We are following breaking news right now related
to music mogul Sean Diddy Combs.
Major new allegations today of sexual assault and exploitation by Combs.
For the first time we are hearing about
victims who say they were minors when they
were allegedly assaulted by the music star.
The youngest allegedly just nine years old.
The complaint alleges in part that defendant Combs
and another defendant committed a quote violation of
New York City victims of gender motivated violence
protection act by viciously and violently forcing sexual
contact, oral sex and sexual intercourse on the plaintiff.
Wherever he is, his resolve is the same.
He believes is innocent.
I believe he's innocent and we're going to
fight this case with all of our might
until we don't have to fight any longer.
Some of the hardest parts of this pain are the shame and the guilt I have
experienced that plays a negative part in my
day-to-day ability to function properly.
And they usually do not indict someone, especially
someone of this kind of public magnitude without
having all their ducks already lined up.
So I imagine it is a very serious hit.
It's so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life.
Sometimes you got to do that.
I was f***ed up.
I mean, I hit rock bottom.
In November, 2023, the singer Cassie, real name
Cassandra Ventura, filed an explosive federal lawsuit against
her former partner, Sean Diddy Combs, claiming he
had been physically and sexually abusive throughout their relationship.
The complaint alleged that Combs' abuse ranged from
beating Ventura and forcing her to have sex
with other men to raping her at her home in 2018.
The rapper settled the lawsuit within a day.
But it didn't end there.
This was a situation that the rapper couldn't simply buy his way out of.
Since then, over two dozen men and women
have sued Combs, accusing him of a wide
range of abusive behavior including sexual harassment, rape,
non-consensual pornography and sex trafficking.
The situation escalated in March when federal agents
raided Combs' properties in Miami and Los Angeles.
And then on September 16th, federal agents arrested
Combs at a Manhattan hotel following a grand jury indictment.
The music mogul was charged with racketeering and
sex trafficking, to which he pleaded not guilty.
A judge ruled that he be held without bail until trial.
You sure you want to do that?
Following the raids, Combs' lawyer Aaron Dyer maintained
that his client is innocent and will continue
to fight every single day to clear his name.
The music mogul even took matters into his
own hands, turning to Instagram to deny all of his accusers' allegations.
I have sat silently and watched people try
to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and
my legacy, he said in December.
Sickening allegations have been made against me by
individuals looking for a quick payday.
Let me be absolutely clear, I did not
do any of the awful things being alleged.
However, anyone's doubts about the hip-hop mogul's
guilt were swiftly diminished in May, when CNN
published graphic security footage showing Combs assaulting Ventura
in a hotel back in 2016.
Viewer warning for content displaying domestic violence.
New surveillance footage obtained exclusively by CNN appears
to corroborate some of the allegations of abuse
against music mogul Sean Diddy Combs.
The video, captured on multiple cameras, shows Combs
assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a
hallway at a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016.
A lawsuit filed by Ventura in November last
year and settled the next day referenced actions
that seemed to match those seen in this video.
According to the complaint, Combs became extremely intoxicated
and punched Ms. Ventura in the face, giving
her a black eye, which, according to the
lawsuit, prompted Ventura to try and leave the hotel room.
The surveillance video begins as she enters the hallway.
The complaint says, as she exited, Mr. Combs
awoke and began screaming at Ms. Ventura.
He followed her into the hallway of the hotel while yelling at her.
The complaint goes on to say, he grabbed
at her and then took glass vases in the hallway and threw them at her.
The video lines up closely with the allegations
in Cassie's suit, further cementing her claims and
diminishing any doubts that may have been left
in the public's mind about whether or not she was telling the truth.
So often, survivors of domestic abuse aren't believed
until physical evidence is provided.
Hey, brother love, brother love.
And just like that, the reputation of one
of hip-hop's music moguls was destroyed.
Social media was littered with jokes about baby
oil and think pieces about how one man was able to get away with abuse for
so long without getting caught.
Was it his wealth?
His power?
Who else knew about what was going on and chose to stay silent?
A magnifying glass was placed on all of
the celebrities and staff who had associated closely
with Diddy over the years as people began
to question just how innocent they could have been.
Was this all just one big open Hollywood secret?
But in order for us to truly understand how Diddy was able to get away with
his crimes for so long, we have to go back.
Way back to the 90s when Sean Combs
was not yet the superstar rapper and producer
he is today, but was just a kid from Mount Vernon trying to make it big.
By whatever means necessary.
Savage! I'm a savage!
Oh!
I'm a savage!
Whatever I want, I'm going to get!
Whatever I want, I have to get!
Puff Daddy, P.
Diddy, Diddy, or at this point, simply Sean
Combs started his life in Harlem, New York City.
Growing up in a single-parent household, he
was forced to step up as the man of the house from a young age after
losing his father to crime when he was only three.
His mother, Janice Combs, encouraged his artistic pursuits
and he found solace in music.
After dropping out from Howard University, Diddy began
his career by becoming an intern at Uptown
Records, one of the oldest and more prominent
hip-hop labels with a roster including artists such as Mary J.
Blige, Heavy D and the Boyz, and of course, the notorious B.I.G. It's the
one and only Biggie Smalls doing his thing in the rap world.
That's right, baby.
He swiftly rose up in the ranks of
the company, eventually becoming vice president while simultaneously
making a ton of industry connections.
But this abruptly came to an end when
he was fired by the company's CEO, Andre
Hero, for seemingly becoming too big for his boots.
In an interview with Oprah, Diddy said that
the reason he lost his job was because
he didn't understand protocol or workplace politics and
there can't be two kings in one castle.
But this wasn't enough to stop a young Sean Combs.
If anything, it motivated him to become his own boss.
