Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested in Manhattan on Monday evening after a grand jury indicted the hip-hop mogul, authorities said. The arrest follows Homeland Security’s raids on the Bad Boy founder’s homes in late March, seemingly triggered by a wave of sexual abuse lawsuits against him.
It was last November that Combs’ former girlfriend, the R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, filed an explosive sex trafficking and abuse lawsuit against him that made global headline. He reached a private settlement with her one day later, but the legal fallout only grew. Eight more women and one man have since come forward to sue Combs with allegations ranging from sex trafficking to sexual assault.
The exact charges Combs is now facing were not revealed Monday night, but the prosecution is being led by the Southern District of New York, who confirmed the news. “Earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY,” Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, said in a statement. “We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”
After the arrest, Combs’ lawyer said he was “disappointed” by the SDNY’s decision to pursue what he called an “unjust prosecution.” “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. He is an imperfect person but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said in a statement. “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. 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.”
Douglas Wigdor, Ventura’s attorney, said in a statement that neither he nor Ventura had a comment on Combs’ arrest at this time.
The lawyer representing accusers Liza Gardner, Rodney (Lil Rod) Jones and April Lampros in their separate sexual assault lawsuits filed against Combs told Rolling Stone he was not surprised by the indictment. “The long-awaited arrest of Sean Combs is the first step for our clients receiving justice,” attorney Tyrone Blackburn said after the indictment was announced. “We leave the criminal aspect of this case in the hands of the people and justice system. As for the civil cases, we await our time for the facts to reveal themselves and seek the justice our clients deserve. We also anticipate more victims coming forward. We knew this was coming. The evidence is very clear, and it was only a matter of time. This is an important step towards justice for all of Mr. Combs’ victims, including my clients.”
In early July, NBC News reported a grand jury had been hearing evidence in relation to the criminal investigation. Federal agents executed a search warrant on Combs’ homes on March 25, swarming his Los Angeles and Miami properties, reportedly seizing Combs’ phones after officials pulled up on him at Miami-Opa Locka airport. Another Combs attorney, Aaron Dyer, called the raids a “gross overuse of military-level force” and a “witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”
In May, Rolling Stone published its six-month investigation into the mogul, uncovering a previously unreported allegation of violence against a woman on the Howard campus, new details of alleged physical aggression, and claims that Combs sexually harassed a freelance employee at a 2001 party. Several people who spoke to Rolling Stone described Combs as a serial predator who used his fame, fortune, industry status, and reputation as a fun-loving party host to hide a volatile temper and disturbing, narcissistic behavior for decades.
Combs’ fall from grace began with Ventura’s lawsuit, where she claimed that Combs routinely physically attacked her and forced her to have drug-fueled intercourse with male sex workers during arrangements he dubbed “freak offs” throughout their 10-year relationship. She also detailed a 2016 physical assault at a Los Angeles hotel after a freak-off, which was later confirmed by unearthed hotel surveillance video that shows Combs chasing after a fleeing Ventura. He is seen throwing her to the ground and kicking her before he attempts to drag her away. He later throws a glass vase at her direction. Although Combs’ attorney previously called Ventura’s 35-page lawsuit a shakedown “riddled with baseless and outrageous lies,” Combs issued an apology after the video surfaced, saying he was at “rock bottom” and was “truly sorry” for his behavior in the disturbing footage. In response, Ventura’s lawyers called Combs’ mea culpa “pathetic.”
Following Ventura’s lawsuit — just as New York’s Adult Survivors Act was set to expire — two more women stepped forward on Thanksgiving Day with similarly disturbing claims against Combs. Joi Dickerson-Neal alleged Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her when she was a Syracuse University student in 1991. The woman claimed Combs filmed the incident and showed the video to others in an act described as “revenge porn.” Through a rep, Combs denied the allegation. “This last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned on its head. [This] 32-year-old story is made up and not credible … This is purely a money grab and nothing more,” the spokesperson said.
The second woman, Gardner, claimed she was 16 years old when Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping her following an Uptown Records event in 1990. She further claimed that a day later, Combs turned “irate and began assaulting and choking” her until she almost “passed out” because he was worried she might divulge what happened. “These are fabricated claims falsely alleging misconduct from over 30 years ago and filed at the last minute,” a Combs spokesperson said of Gardner’s lawsuit. “This is nothing but a money grab.”
In early December, a fourth accuser alleged Combs’ former Bad Boy President Harve Pierre and a third man gang raped her at Combs’ New York recording studio in 2003 when she was 17 years old. In February, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones sued Combs for sexual assault, harassment, and not compensating him for work on the Grammy-nominated The Love Album. On May 21, model Crystal McKinney became the sixth person to sue Combs within a span of six months. She claimed Combs drugged her and forced her to perform oral sex on him at his New York recording studio in 2003. In early July, former Hustler’s Club dancer Adria English claims that Combs sex trafficked her at his legendary “white parties” when she was allegedly expected to engage in sexual activities with guests.
And the week before Combs’ arrest, former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard sued Combs, corroborating Ventura’s claims of physical abuse, alleging that Combs had repeatedly groped her and sexually harassed her, as well as threatened her life.
Combs has denied any wrongdoing in each case. Still, he stepped down from the chairmanship of his Revolt TV media company and sold his stake in the company, as more than a dozen companies fled his e-commerce platform. In January, liquor giant Diageo cut him loose in a private settlement under which Combs will no longer be a joint owner of the tequila brand DeLeón or have any ties to Cîroc vodka.