What to Know
- Authorities say Sean 'Diddy' Combs ran an empire of sex crimes that engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor and other crimes.
- During searches of Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles, law enforcement seized narcotics and more than a thousand bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to the indictment.
- Agents also seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, the indictment said.
Sean "Diddy" Combs is accused in an indictment unsealed Tuesday of a "persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals" that included sometimes dayslong sexual performances described as "Freak Offs."
Authorities outlined those allegations and more during a Tuesday morning news conference one day after Combs was taken into custody in New York. The 54-year-old founder of Bad Boy Records was arrested in the lobby of a hotel, a representative told NBC News.
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Combs, who has a home in Holmby Hills in Los Angeles, was charged with sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy in the indictment. At Tuesday's news conference, prosecutors said Combs was at the head of an empire of sex crimes, abused women for years, threatened victims and used aides to cover up the crimes. Combs sought "to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct," the indictment said.
He is accused of striking, punching and dragging women on numerous occasions, throwing objects and kicking them — and enlisting his personal assistants, security and household staff to help him hide it all.
Combs and his associates wielded his “power and prestige” to “intimidate, threaten, and lure” women into his orbit, “often under the pretense of a romantic relationship,” the indictment said. He then would use force, threats and coercion to get the women to engage with male sex workers in the “Freak Offs,” which prosecutors described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that Combs arranged, directed and often recorded, according to the indictment.
He sometimes arranged to fly the women in and ensured their participation by procuring and providing drugs, controlling their careers, leveraging his financial support, and using intimidation and violence, according to the indictment.
“The victims did not believe that they could refuse Combs without risking their security or facing more abuse,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a news conference Tuesday.
The events could last for days, and Combs and victims would often receive IV fluids “to recover from the physical exertion and drug use” from “Freak Offs," the indictment said. It said his employees facilitated “Freak Offs” by arranging travel, booking hotel rooms where they would take place and stocking those rooms with supplies, including drugs, baby oil, lubricants, extra linens and lighting, scheduling the delivery of IV fluids, and then cleaning the rooms afterward.
Combs pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges Monday afternoon in New York. His attorneys asked for his release on a $50 million bond to home detention with electronic monitoring, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky sided with the government and ordered Combs remain in custody.
Combs, 54, was led out of court without being handcuffed.
Attorney Marc Agnifilo said outside the courthouse Tuesday morning that he plans to fight to keep Combs free. He said Combs is innocent and would plead not guilty.
“His spirits are good. He’s confident," said Agnifilo, who said Combs came to New York voluntarily to "engage the court system and start the case.”
The court document also references an attack on his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, that was captured on video at a Los Angeles hotel. In May, Combs apologized after the release of the 2016 security camera video taken in a Century City hotel, which appears to show the rapper and producer physically assaulting Ventura.
Los Angeles County prosecutors have said no criminal charges were forthcoming against the rapper and producer over the incident since too much time has passed.
In March, federal authorities searched the Holmby Hills estate of Combs, but officials at the time did not disclose the nature of the investigation. Agents from the Department of Homeland Security carried out the raid March 25 in the area of Mapleton Drive and Sunset Boulevard. Video from the scene showed numerous law enforcement officials, a possible armored vehicle and several people detained outside the home. It was unclear if any actual arrests were made.
During the searches of Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles this year, law enforcement seized narcotics and more than a thousand bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to the indictment unsealed Tuesday. Agents also seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, the indictment said.
Following a civil lawsuit filed by Ventura, at least 10 more lawsuits were filed against Combs. He has denied the allegations in all of the lawsuits. The suit by Ventura was settled shortly after it was filed, but months later, the hotel security footage surfaced.
After the video was widely published, Combs apologized, saying, “I was disgusted when I did it.”