And in 1993, just weeks after losing his
old job, Diddy formed the label Bad Boy
Records, with one of the first people he
signed being the notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie.
This was a huge blow to Uptown Records
given the massive success of Biggie's critically acclaimed
debut album, Ready to Die, in 1994.
Diddy's career and reputation as a record executive
and producer continued to grow during the early
to mid-90s, working with artists such as
Mariah Carey, Mase, TLC, Aretha Franklin, and so many others.
His stamp on the music industry during this era was undeniable.
♪ Everybody wanna be fast, see the cash ♪
♪ Fuck around they weak staff, get a heat rash ♪
♪ Anything in Bad Boy way we smash ♪
♪ Hundred G stash, push a bulletproof E-Class ♪
♪ I'm through with bein’ a player and a baller ♪
♪ Just want me one bad bitch so I can spoil her ♪
♪ Mase wanna be the one you respect, even when you’re vexed ♪
♪ Rock Versace silks over a steel V-neck ♪
Diddy was churning out hit after hit, and
by 1997, the company had generated over $100
million in record sales.
But whilst things were going well for the
growing star, this was also when he began
to run into some of his legal issues.
Around this time, a young artist named Tupac
had just released his second studio album via
TNT Recordings and Interscope Records and was slowly
beginning to become a household name.
Yeah, I like to think I'm revolutionary.
Tupac and Biggie eventually went on to become
friends, frequently being seen together on stage and at events.
However, things changed quickly when Tupac was shot
five times on his way to a studio session at Quad Studios in New York in
1994.
The subject is Tupac Shakur, rapper, actor, court
defendant, and now shooting victim.
Shortly after midnight, 1225 a.m. on Wednesday
morning, Tupac Shakur was shot five times in
the lobby of this Manhattan building right behind me.
Police say it appeared to be a robbery
attempt committed by three men as Tupac was
on his way to a recording studio on
the eighth floor of the Powers Building.
Shakur was reported in serious but stable condition
at Bellevue Hospital and entered surgery at 10
a.m. Wednesday morning to check for internal bleeding.
He was grazed by two shots to the head and wounded in the thigh, hand, and groin.
The gunman, who remained at large, also made
off with $40,000 worth of jewelry.
Shakur's lawyers who are downtown awaiting the jury's
verdict on sexual assault charges against Tupac say
the shooting looks like a setup and smells like a setup.
After November 30th, 1994, the relationship between Biggie
and Tupac was never the same.
Rumors about who was behind the shooting and
speculation about the whole thing being a setup began circulating.
But none of this mattered because in the
eyes of Tupac, it was Biggie who set him up.
And thus, the West Coast versus East Coast beef began.
This is also when suspicion about Diddy's involvement
started to circulate for a number of reasons.
After his shooting, Tupac was facing prison time
for a sexual assault case and had to
which he did on December 23rd, 1994.
Whilst locked up, Biggie repeatedly stated in interviews
that he had nothing to do with it and wished for Tupac's freedom.
But Pac wasn't buying it.
He thought that, just like all the other
East Coast rappers, he was putting up a
front for the media and if he really cared, he would have come to visit him
in prison.
And then, any doubt about who was behind
his shooting was erased with the release of
Biggie's song, Who Shot Ya?, in 1995.
♪ Who shot ya? ♪
♪ Separate the weak from the obsolete ♪
♪ Hard to creep them Brooklyn streets ♪
♪ It's on nigga, fuck all that bickering beef ♪
♪ I can hear sweat trickling down your cheek ♪
Diddy maintains that the song was recorded before
Biggie's debut album, Ready to Die, which was
released in 1994, before the Quad Studios shooting
had occurred, but again, Pac wasn't buying it.
Many believe that Diddy intentionally released the track
after Tupac was shot as a way to
taunt him and potentially fuel the battle between
Tupac and Biggie, and he had plenty reason to do so.
Prior to the shooting, Diddy had unresolved issues
with the co-founder and CEO of Death
Row Records, the label that Tupac was signed to, Suge Knight.
And one other thing I'd like to say,
any artist out there that wants to be an artist, and want to stay a star,
and don't want to have to worry about the
executive producers trying to be all in the
video, all on the record, dancing, come to Death Row.
The date is September 23, 1995,
and the record producer Jermaine Dupri is throwing
a party to celebrate his birthday in Atlanta,
inviting all of his celebrity friends, including both
Diddy and Suge Knight.
Things remained calm during the event, but the
afterparty was where all the trouble began, a
common occurrence that seems to happen when Diddy's around.
Suge Knight arrived at the Platinum House nightclub
with only one person, his friend Big Jake,
who also happened to be an OG Blood member.
Diddy was surrounded by an entourage filled with
a lot of street guys with gang affiliations,
one notably being Anthony Wolf Jones, who was
known to be Diddy's right-hand man and also a member of the Crips.
According to an off-duty Fulton County Sheriff
by the name of Chris Howard who was
working as security that night, Diddy and Suge
inevitably ended up getting into a heated confrontation,
resulting in both parties being asked to leave the club.
In an attempt to avoid the altercation getting
any worse outside, Suge's party was asked to
remain inside whilst Diddy's entourage cleared out.
But of course, things only got worse once they hit the streets.
As Howard recalled, I told Suge, okay, coast
is clear, and we walked outside and got into the limo.
His partner was just about ready to get into the limo when all of a sudden
Puffy's guys came from around the corner and one of them had a gun.
I chased the guy with the gun around the corner.
Howard said, he handed the gun off to another guy.
It was a .45. By the time I got back out front, that's when the guy
took a shot at Suge's partner.
He shot him two or three times.
Howard said he had drawn his weapon but
couldn't fire because a crowd had gathered outside the club.
