Charges Filed Against Sean Diddy Combs After Arrest and Indictment – Get the Details
Trigger Warning: This article includes references to sexual abuse.
Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been indicted on sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. Sources confirmed to PEOPLE that Combs was arrested by Homeland Security federal investigations agents at a hotel in Manhattan. The rapper’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, spoke to the outlet outside the courthouse in New York, saying he’s going to “fight like hell” to prove Combs innocent.
“He’s going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers, and I expect a long battle with a good result for Mr. Combs,” Agnifilo added. In the indictment released on Tuesday, September 17, prosecutors blamed the Notorious BIG rapper for manipulating women into doing “highly orchestrated performances” which he termed as “freak-offs.”
The performance allegedly included male sex workers, all arranged by Combs, as alleged by the prosecutors. They further claimed that the rapper used narcotics to influence these people and to “ensure” that the performance occurred. Prosecutors insist that he would also use blackmail over their careers, threatening to cut them off from financial support and violence/intimidation to get the deed done.
The indictment further claims that Combs assaulted multiple women in 2019. When his video allegedly “kicked, dragged and threw a vase” at a woman at a Los Angeles hotel was caught on camera in 2016, the rapper allegedly tried to bribe a staff member in exchange for silence.
Following his arrest, attorney Agnifilo released a statement to PEOPLE, expressing his disappointment in the “unjust” prosecution. He called the rapper a self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who’s built an empire and uplifted the Black community. “He is an imperfect person but he is not a criminal,” he added.
He further credited Combs for his cooperation through the process, having relocated to New York for the sake of investigations, etc., and urged people to “reserve” their judgments until the final verdict is announced.
Previously, the rapper’s former partner Cassie filed a lawsuit accusing him of raping her over the course of their decade-long relationship. Although the suit was settled the next day, several other women consecutively filed similar lawsuits, which were later denied by the music mogul. The latter released a statement to PEOPLE, denying the “sickening allegations” that assassinated his character and reputation.
Disclaimer: If you need support or know someone who is struggling with domestic violence or assault or abuse, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist, NGO or speak to someone about it. There are several helplines available for the same.