Getty ImagesHip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is currently in federal custody awaiting trial on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
His arrest in New York last week comes amid a series of civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault and physical violence, some of which date back to the 1990s.
Thalia Graves, the 11th and latest accuser to come forward, claims that Combs and his bodyguard drugged, bound and raped her in 2001 and filmed the incident .
The Harlem-born rapper has denied criminal wrongdoing.
What is a criminal case about?
Combs, 54, was arrested at a New York hotel on Monday, September 16, on charges of racketeering conspiracy, forcible human trafficking and transportation for the purpose of prostitution.
federal prosecutor accuse him He “created a criminal enterprise” in which he “abused, threatened and coerced the women and others around him to satisfy his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his actions”.
They said Combs used drugs, violence and the power of his position to “seduce female victims” into long-term sexual practices known as “Freak Offs.”
They also revealed that during raids on Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles in March, they found guns, ammunition and more than 1,000 bottles of lubricant.
Prosecutors have reportedly been in contact with several witnesses who worked for Combs, as well as some of his current accusers, and are leaving open the possibility of additional charges.
The singer-producer has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts against him, and his lawyer told reporters that he is a “fighter” and “not afraid of the charges.”
Combs is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a federal prison notorious for violence and poor inmate care.
The MDC houses an extra-secure area with barrack-style housing reserved for special detainees, and U.S. media reported that Combs is sharing the space with convicted cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
Coombs has been denied bail twice after his legal team asked for his release pending trial due to “horrendous” prison conditions, but prosecutors argued he posed a “serious flight risk.”
If convicted, he faces 15 years to life in prison.
Who are his accusers?
Getty ImagesCombs’ ex-girlfriend, on and off, Cassie Venturatook the lead in exposing this self-proclaimed “lifelong bad boy.”
In the lawsuit filed in November, the model and musician claimed he “trapped” her in a “cycle of abuse, violence and sex trafficking” for more than a decade.
Combs “vehemently” denied the claim. A day after the lawsuit was filed in court, both sides said they had settled the case “amicably,” but Coombs’ attorney said the settlement “is in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
But in May, CNN obtained surveillance footage showing the entertainer-turned-entrepreneur assaulting Ms. Ventura during an argument in 2016, as detailed in her lawsuit.
Two days later, Combs finally acknowledged the incident in an Instagram video and said he was “disgusted” by what he had done.
“My actions in that video are inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions,” he said.
Ten other people, including one man, have since come forward with their own claims.
Joey Dixon-NealShe said Ms. Ventura inspired her to speak out and accused Mr. Combs of “intentionally drugging” and raping her in 1991 when she was a student at Syracuse University and engaging in revenge porn by filming the assault and showing it to others. victims of the film.
Representatives for Combs denounced the lawsuit as “purely a money grab” and called for it to be dismissed.
Lisa Gardner Alleges that Combs and R&B singer Aaron Hall plied her with alcohol and then forced her to have sex with them when she was 16. She also claimed Combs came to her home the next day and strangled her until she passed out. Combs’ attorney blasted the claims as “false.”
The three initial lawsuits were filed under New York State’s Adult Survivors Act, which gives adult victims a one-year window to file claims against their abusers regardless of the statute of limitations.
To date, one woman has only been identified as Jane Anonymous Alleges that Combs, former Bad Boy Records president Harv Pierre and a third party violently gang-raped her in a New York City recording studio when she was a 17-year-old high school student.
Days later, Combs broke his silence on social media to speak out against “disgusting accusations by individuals seeking a quick payday.” His lawyers are seeking to have the case dismissed as “baseless and time-barred.” Mr. Pierre, meanwhile, called the lawsuit a “fiction.”
Rodney “Lil Rod” JonesThe producer and photographer for Combs’ latest album have accused Combs of running an illegal racketeering enterprise in which he was forced to procure drugs, solicit sex workers and record sex acts. He also claimed that Combs and actor Cooper Gooding Jr. molested him without consent.
Grace OmakaIn 2022, while working on a yacht chartered by the Combs family, he accused the rapper and his son, Christian “King” Combs, of sexual assault. She accused them of creating a “debauched environment” populated by shady sex workers and A-list celebrities.
Crystal McKinney She claims she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Combs after a Men’s Fashion Week event in 2003, when she was 22. She also said he subsequently “ostracized” her from the modeling world.
April LamprosShe said she met Combs in 1994 while they were students at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, detailing “four horrific sexual encounters” in the early 2000s.
Adria EnglishThe former adult film actress, who worked with Combs in the 2000s, said Combs used her as a “sexual pawn to bring pleasure and financial gain to others” during “white parties” hosted at his homes in New York and Miami. “.
Dawn RichardsShe, who sang in two bands Coombs formed, including Danity Kane, said she witnessed his violence against Ms Ventura and that he threatened her when she tried to intervene. life.
Thalia GravesWith the support of celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, Combs and his bodyguard Joseph Sherman sedated, subdued and tied her up before videotaping them raping her video and then distributed the sex tape.
Representatives for Combs have denied the allegations made by all six of the latest accusers.