He said he saw the shooter jump into a car carrying Cobb's associates.
I couldn't see who was driving, but all the guys who were with Puffy ran to
the car when the shooting took place, Howard said.
Then the shooter jumped in, and they drove off.
Fifteen minutes later the police arrived, but by
that point the shooter was nowhere to be
found and no weapon was ever recovered.
The victim, Jake Robles, also known as Big
Jake, died in the hospital a few weeks later.
A lot of speculation followed that night over
who actually shot Big Jake, but Jermaine Dupree
and many others believed it was Wolf who took the fatal shot.
This was the night that officially turned a
competition in hip-hop to a full-blown beef.
With Bloods and Crips now involved in the
beef, things turned violent quickly, and over the
following year a lot of blood was shed,
including the blood of the superstar of Death
Row, Tupac, and eventually the legendary Notorious B.I.G.
With all that was going on, tensions rose to a point where both Biggie
and Tupac ended up losing their lives, and
with Diddy being so heavily associated with the
drama, many believed him to be involved somehow.
He denies all involvement to this day.
Regardless, this is just one example of Diddy's nefarious activities.
If we delve even further into his past,
we begin to see a pattern of violence.
For example, in 1999 Diddy caught his first
assault charge following the accidental release of a
Nas music video for the song Hate Me Now.
♪ You can hate me now ♪
♪ Q.B. ♪ ♪ But I won't stop now ♪
♪ ‘Cause I can't stop now ♪
♪ Bravehearts ♪ ♪ You can hate me now ♪
♪ Come on ♪
The infamous music video, directed by Hype Williams,
featured a controversial depiction of Diddy and Nas
carrying large wooden crosses on their backs and
being flogged by an angry mob.
The full video remained buried for 20 years
until 2022 when a user named HipHopVCR posted
the entire music video on Patreon, and as
expected, the reception was widely negative.
Diddy, having been raised in the Catholic Church,
had a chat with his priest before the
release of the video and decided he no
longer wanted his crucifixion scene included.
However, by the time he came to that
decision it was already too late, large sums
of money had been spent, and Steve Stout,
Nas's manager, was reluctant to make the change,
especially given the fact that the crucifixion scene
was Diddy's idea in the first place.
On April 15th, 1999, the uncut music video
aired on national TV, and according to XXL,
it was only a matter of minutes before
Diddy and his bodyguards burst into Steve's office
to violently assault him in front of two clients.
While speaking to the LA Times, Steve recounts the incident.
One minute I'm in the middle of a meeting and the next I'm down on the
floor and Puffy and his guys are kicking and pounding me.
One of them picks up a chair and throws it at me.
Then Puffy throws my desk over and they
just walk out like nothing happened.
I was laying there on the floor bleeding.
My jaw and my head were all swollen.
I couldn't move my arm.
It was a traumatic experience and in the
middle of it I didn't know exactly how to feel.
I was upset, embarrassed, scared, and angry.
As far as I'm concerned this was an attempt on my life.
Almost instantly, Diddy was arrested, criminally charged, and
faced up to seven years in prison until
Steve suddenly had a change of heart and
asked the DA's office to drop the charges once Diddy apologized.
And if that wasn't enough, one of the
most high-profile controversies involving P.
Diddy was the 1999 shooting at Club New York.
On December 28th, 1999, Sean Combs and then
- girlfriend Jennifer Lopez had been celebrating a soon
- to-be-released album by Shine, aka Jamal
Barrow, the rap mogul's 21-year-old protege at Midtown's Club New York.
They were leaving when Combs, carrying a bottle
of champagne, accidentally jostled one of the club's
patrons, knocking a drink out of his hand.
The man, Matthew Allen, a street tough known
as Scar, responded with a shove.
Things escalated.
One of Allen's companions allegedly threw a stack
of money in Combs' face, and shots were
fired, leaving three people injured.
Combs and Lopez were arrested fleeing the scene
in a Lincoln Navigator with a gun in the trunk.
J. Lo was quickly absolved, and although witnesses said
they'd seen Combs with the weapon, and his
driver testified that his boss had bribed him
to claim ownership, his legal team, including Johnny
Cochran, created enough doubt that Combs was acquitted too.
I don't know if you know this judge,
but this person Jennifer Lopez is a very famous actress.
One lawyer pointed out, To think Mr. Combs
is walking around with her with a loaded gun.
It's so ridiculous that it stretches the imagination.
In the end, it was Shine who served
almost nine years for assault, gun possession, and
reckless endangerment, though he did so angrily, claiming
Combs had sold him out to save his own skin.
After his acquittal, Combs changed his nickname to P.
Diddy in hopes of putting the past behind
him, but the case still casts a shadow over his reputation to this day.
This was just another example of Diddy's involvement in shady situations.
It seems that his abusive past has always
been one of the industry's worst kept secrets,
and it's important to note here just how
popular and powerful Diddy was becoming at this point.
Following the tragic murder of The Notorious B.I.G.,
Diddy's tribute single, I'll Be Missing You,
featuring Faith Evans, debuted at number one
on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained in
the number one spot for an astounding 11
weeks, as well as topping charts around the world.
Diddy's mainstream celebrity status continued growing with the
release of his debut album, No Way Out,
which sold 3.4 million physical copies in
the United States alone, going platinum.
He even managed to earn five Grammy nominations
for this album in 1997, going on to win for Best Rap Album.
In 1998, he created the Sean John clothing
line that later became a cultural phenomenon.
From there, he dipped into fragrances, alcohol, and
even set up a media company, becoming the
host of multiple reality shows where he would
discover new talent and make people stars.
Diddy was hanging out with all the hottest
celebs, from Kanye West to Donald Trump and Martha Stewart.
