What is Sean “Diddy” Combs charged with? On Monday, 16 2024, Sean Diddy Combs was arrested in Manhattan, New York, by federal agents for the first time after a grand jury indictment on sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy. On Tuesday, September 17 2024, he pleaded “not guilty” and denied bail, pending trial.
His legal troubles began after his ex-girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, filed a bombshell federal lawsuit in November 2023, in which she accused him of physical and sexual abuse during their relationship. Although the lawsuit was settled out of court within 24 hours, several lawsuits have since followed, with multiple complainants accusing him of similar acts.
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Diddy has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyers describe these lawsuits as “money grabs” or “pure fiction”. Nonetheless, his legal battles are far from over. In March 2024, the Department of Homeland Security conducted two raids at his Miami and Los Angeles mansions. However, they didn’t disclose any information but reports indicate they seized computers and electronics.
Sean “Diddy” Combs Arrest
On Monday, 16 2024, Sean Diddy Combs was arrested in Manhattan, New York, by federal agents for the first time after a grand jury indicted him for sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy. Further, prosecutors allege that “since 2008, Combs has been part of a criminal organization that engaged in or attempted to engage in sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson, bribery, obstruction of justice and other offences.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs pleaded “not guilty” in a federal court in New York and denied bail, pending trial. Meanwhile, his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, pleaded for his client to be released on bond. Still, the federal prosecutors said he “poses an ongoing and significant danger to the community, has repeatedly engaged in obstructive conduct, and presents a serious risk of flight.”
Additionally, in his defence, Marc Agnifilo described Combs as “a music icon, a self-made entrepreneur, a loving family man, and a proven philanthropist, who is an imperfect person but not a criminal,” vowing to “clear his name”.
This is a developing story, and it’s easy to get lost in how things got here. Let’s walk back to where it all began by looking into all the allegations and civil lawsuits against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
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All Allegations Against Sean “Diddy” Combs
Diddy’s legal nightmares began on 16 November 2023 after his former ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, filed a shocking lawsuit under the New York Survivors Act a year before its expiration. The act offers adult victims of sexual abuse a one-year window to come out regardless of the statutes of limitations.
Casandra Ventura
Cassie, his former girlfriend, accused the rapper of sexual and physical abuse, as well as trafficking, on several occasions for over ten years. In the lawsuit, the R&B singer claimed he introduced her to an “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle,” after which he signed her to his label in 2005 when she was 19.
As soon as their relationship began, Cassie alleged that the music mogul started abusing her. Further, when she tried to end it in 2018, Diddy forcefully entered her home in Los Angeles and raped her. Sean Diddy Combs denied the allegations.
However, CNN released footage from a surveillance camera showing Diddy beating Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel. This appeared to corroborate details shared in Cassie’s lawsuit.
The music icon released an apology video describing his behaviour as “inexcusable” and stating he “takes full responsibility for his actions in the video.” Nonetheless, his lawyers maintained that it wasn’t an admission of guilt and denied the allegations.
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Derrick Lee Cardelo-Smith
Derrick Lee Cardelo-Smith sued Sean Diddy Combs in June 2024, in which he alleged that the rapper sexually assaulted him at a party in 1997. Cardelo was 20 years old and worked as a bartender at a Detroit area restaurant when he was invited to an afterparty at Diddy’s Holiday Inn.
In his lawsuit, Cardelo alleged that the rapper assaulted him and passed out after drinking alcohol that Sean handed him. Upon waking up, he saw Diddy with another woman and apparently, Diddy said, “I did this to you, too!”
During court proceedings, Cardelo-Smith revealed that Combs visited him in prison and offered $2.3 million to drop the charges. However, he rejected the offer and even filed a restraining order against him.
Diddy failed to respond to the claims. As a result, Lenawee County Circuit Court Judge Anna Marie Anzalone awarded Cardelo a $100 million default judgment against him, with a payment schedule of $10 million monthly beginning October 1.
Combs’ lawyers filed an emergency motion asking the judge to vacate the $100 million judgment, citing he was not served with the lawsuit and only found out about it through the media. Furthermore, his attorney stated that the statute of limitation ended in 2007, and thus, the case should be dismissed.
