Sean 'Diddy' Combs denied bail after pleading not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges
Sean Combs, also known as P Diddy, was regarded as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop but the past 10 months have seen him face allegations of rape, sexual assault and forced drugging.
By Claire Gilbody Dickerson, news reporter Tuesday 17 September 2024
A judge has ordered Sean "Diddy" Combs be sent to jail after he was indicted on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
The rapper-turned music mogul, 54, was arrested by officers at the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, New York, on Monday.
He pleaded not guilty to three felony counts during an initial court appearance in front of US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky on Tuesday, before he was denied bail and told he would be detained.
This was despite his lawyers offering a $50m bond with the condition of home detention with electronic monitoring if he was released on bail. They said they would appeal against the decision to deny bail.
The indictment detailed allegations dating to 2008 and accused Combs of abusing, threatening and coercing women for years "to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct".
He is accused of inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes days-long sexual performances dubbed "Freak Offs" in the indictment.
His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said outside the courthouse on Tuesday morning that Combs would plead not guilty and that he would "fight like hell" to try to get his client released from custody.
In a press conference this afternoon, US attorney for the southern district of New York, Damian Williams, said: "I'm not taking anything off the table" when asked about more charges being brought against Combs and his associates, adding: "We are not done."
Mr Williams alleged that Combs used his business empire "to carry out criminal activity, including sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and the obstruction of justice".
The indictment also alleges that Combs used his employees "including high-ranking supervisors in the business, personal assistants, security staff and household staff.... to facilitate the Freak Offs".
Mr Williams said: "They booked the hotel rooms and stocked them with the supplies, including drugs, baby oil, personal lubricant, extra linens and lighting.
"When the hotel rooms got damaged, they helped clean it up. They arranged for victims and commercial sex workers to travel for the Freak Offs, and they delivered large quantities of cash to Combs to pay for the commercial sex workers."
Mr Williams also said that Combs often recorded the "Freak Offs" and used the recordings "as collateral against the victims".
Combs maintained control over his victims "by giving them drugs, by giving and threatening to take away financial support or housing, by promising them career opportunities, by monitoring their whereabouts, and even by dictating their physical appearance," Mr Williams said.
The drugs allegedly used by Combs - which included ketamine, ecstasy and GHB - were intended to keep victims "obedient and compliant", the attorney said.
"When Combs didn't get his way, he was violent and he subjected victims [to] physical, emotional, and verbal abuse so that they would participate in the Freak Offs, and... Combs hit, kicked, threw objects at, and dragged victims at times by their hair," Mr Williams said.
"The indictment alleges that the victims did not believe they could refuse Combs without risking their security or facing more abuse," he added.
Combs, formerly known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, was recognised as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop until November, when former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, filed a lawsuit saying he had beaten and raped her for years.
Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, accused Combs of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fuelled settings.
The suit was settled in one day but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her on a floor.
After the video aired, Combs apologised, saying, "I was disgusted when I did it."
Combs has faced several civil lawsuits by women and men who accused him of sexual assault and other misconduct.
His lawyers have been fighting those cases in court. Federal agents raided his homes in Los Angeles, and Miami Beach, Florida, six months ago.
Singer Dawn Richard, formerly of Danity Kane, last week accused Combs in a lawsuit of sexual assault, battery, sex trafficking, gender discrimination and fraud.
A Michigan judge this month ordered Combs to pay $100m (£76m) to Derrick Lee Smith, who said Combs drugged and sexually assaulted him at a party almost 30 years ago, after Combs failed to show up to defend himself in court.
A lawyer for Combs said he would seek to dismiss that judgment.
Combs has also rejected claims in a February sex trafficking lawsuit by Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones, who Combs employed as a producer on his 2023 release "The Love Album: Off the Grid".
The indictment is not Combs' first brush with the law.
He was acquitted in March 2001 of bribery and weapons charges in a criminal trial stemming from a nightclub shooting that left three people wounded.
Following the indictment on Tuesday, Combs' lawyer, Mr Agnifilo, said his client's "spirits are good" and he was "confident".
AR-15s, drugs and 1,000 bottles of lube: ‘Freak off’ supplies found in Diddy’s mansion raids
By Grethel Aguila Updated September 17, 2024
When federal agents raided Sean “Diddy” Combs’ mansions in Miami and Los Angeles, they found weapons, drugs and evidence of the “freak offs” that the music impresario is believed to have hosted, according to a federal indictment. The indictment, which was unsealed on Tuesday, accuses Diddy, 54, of running a “racketeering conspiracy” by having “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals.” The embattled music mogul is charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Women and sex workers recruited by Diddy and his staff were forced to participate in “freak offs,” essentially sexual performances that Diddy directed and often recorded, the indictment states. Diddy’s employees would arrange his access to women and sex workers, often across state lines, and provided controlled substances to keep the women “obedient and compliant.”
When federal agents searched the Bad Boy Records founder’s enclaves in Los Angeles and at 2 Star Island Drive in Miami Beach, they uncovered “freak off” supplies — including narcotics like ketamine and ecstasy and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant. Agents also found three AR-15s with scratched-off serial numbers as well as a drum magazine. Diddy and his employees, according to the indictment, would track down victim and confront them with recordings of the “freak offs” to pressure them into silence.
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🚨 Aitana Bonmatí's salary now reaches €1 million, and her new release clause is nearly impossible to meet, though the specific figure remains undisclosed.
Celebrities › Re: FBI Find Rifles, 1,000 Bottles Of Lube In Raid On Sean Combs Mansion by naptu2(op): 3:43am On Sep 18, 2024
. Joe Jackson and his wife might live forever.