By now, he was rich.
Filthy rich.
It's estimated that he has more than $800
million in valuation of property and assets.
And according to a business insider, Diddy's record
label brought in about $130 million annually in its prime.
It's safe to say that his lifestyle was
nothing short of lavish, and with all of
his fame and wealth, he became known for
putting on some of the most extravagant parties for his celebrity friends.
But once the main party had ended and
the majority of the guests had gone home,
this is allegedly where the more obscene activities
would begin, better known as freak-offs.
During these freak-offs, another side of Combs
would come out, and it was only a matter of time before the true Diddy was
exposed for the world to see.
Hey there, I'm Lindsay Sharp, joining Ashton and
Diddy this year in Beverly Hills where they
brought the infamous White Party.
It's Fourth of July, but we're also shining a light on Malaria No More.
A Sean Diddy Combs party invitation was once
the ultimate Hollywood pass, with guest lists featuring
A-listers like Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Paris
Hilton, and Jennifer Lopez.
These events were a star-studded affair.
Even Jay-Z and Beyonce have used Diddy's parties to debut new music.
Oh man, it was like maybe over a decade ago.
I moved to a new neighborhood and they
were like, well what's this guy doing moving
here in East Hamptons, and you know, and
he has this estate on the water, what's going on?
And so I said everybody, come on over,
come on over to the house so y'all get to know me.
Let me invite some of my friends from Harlem, from 145th Street.
Let me mix y'all together so y 'all know you ain't got nothing to be afraid of.
You ain't got to hold hold your pocketbooks
tight or nothing when I'm jogging in the neighborhood.
And you know, then it was history.
Everybody became friends, and a lot of people,
you know, really kept friendships from that.
It was something that I just did every
summer, you know, in the Hamptons, and I
took it overseas to Saint-Tropez, and then I brought it here to L.A., and you know.
Now why did you decide to bring it to L.A. this time around?
I was out here shooting a movie, and
just out here meeting new people, and really
also it was just the prime place to
do because of, you know, Ashton's located here,
and to do the whole malaria no more.
Oh well, I've never been to the white
party before, and this is definitely a big way to spend the Fourth of July.
I can't imagine it any other way, but
being in New York all the other years,
just seeing the fireworks and everything, L.A.
was just a change of scenery, so I'm excited about it.
Lastly, what makes Ashton and Diddy the perfect process for the night?
They're just a dynamic duo.
They're big together, so I don't know.
I'm excited to see what's inside.
I don't know what's gonna happen.
In the Los Angeles area, the rapper lived
on what has become known as Beverly Hills'
most expensive street.
The high fences allow celebrities to hide from
prying eyes, and Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion sits only a few doors down.
Diddy's mansion in Beverly Hills was one of
several venues he used to host his annual
White Party, a flagship event which he held from 1998 to 2009.
He began the parties in New York's exclusive
Hamptons area with a strict all-white dress
code, bringing together East Hampton's old-money elite
and the rising stars of hip-hop.
Mr. Combs once described the parties as a
way to break down racial and generational barriers,
but the hottest party of the year was
a facade that allowed sinister conduct, according to recent lawsuits.
In a lawsuit, a man, who was 16
years old at the time, described the thrill
of getting to attend Mr. Combs' first White Party in 1998.
Walking into the Hamptons' mansion, he saw celebrities
and entertainment executives left and right.
In the lawsuit, he said he believed the
party could open doors to a music career.
He said he was on his way to the bathroom when he ran into the rapper.
They started talking and then moved to another, more private area.
That's when Mr. Combs said the teen had
the right look and he could turn anyone into a star, the lawsuit states.
Then things took a dark turn.
Mr. Combs abruptly ordered the then-teenage boy
to drop his pants so that Mr. Combs
could examine and touch him, the lawsuit alleges.
According to the lawsuit, Mr. Combs said it
was a rite of passage and the route to becoming a star.
It also claims that he said it was a way for him to prove himself, asking
the teen, don't you want to break into the business?
As more and more people come out with
claims against Mr. Combs, the internet has begun
to draw links between some of the recent
allegations and what some would describe as suspicious
relationships with a couple well-known artists who
were frequently around Diddy in the earlier stages of their careers.
That's why I don’t be going to them puffy parties.
Uh-huh.
They can hug you from the front and the back of the seat, huh?
What you talking about?
P Diddy be wanting to party.
And you gotta tell him no.
You've got to tell him no.
In August 2016, R&B legend Usher appeared
on The Howard Stern Show where he described
some of his earliest years in the music industry.
At just 15, Usher was already collaborating with
established executive Sean Combs, who was happy to
co-produce the young artist's self-titled album in 1994.
But this didn't simply end as a business relationship.
It seems that the pair seemed to get
very close as Usher told Howard that he lived with the mogul for up to a
year without his parents even knowing.
Diddy introduced Usher to an entirely new world,
he said, one that was wildly inappropriate for
someone who was as young as Usher was at the time.
Remember, Usher was just a teenager and Diddy was well into his 20s.
In the 90s.
Do you understand what that's like?
Puffy's place was like just filled with chicks
and orgy and like non-stop, right?
No, not really.
I mean, but hey, it was curious.
I got a chance to see some things.
Yeah, but you were 13,
- What were you seeing? - I went there to see the lifestyle.
- Right. - And I saw it.
In fact, in a 2004 interview with Rolling
Stone, Usher revealed that Diddy had shown him
a totally different set of things, specifically when it came to sex.
Girls were always around, Usher explained.
You'd open a door and see somebody doing
it, or several people in a room having an orgy.
You never knew what was going to happen.
Fast forward 12 years and Usher's testimony hasn't changed a bit.
