alleging sexual assault and harassment.
Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by the Department of Homeland Security on March 25.
Combs’ lawyer, Aaron Dyer, described the execution of the Homeland Security investigation as an “excessive show of force” in a statement to The Times.
Dyer called it an “unprecedented ambush” and a “witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits. There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”
Four women filed lawsuits against Combs in November and December 2023 that accused him of of sexual and physical abuse. The suit brought by recording artist Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, Combs’ former longtime girlfriend, was settled one day after she accused him of rape and abuse.
Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who produced multiple songs on Diddy’s 2023 LP, “The Love Album: Off the Grid,” filed a lawsuit in February alleging assault and misconduct in granular detail. The suit also names several prominent artists and music executives. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. was added as a co-defendant in late March.
Follow our coverage here for developing details.
Civil lawsuits filed against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in recent months have stopped short of answering an essential question: Who else was involved?
Oct. 23, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ ‘devastated’ kids put on a united front, saying claims ‘have spiraled into absurdity’ since their dad’s arrest. And the lawsuits keep coming.
Oct. 22, 2024
The music mogul’s sexual mistreatment of women dating back decades was aided and abetted by a complex and vast network of enablers, according to a Times review of court filings and interviews with current and former business associates.
Oct. 21, 2024
When Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs went to confront the strength and conditioning coach over his son’s treatment on the UCLA football team in 2015, the conversation escalated into a brawl that involved not only the coach but other staff members.
Oct. 16, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs faces six new lawsuits, including allegations that he molested a 16-year-old boy at a 1998 party.
Oct. 14, 2024
A disturbing 2016 video that shows Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting singer Cassie, his former girlfriend, has emerged as a key battleground in his sex abuse case.
Oct. 12, 2024
The revelation that the criminal case against the music icon could expand came as he made his first appearance in court and a federal judge set a trial date.
Oct. 10, 2024
The ‘voluminous’ amount of data taken in the sweeping sex abuse and racketeering case comes as Combs’ lawyers make a third bid to get him released from jail.
Oct. 9, 2024
More than 100 people are planning to launch lawsuits against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs alleging that the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment and others sexually abused and exploited them.
Oct. 1, 2024
A woman alleges in a lawsuit that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs pressured her to have sex with other men and women and plied her with drugs and alcohol that caused her to pass out.
Sept. 27, 2024
For decades, Sean “Diddy” Combs promoted himself as one of the godfathers of hip-hop, a celebrity who transformed the genre and became a business estimated to top a billion dollars.
Sept. 27, 2024
Kim Porter’s children take aim at a purported memoir detailing her relationship with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: ‘Claims that our mom wrote a book are simply untrue.’
Sept. 25, 2024
Sean Combs and his bodyguard drugged and raped a woman and later showed video of the attack to others, a lawsuit alleges.
Sept. 24, 2024
Former Bad Boy rapper and Belizean politician Shyne claims Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs ‘pretty much sent me to prison,’ decades after a shooting that involved the music mogul.
Sept. 20, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as he awaits trial on sex-trafficking and racketeering charges.
Sept. 20, 2024
Sean “Diddy” Combs was the only defendant indicted this week in a sweeping sex trafficking and racketeering investigation. But federal prosecutors made clear that they do not believe he was the only one responsible. Is the indictment just the beginning of a larger case against alleged conspirators?
Sept. 19, 2024
An expert explains how a perpetrator might entice and control victims, and what Combs’ indictment means about our changing views on how sex trafficking works.
Sept. 18, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs will stay locked up in an infamous Brooklyn, N.Y., federal jail after his attorney tried and failed to have him put on house arrest.
Sept. 18, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs won’t have to pay $100 million to an inmate as a judge tosses out last week’s default judgment. He still faces a sex-trafficking indictment.
Sept. 18, 2024
The musician and record producer was arrested in New York months after raids on his Holmby Hills and Miami homes as part of a federal inquiry.
Sept. 17, 2024
Aubrey O’Day, frontwoman of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ now-defunct girl group Danity Kane, says she feels validated and vindicated after the hip-hop mogul’s arrest.
Sept. 18, 2024
The eye-popping details of the Combs indictment lighted up social and legacy media Tuesday, but his alleged use of the familiar mechanisms for silencing victims is far more worrying.
Sept. 18, 2024
Sean Combs abused women during ‘freak offs’ involving male prostitutes, drugs, violence, feds allege
Here is what we know about the sweeping indictment against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Sept. 17, 2024
The musician and record producer was arrested in New York months after raids on his Holmby Hills and Miami homes as part of a federal inquiry.
Sept. 17, 2024
Sean “Diddy” Combs isn’t handing over millions to a litigious Michigan inmate just yet. His team files a motion to vacate the judgment in the sexual-assault case.