Additionally, Combs’ lawyers pointed to Cardelo’s prison sentence and his history of filing lawsuits as grounds to dismiss the judgment.
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Rodney “Lil” Rod Jones
On 26 February 2024, music producer Rodney Lil Rod Jones filed a lawsuit against Sean Combs, alleging he was “subjected to unwanted advances by associates of Diddy at his direction.” Additionally, he said he was forced into sexual acts with sex workers Combs’ hired.
Rod Jones, who worked for Combs between September 2022 and November 2023, claimed that he drugged and sexually harassed him and threatened him for over one year.
Furthermore, Jones said Combs and others engaged in illegal activity, claiming they had sex trafficking parties with underage women. Combs’ attorney said the lawsuit contained “reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not” occur.
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Joie Dickerson-Neal
In November 2023, Joie Dickerson-Neal filed a lawsuit, accusing Combs of sexually abusing and drugging her in 1991 while she was a college student. Further, Joie claimed that he engaged in revenge porn, as he recorded the assault without her knowledge and showed it to associates in the music industry.
At the time, Joie and Combs were in the same circles and even collaborated on a song, “Straight From The Soul” by Finesse and Synquis. She had turned down Combs’s advances several times but eventually acquiesced and agreed to have dinner with him.
During the dinner, Joie claimed Sean Diddy Combs spiked her drink, after which he transported her to his recording studio and home, where the sexual assault happened. She isolated herself afterwards and later confided in her friend. However, people in the industry wouldn’t help her, as they feared losing business opportunities.
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Crystal McKinney
Crystal McKinney filed a lawsuit against Sean Diddy Combs in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging the hip-hop singer sexually abused her in his New York City studio in 2003 and forced her to perform oral sex.
She was 22 years old at the time and pursuing a modelling career when they met at a restaurant during Men’s Fashion Week in Manhattan. Crystal said the rapper invited her to his studio late at night.
She found him smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol with other men. She smoked some marijuana and “later came to understand” it was laced with other intoxicating substances, her lawsuit alleges. Crystals claimed he took her to his bathroom, where he forced her into sexual acts.
McKinney said she felt a “moral obligation” to take a stand against Sean “Diddy” Combs
April Lampros
April Lampros filed a lawsuit days after Crystal McKinney, alleging sexual abuse between 1995 and the early 2000s. She revealed they met in 1994 at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York while she was a college student. She also interned at the Arista, the parent company of Bad Boy Records Entertainment.
According to the lawsuit, they met again at a bar in New York and “succumbed to pressure” to drink alcohol. Shortly after, she felt “the walls were closing in on her”. Combs took her back to a hotel, where he raped her, despite her pleading for him to stop.
In another incident, the rapper forced her to perform adult sexual acts at a garage near his Manhattan apartment while a parking attendant watched. Lampros tried to distance herself from him, but “he immediately switched his approach and became angry, threatening, and forceful,” the suit alleges.
As if that wasn’t enough, in 1996, Lampros claimed that Sean Combs forced her and his ex-girlfriend, identified as Kim Porter, to have ecstasy and engage in sexual intercourse. Lampros opposed, but Combs threatened that “he could make her lose her job,”. Afterwards, Combs assaulted her.
The suit states that Lampros ended her relationship with Combs in 1998, but when they met afterwards, between 2000 and 2001, he forced himself on her. Further, Lampros alleges she was told Combs recorded their encounters without her knowledge.
Dawn Richard
Sean Combs was hit with another lawsuit in September 2024 by a former member of the Danity Kane, Dawn Richard. Richard accuses Combs of harassment, unlawful imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and sexual battery.
She filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, claiming that Diddy told her that she would only make it in the industry by heeding his demands. In addition to detailing her abuse, Richard claimed she witnessed harrowing abuse against Cassie by Sean Combs.
Combs’ lawyer Erica Wolff dismissed the claims, stating Richard is looking for a “quick payday.”
Important Note
This is a developing story. This article contains public information, with sources attached to each allegation. The lawsuits mentioned are active in court. Therefore, this article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to provide any judgment or opinion on any of these cases.
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