It was during this interview that Usher confirmed
once more that he got a chance to
see some interesting things whilst living under Diddy's
roof, and despite being a child, he was
exposed to an explicit lifestyle he couldn't understand.
Finally, Howard asks if he'd ever send his
own kids to Puffy Flavor Camp, and Usher's
immediate response to this question tells us all we really need to know.
But it wasn't just these videos that were re-emerging in the public psyche.
A couple YouTube videos featuring a 15-year
- old Justin Bieber were suddenly making rounds on
the internet in light of Diddy's recent allegations.
Originally posted in November 2009, right as Justin
was becoming a global superstar, the two-minute
video has generated headlines again, mainly due to
it being such an uncomfortable watch.
Titled Justin Bieber's 48 Hours With Diddy, the
first 30 seconds feature Diddy gifting the young
pop star a brand new Lamborghini and promises
Justin that in a year, when he turns 16, this car is all his, and when
he turns 18, the giant mansion behind them is his too.
Justin asks him where they're going, and when
Diddy asks him where he wants to go,
that's when it gets slightly more awkward.
Some claim that people are reading too deeply
into things, but given all the allegations against
Diddy, there's good reason to believe that something
shady may have been going on.
Check this out yo, um, Justin, he's in, you ever seen the movie 48 hours?
Right now he's having 48 hours with Diddy,
him and his boy, um, they're having the
times of their lives, like, like, like, you
know, where we hanging out and what we
doing, um, we can't really disclose, but, um,
it's definitely a 15 year old's dream.
The implications that a grown man like Diddy is about to go out and help a
teenager find girls is pretty odd at face value.
This could have all been some sort of
harmless promo for Diddy's album or some sort of project.
However, given the mountain of allegations against Diddy,
it makes sense why all of these videos
have come back under public scrutiny.
2024 has been a harrowing year for Sean Combs.
Two years ago, the rap musician and mogul
threw a lavish 53rd birthday party at his
$61 million mansion in Beverly Hills.
A host of stars lined up to toast
his career, with a guest list that included Travis Scott, Mary J.
Blige, Chris Brown, and Machine Gun Kelly.
Fast forward to 2024, and his career is on the ropes.
In a case filed in New York, the
star has been accused of kidnapping, drugging, and
coercing women into sexual activities, sometimes through the
use of firearms and threats of violence.
The same Los Angeles mansion that hosted his
birthday party was raided by police in March.
There, officers seized supplies that they say were
intended for use in orgies known as freak
- offs, including drugs and more than 1,000
bottles of baby oil.
Mr. Combs has denied all the charges, entering
a not guilty plea on Tuesday, the 17th of September.
The federal government is very deliberate in when
they bring criminal charges and for them to
be executing this warrant now, I imagine this
investigation has been going on for months or
longer and they usually do not indict someone,
especially someone of this kind of public magnitude,
without having all their ducks already lined up.
So I imagine it is a very serious case.
The court case comes after a year in
which the musician has faced lawsuits from a number of women.
Let's rewind to see where his current court situations began.
It alleges that between at least 2008 and
the present, Combs abused, threatened, and coerced victims
to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation,
and conceal his conduct.
On November 16th, 2023, singer and model Cassandra
Ventura filed a lawsuit against the music mogul Sean Combs.
Cassie and Diddy were in an on-off
relationship from 2007 to 2018, beginning when Cassie was 19 and Combs 37.
Cassie was signed to Mr. Combs' record label
and dated him for more than a decade,
but in a civil lawsuit, she said the
mogul had used his position of power to
set the groundwork for a manipulative and coercive
romantic and sexual relationship.
Her lawsuit included graphic descriptions of violent abuse,
alleging that Mr. Combs regularly beat and kicked
Ms. Ventura, leaving black eyes, bruises, and blood.
She described parties known as freak-offs, drug
- fueled, days-long sexual performances, which Mr. Combs
allegedly coerced women into and filmed for his own pleasure.
Ms. Ventura also accused the musician of sexual
abuse and rape, and claimed that many of
these incidents were witnessed by his tremendously loyal
network, who were not willing to do anything
meaningful to stop the violence.
Mr. Combs would allegedly want to have these
freak-offs at random moments, and Ms. Ventura
was expected to both facilitate the locations for
where they would take place as well as
find and hire the sex workers herself.
Cassie even recalls an alleged instance where she
was cornered by his security who forced her
to leave her friends at her 29th birthday
party to have a spontaneous freak-off with
Diddy at a nearby hotel, despite expressing clearly
that she didn't want to go.
When the couple then returned from the freak
- off, Diddy, still intoxicated, allegedly grabbed one of
Cassie's friends like a child and dangled the
over the balcony of the 17th floor hotel suite.
The lawsuit even goes on to name the
exact locations where these freak-offs would occur,
with the hotels occasionally charging Diddy thousands of
dollars in damages afterwards.
She was forced to use websites and escort
services to find male sex workers, specifically instructing
her to search for terms like large black
penises on the website, as the lawsuit asserts.
It goes on to say that Mr. Combs
would always supply Ms. Ventura and the sex
workers with copious amounts of drugs before and
during the FOs, including cocaine, GBH, ketamine, marijuana,
and alcohol in excessive amounts, which would allow
her to disassociate during these horrific encounters whilst
Diddy would masturbate to Cassie having intercourse with
other inebriated sex workers.
With drugs, and all the stuff that's going on, pills,
drinking, this man into a monster, and that's what it did, bro.
It made him into a monster, bro.
These freak-offs would last for days, according
to Cassie, and it became commonplace to get
IV fluids in the days after a freak-off
to recover from the excessive substances pushed upon her.