Sept. 13, 2024
Dawn Richard of Danity Kane and Diddy-Dirty Money sues Sean Combs, the backer of those groups, accusing him of sexual assault, harassment, inhumane treatment.
Sept. 11, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was ordered to pay a Michigan inmate $100 million on a default judgment in a sexual assault suit. Here’s what that means.
Sept. 11, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is facing a default judgment in a sexual assault lawsuit. After a missed court date, a judge ordered him to pay a litigious inmate $100 million.
Sept. 10, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ legal woes keep on coming. A lawsuit filed Wednesday raises new sexual assault and sex trafficking allegations against the rap mogul.
July 3, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was sued twice in the same week by two different women, both of whom are accusing him of sexual assault. That makes eight lawsuits total.
May 24, 2024
Hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur Diddy has been accused of physical and sexual violence dating back to 1990. Here’s a timeline of the allegations.
May 21, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ weekend apology related to 2016 video footage showing him assaulting Casandra ‘Cassie’ Ventura ‘is more about himself,’ her attorney says.
May 20, 2024
After a shocking video emerged Friday showing Combs attacking singer Casandra Ventura in 2016, he posted a video Sunday admitting to the violence and apologizing.
May 20, 2024
CNN released footage Friday that matched allegations in Cacsandra Ventura’s lawsuit against Combs. The mogul previously denied that the incident happened.
May 19, 2024
A video showing Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs violently attacking his then-girlfriend in an L.A. hotel in 2016 is likely to add more urgency to a sex-trafficking inquiry.
May 19, 2024
Rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is the subject of an inquiry into sex-trafficking allegations. CNN has released a video showing him attacking his then-girlfriend.
May 19, 2024
Surveillance video of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs confirms singer Cassie’s allegations that he brutally assaulted her as she tried to leave a hotel in Los Angeles.
May 17, 2024
After Diddy’s son Christian ‘King’ Combs name-checked 50 Cent on a diss track, he roasted the young Combs and rehashed allegations against him and his father.
May 13, 2024
Disgraced R&B singer R.
April 15, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a co-defendant in a sexual assault lawsuit against son Christian Combs, who is accused of attacking a woman on a yacht his father leased.
April 5, 2024
Misa Hylton, mother of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ son Justin Dior Combs, accused federal agents of racism when they detained him at his father’s L.A. mansion.
April 2, 2024
Federal investigators are seeking records from Combs’ private charter jet firm, cellphone providers and computer companies.
March 29, 2024
After piling on about Diddy’s legal troubles, rapper 50 Cent is accused of rape by his ex Daphne Joy, who was referred to as a sex worker in a recent lawsuit.
March 29, 2024
Legal experts said investigators would likely seek authorization to ‘search for videos or photographs on any devices connected to the target.’
March 28, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs remains in the United States and vows to fight sex trafficking allegations, sources close to the music legend said.
March 27, 2024
Legal experts say it could take time to build a criminal case against the hip-hop mogul but note that civil lawsuits against him could offer investigators a road map.
March 26, 2024
Hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur Diddy has been accused of physical and sexual violence dating back to 1990. Here’s a timeline of the allegations.
May 21, 2024
Cuba Gooding Jr. is added as a co-defendant in a lawsuit against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. Record producer Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones accuses the actor of sexual assault.
March 26, 2024
Agents search Sean Combs’ Holmby Hills and Miami mansions as part of a federal inquiry into sex trafficking allegations, law enforcement sources said.
March 26, 2024
A new suit from music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones makes new, explosive claims about Combs’ alleged assaults and misconduct in granular detail, naming several prominent artists and music executives as well.
Feb. 28, 2024
Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones has filed a bombshell lawsuit against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accusing the media mogul of sexually harassing and threatening him.
Feb. 27, 2024
In the wake of multiple lawsuits filed against him, former members of Combs’ inner circle told The Times that his alleged misconduct against women goes back decades.
Dec. 13, 2023
Just weeks after R&B singer Cassie accused Diddy of sexual assault, another woman says Combs and two other men ‘gang raped’ her when she was 17.
Dec. 6, 2023
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs steps down from media company Revolt to ‘ensure’ it ‘remains steadfastly’ focused on its mission to amplify all Black voices.
Nov. 28, 2023
Combs is being accused, alongside R&B singer Aaron Hall, of sexually assaulting an unnamed woman and her friend.
Nov. 25, 2023
Kesha removed Diddy’s name from her song ‘Tik Tok’ during a live performance in Hollywood over the weekend. The mogul and his ex just settled an abuse lawsuit.
Nov. 20, 2023
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and former partner Cassie have reached a settlement in a lawsuit she filed Thursday alleging rape and a ‘cycle of abuse’ by the mogul.
Nov. 18, 2023
Hip-hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is accused of rape, abuse, sex trafficking and more by former partner Casandra Ventura, a.k.a. Cassie, in a new lawsuit.
Nov. 16, 2023