NEW YORK: Rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was arrested in New York City amid a federal sex trafficking investigation.
The music mogul was taken into custody on Monday (local time) following a grand jury’s indictment, though the specific charges were not clear, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Speaking with the publication, Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo shared,”We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the US Attorney’s Office.”
He added, “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. 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.”
Combs has been in the headlines for a long time now. Most recently his former bandmate Dawn Richard filed a sexual assault lawsuit against him.
Richard’s suit included claims of battery, false imprisonment, withholding millions of dollars in unpaid royalties and wages, as well as stealing her copyrighted works.
Richard’s complaint was at least the eighth brought against him since his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura filed a lawsuit detailing years of physical and sexual abuse last year. That action quickly settled but led to other accusers, including Liza Gardner, Joi Dickerson-Neal and Crystal McKinney, bringing similar complaints.
Combs was also served a sexual assault lawsuit from producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones in February, who accused the music mogul of harassing and trafficking him. Combs filed a motion to dismiss Lil Rod’s suit in August. He has denied the other allegations as well, and largely said the accusers are looking for payouts, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
In March, federal law enforcement raided Diddy’s homes as part of an investigation into human trafficking. (ANI)