The lawsuit even alleges that Diddy insisted that
Cassie wear white nail polish to contrast her
nails with the skin of the men hired to have sex with her.
For Diddy, this was all about power.
The lawsuit states that Diddy would even direct
the sexual encounters, specifically telling Cassie where he
wanted her to touch whilst he masturbated, saying
things like, grab that big black dick and asking her how does it feel.
As the lawsuit puts it, Diddy treated the
forced encounter as a personal art project, adjusting
the candles he used for lighting to frame the videos he took.
Diddy would constantly leverage his power and influence
in the music industry to get whatever he wanted.
He even insisted that Cassie refer to him
as Pop-Pop upon learning that was the nickname she gave her grandfather.
Remember, there's a 18-year age gap between
these two, and Diddy made it clear who was in control.
The pair met in late 2005 or early
2006 after he heard Cassie's first single playing
in a club and expressed interest in signing
her to his Bad Boy Records label.
Within months, Cassie signed to a 10-album
deal, an extremely large number of albums to
sign away in one go, which would probably
lead to a very drawn-out business relationship.
Mr. Combs would constantly flaunt his authority and
status and assert possession and control over her
to the point where almost all aspects of
Ventura's life were controlled by either Mr. Combs
or his management companies.
This, tied with the fact that Cassie was
given a constant supply of drugs and pills
out in the open, quote, like candy, explains
how Diddy was able to maintain control over
Ms. Ventura for so many years, starting in 2008.
Many people have seen similarities with this and
the tactics used by another famous abuser, Jeffrey
Epstein, who also drugged the many girls he kept around.
The next decade of Cassie's life was spent
trapped in a vicious cycle of violence, abuse,
and sex trafficking, according to the suit.
The lawsuit also alleged that Mr. Combs went
as far as to destroy a car belonging to U.S. rapper and actor Kid Cudi
to dissuade him from dating her.
In 2011, Cassie entered into a brief relationship
with Kid Cudi, real name Scott Ramon Seguro
Mescuti, and would often seek refuge at his
home to escape the wrath of Diddy.
However, upon stealing her phone and finding an
email exchange between Cuddy and Cassie, Diddy became
enraged, unable to control his temper, and attempted
to attack Cassie with a sharp corkscrew lodged between his fingers.
She managed to escape to Cuddy's house that
night, ultimately returning later once she felt as
though she could never outrun Diddy.
The lawsuit then alleges that he hit her and kicked her in the back as she
tried to escape again.
Her parents later took photos of her bruises
from this incident, and after a few months,
Diddy allegedly told Cassie that he was planning
to blow up Kid Cudi's car and wanted to be sure that Cuddy was home when
it happened.
Sure enough, in February 2012, Kid Cudi's car exploded in his driveway.
This is just one example of the lengths
in which Diddy would go to maintain his control and dominance.
Cassie and Combs mutually agreed to settle the case on November 17th, 2023.
Four days after filing her lawsuit, Cassie asked
the court to dismiss her entire case with
prejudice, which meant that her claims could not be filed again.
Speculation over why they settled so quickly dominated
the news over the following weeks.
Was she paid off?
Why didn't he want to face her in court?
Was this an admission of guilt?
Regardless of the reasons for settling, doing so
didn't mean an end to Diddy's legal problems.
If anything, Cassie's case opened the floodgates for
lawsuits against Diddy.
In the weeks after settling Cassie's lawsuit, Mr.
Combs was accused of sexual assault dating back
to 1991 by multiple women and men.
One of the more prominent cases came from
Rodney Jones Jr., better known as Lil Rod,
a record producer from Chicago who filed a
105-page federal complaint against Combs on February
2nd, 2024, accusing him and the people who
work with him of being part of an illegal racketeering enterprise.
Some of you may know me or may not.
I'm a music producer who's a writer and musician.
Different genres.
I started in gospel and jazz and R &B and worked my way over to the
hip-hop side.
I've been working on an album.
I took a year off straight working on this album.
That album is the Love Album Off the Grid by Diddy.
And it's Grammy nominated right now, as we speak.
I should be celebrating, but the truth is I'm not.
Jones alleges in his complaint that he has
irrefutable evidence of the acquisition, use, and distribution
of ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana, and mushrooms,
the displaying and distribution of unregistered illegal firearms,
and the solicitation of minors and sex workers.
According to Jones, as he alleges in the
complaint, Combs reached out to Jones in 2022
to help him produce songs, but Jones claims
the work Combs required of him went far beyond producing music.
He claims in the lawsuit that he was
tasked with procuring drugs and soliciting sex workers
to perform sex acts to the pleasure of Mr. Combs.
Jones alleges that Combs also required him to
sex acts and that Combs would often threaten
to inflict bodily harm on him if he did not comply with his demands.
Jones alleged in his complaint that Combs kept
specific bottles of alcohol designated for females on hand.
And according to Mr. Jones, Mr. Combs forced
all the women to drink Laced De Leon liquor.
Upon information and belief, Mr. Combs laced the
liquor with ecstasy, the lawsuit claims.
He also accuses Combs of sexual harassment and
assault for allegedly grabbing him without his consent
and forcing him to work while Combs paraded around naked.
He also alleges that Combs once left him
alone in a makeshift studio on a yacht
with Cuba Gooding Jr., who he said then
began touching, groping, and fondling his upper thighs near his groin.
He said Gooding did not stop until he forcibly pushed him away.
He made a bail appeal to Judge Carter.
It did not go our way.
The fight continues.
We're not giving up by a long shot.
I told Mr. Combs I'm going to try and get his case to trial as quickly
as possible.
He's ready.
He's focused.
He has been ready to defend this case
since he first found out about this case.
Nothing has changed from his perspective.
I obviously would much prefer to fight this
case with him out of jail, and we are going to try to bring that about
through additional legal process.
Wherever he is, his resolve is the same.
He believes he's innocent.
I believe he's innocent, and we're going to
fight this case with all of our might
until we don't have to fight any longer.
Following Jones' claims, Combs' attorney Sean Holley provided
a near-identical statement he provided to The
New York Times on February 26, 2024.
Mr. Jones is nothing more than a con
man, shamelessly looking for an easy and wholly undeserved payday, it said.
We have indisputable, incontrovertible proof that his claims
are complete fabrications.
Our attempts to share this proof with Mr.
Jones' attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, have been ignored as
Mr. Blackburn has refused to return our calls.
We look forward to addressing these ridiculous claims
in court and intend to take all appropriate
action against all who are attempting to peddle them.
But the lawsuits just kept on coming.
On December 2, 2023, an anonymous lawsuit was
filed against Diddy in federal court in Manhattan.
Doe alleges that she was gang-raped and
sex-trafficked by Combs and former president of
Bad Boys Records, Harv Pierre, when she was only 17 and in the 11th grade.
She alleges she met Pierre in a lounge in Detroit, and he told her he was
best friends with Combs.
Doe claims Combs convinced her to accompany Pierre
and a third assailant on a private jet to come to his studio in New York City.
She claims she agreed and boarded a jet
that flew to Teterboro, New Jersey, and was taken to Combs' studio.
She alleges that, once there, Combs and his
associates, including Pierre, plied her with drugs and
alcohol and alleges she was subsequently gang-raped
at the studio by Combs, Pierre, and a third assailant.
Her complaint states that while Mr. Combs was
raping Miss Doe, he complained that he could
not get off unless she pinched his nipples
as hard as she could and that Combs
then allegedly watched as the third assailant raped
her while she told him to stop.
After third assailant was finished, Mr. Pierre took
his turn at raping Miss Doe and then
violently forced her to give him oral sex,
during which Miss Doe was choking and struggling
to breathe, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges, in part, in the first
cause of action, that defendant Combs and another
defendant committed a, quote, violation of New York
City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act
by viciously and violently forcing sexual contact, oral
sex, and sexual intercourse on the plaintiff, end quote.
The lawsuit also alleges that, quote, defendant Combs
and another defendant published and or disseminated the
videos without plaintiff's knowledge or consent.
A similar case was filed by Joy Dickerson
- Neal on November 23, 2023, in New York
Supreme Court, which was one day before the
cutoff for civil cases for past sexual offenses
under New York's Adult Survivors Act.
In her 22-page complaint, Dickerson alleges that
she met Combs after she had appeared in
a music video with him while she was a student at Syracuse University.
She claims she later agreed to go out
to dinner with him on January 3, 1991,
while on school break.
During their date, Dickerson alleged that Combs intentionally drugged her.
She accused Combs of sexually assaulting her and
video recording the sexual assault, according to her complaint.
Days later, a male friend allegedly revealed to
her that he, along with other men, had viewed the sex tape.
She asked her friend who had seen the
tape, and her friend allegedly told her everyone.
Dickerson claims from that point, her life went
into a tailspin, and after returning to college,
she had to be admitted to the hospital
for severe depression and suicidal ideation.
Dickerson claims she has suffered a lifetime of
injuries from being drugged, sexually assaulted, and abused.
The internal pain after being sexually assaulted has
been incredibly deep and hard to put into words.
It goes beyond just physical harm caused by and during the assault.
Some of the hardest parts of this pain are the shame and the guilt I have
experienced that plays a negative part in my
day-to-day ability to function properly.
Being blamed, questioned, and threatened has often made me feel worthless.
She is suing him for assault and battery,
intentional infliction of emotional distress, human trafficking, and
revenge porn.
Through a spokesperson, Combs denied and rejected the claims of misconduct.
“He recognizes this as a money grab”,
the spokesperson said in a statement.
About your own style, you're well known for
your style, you all look fantastic.
- Yeah. - Thank you.
I mean your style has evolved too.
Yeah, yeah, I think my style has evolved, but also at the same
time, it's important that I do make an
announcement that there has been a lot of swagger jacking of my style.
Another lawsuit comes from someone who used to
work directly with the music mogul, Dawn Richard,
who was a member in two of Combs's
musical groups, Danity Cain, and then Diddy Dirty
Money, filed a 55-page lawsuit against Combs
in Manhattan's federal court, saying she personally witnessed
Combs assault his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.
Richard's suit claims that his abuse included choking
and strangling Miss Ventura, striking her with his
hands and with objects, slapping her, punching her,
and throwing items at her, including a scalding hot pan.
Richard also describes trying to help Ventura and
Combs threatening her life in return.
Richard's lawsuit alleges that Combs regularly hurled objects
and fits of rage, including mobile phones, laptops,
food, and studio equipment at people.
Richard says she also saw Kim Porter, the
mother of three of Combs' children, leave the
recording studio in 2005 in tears and with visible facial injuries.
Richard claims she was present when Combs had
a party and that dozens of girls, some
of whom appeared to be underage, were given
drugs and alcohol, and that even though many
of them appeared lethargic or passed out, Mr.
Combs and his guests performed sexual acts on
them, according to her complaint.
Richard's lawsuit states that Mr. Combs repeatedly said
things like, "'This is a buffet.
Enjoy yourselves.
"'This is what we do.
This is how we party.'" Richard says she
was concerned for her safety, was subjected to
gender-motivated violence, and was sexually harassed and
assaulted by Combs.
She is suing Combs for sex trafficking, sexual
assault, sexual battery, and false imprisonment, among other
claims, and is demanding a jury trial.
And Diddy wasn't the only Combs family member
that was facing legal trouble.
Accusations were made against his son, Christian Combs, too.
Sean Combs' 26-year-old son, Christian King
Combs, is being sued for sexual assault, battery,
and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other allegations.
The 31-page lawsuit brought by Grace O'Marque
claims that she was sexually assaulted while working
as a yacht deckhand for the family during
Christmas break in 2022 in the Caribbean.
She is also asking that Sean Combs be held liable for his son's actions.
O'Marque is facing legal actions for charting the
yacht, assuming responsibility for his guests throughout the Caribbean trip.
That's King Combs.
He's gonna be way bigger than me.
O'Marque alleges that there was a constant rotation
of suspected sex workers and other A-list
celebrities, such as French Montana and actor Cuba
Gooding Jr. on the yacht.
O'Marque alleges sex workers were sprawled out unconscious
about that yacht, and it was difficult to
distinguish which bottles of alcohol were laced with
drugs and which bottles were not.
In the early morning of December 28th, 2022,
a heavily intoxicated Christian Combs physically assaulted her,
according to her complaint.
She alleges that Christian blocked her from leaving,
took off all his clothes, and tried to
force her to perform oral copulation on him.
O'Marque is suing Diddy, blaming him for fostering
an environment of debauchery filled with suspected sex
workers, violence, alcohol allegedly laced with drugs, and
disrespect for crew.
Aaron Dyer, an attorney for the father-son
duo, called the lawsuit's claims lewd and meritless.
This complaint is filled with the same kind
of manufactured lies and irrelevant facts we've come
to expect from Blackburn, he said, referring to
the lawyer also representing Rodney Jones.
These are just some of the claims filed against Sean Combs.
More than two dozen people have filed lawsuits
against the rapper, accusing him of using his
influence and power to create an empire of drugs, sex, and abuse.
Following the allegations, six of Diddy's seven kids
also released a joint statement to Instagram in support of their father.
In a collaborative Instagram post shared on Tuesday,
October 22nd, Combs' eldest child, 33-year-old
Quincy, wrote, The past month has devastated our family.
Many have judged both him and us based
on accusations, conspiracy theories, and false narratives that
have spiraled into absurdity on social media.
We stand united, supporting you every step of the way.
We hold onto the truth, knowing it will
prevail, and nothing will break the strength of our family.
We miss you and love you, Dad.
The post, which includes a photo of the
entire family sitting on an inflatable bounce house,
listed Quincy's five siblings, Justin, 30, Christian, 26,
Chance, 18, and twins, Jesse and Delilah, aged 17, as collaborators.
Combs' legal team has continued to deny all
of the accusations made against the rapper, calling
him an innocent man with nothing to hide.
We are disappointed with the decision to pursue
what we believe is an unjust prosecution of
Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney's Office,
his attorney told The Independent via email following his September arrest.
His attorneys have since filed a petition to
have the alleged victims in his lawsuits identified
so that they can prepare their defense.
They also recently filed a motion to gag
the alleged victims, arguing that their statements could
prejudice a potential jury against Combs.
On Monday, September 16th, Combs was arrested by
federal agents on a sealed indictment.
Combs' attorney, Mark Agnifilo, said his client is
innocent and will clear his name.
He is an imperfect person, but is not a criminal.
To his credit, Mr. Combs has been nothing
but cooperative with this investigation, and he voluntarily
relocated to New York last week in anticipation
of these charges, he said in a written statement.
Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts.
These are the acts of an innocent man
with nothing to hide, and he looks forward
to clearing his name in court, Agnifilo said.
Unlike when previous pop culture figures have been
accused of heinous crimes, there has been an
ominous silence from the usually more vocal celebrities.
It appears that many of them are trying
their best to distance themselves from Diddy, despite
having been associated with him in the past.
Much like the names mentioned in Jeffrey Epstein's
black book and court files, being pictured at
a Diddy party doesn't mean these celebrities were
involved in any wrongdoing.
However, it's certainly not a good look, which
explains why many have remained silent regarding the
billionaire's charges, with some accused of deleting their
social media posts mentioning his name since his arrest.
Some have argued that Diddy is being used as the fall guy, the one who will
take all the scrutiny whilst the others involved
get to continue on with their lives once the dust has settled.
Who else knew about what was going on?
Was Diddy really the man calling all the
shots or were there others involved?
Mr. Combs has been held at the Metropolitan
Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York since his 16th of September arrest.
His lawyers have argued for his release pending
trial, citing the jail's horrific conditions.
A New York federal judge denied their request
for bail, arguing that Mr. Combs was a serious flight risk.
On Wednesday, the 9th of October, his lawyers
petitioned the court to throw out the CNN
video from 2016, which shows Mr. Combs kicking
his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, as she lay on a hotel hallway floor.
They argued that the government was responsible for
leaking the video to CNN and that it
has led to damaging, highly prejudicial pretrial publicity
that can only taint the jury pool and deprive Mr. Combs of his right to a
fair trial.
Lawyers for the government deny leaking the video
to the media, saying that the government did
not have possession of it before it was broadcast in May.
Mr. Combs faces up to life in prison
if convicted on the racketeering charge.
He faces another statutory minimum of 15 years
for the sex trafficking charge.
Diddy's fall from grace has been swift, with
an extensive federal criminal case charging him in
a sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
More than a dozen civil lawsuits have also
been filed, accusing the music mogul of assaults,
rape, and sexual extortion.
One lawyer said he represents more than 100
alleged victims who claim they were sexually abused.
Only time will tell how this will all pan out for the hip-hop legend, but
one thing's for certain.
All lies will be exposed, and what's done
in the dark always comes to light.