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Here are all the major allegations against him
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Here are all the major allegations against him

Topline

Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sued by a woman who claims she was drugged and raped by the music mogul and his bodyguard Joseph Sherman. They are also accused of recording the attack and showing it to others. It is the latest in a series of sexual misconduct lawsuits that Combs has denied.

Timeline

September 24Thalia Graves filed a federal lawsuit in New York on Tuesday, alleging that in 2001, when she was 25, Combs and Sherman offered her a glass of wine, causing her to become “dizzy, lightheaded and physically weak.” She then lost consciousness and was raped by the two men while her hands were tied behind her back.

September 24According to The New York Times, Combs shares a unit with disgraced former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. The former crypto mogul is serving a 25-year prison sentence for conspiracy, fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme that defrauded former FTX clients, lenders and investors of billions of dollars.

September 17A federal court in Manhattan has unsealed charges against Combs for racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. According to the court, he “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to satisfy sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct.”

September 16Combs is arrested in Manhattan after being indicted by a grand jury.

May 29Federal investigators may soon call Combs’ accusers to testify before a grand jury. Most of the prosecutors who have filed cases against the rapper have already been interviewed by investigators, sources told CNN. The move could signal that prosecutors are looking to charge someone, though no charges have been filed yet.

May 24Plaintiff April Lampros accuses Combs in a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York of sexual abuse during four “terrifying sexual encounters” between 1995 and 2001, including three instances of rape and one in which Combs forced her to take ecstasy.

May 22Former model Crystal McKinney is filing a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan, accusing the rapper of drugging and sexually assaulting her in his New York recording studio in 2003.

May 19Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura is speaking out after CNN obtained a 2016 video of Combs assaulting her in a hotel hallway. On Thursday morning, she took to Instagram to say that domestic violence “broken” her and that she “will always heal” from her past. Combs later apologized for the video.

February 26In February, producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones sued the rapper in New York, alleging that he “was subjected to unwanted advances by Diddy’s associates at his direction” and was coerced into relationships with sex workers he hired. In a series of widely publicized allegations, Jones alleges in the lawsuit that Combs regularly hosted “sex trafficking parties” featuring underage women and illegal drugs, and suggests that record label executives who turned a blind eye profited financially from the rapper’s access to celebrities and dignitaries like Britain’s Prince Harry, who is not accused of any wrongdoing or of attending the parties himself (Combs’ attorney tells the Los Angeles Times that the lawsuit involves “reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction”).

December 6Combs is facing another sexual assault charge in December, accusing the rapper of drugging the unnamed woman and gang raping her in 2003 when the accuser was 17.

November 23A woman named Joie Dickerson-Neal alleges in a lawsuit that Combs drugged her, sexually assaulted her and secretly recorded the assault in 1991 when she was a college student.

November 23An anonymous plaintiff accuses Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall of raping her and a friend in 1990 or 1991 after they met at an MCA Records event in New York. The lawsuit, like the Dickerson-Neal complaint, was filed shortly before the expiration of a New York law that temporarily allows lawsuits to be filed over older sexual assault allegations that would otherwise have expired.

November 17Ventura’s $30 million lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount the day after it was filed. Ventura told CNN she had chosen to “amicably resolve this matter,” while Combs’ attorney said the settlement was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing” and did not alter his denial of the allegations.

November 16Cassie Ventura is filing the lawsuit against Combs, alleging that he raped her in 2018 and subjected her to an abusive relationship for years, during which he physically abused her and claimed he had “complete control” over her personal and professional life.

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In return for

Combs has denied all allegations against him, and his attorneys have characterized some of the lawsuits and allegations against Forbes as money-making, “baseless” or “sickening.”

What to look out for

An upcoming docuseries. Producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson said Tuesday that Netflix had won a “bidding war” for a docuseries about the string of recent allegations of abuse, rape and sex trafficking against Combs. Jackson confirmed in a tweet Tuesday that the streamer acquired the G-Unit Film & Television series about Combs, which he first began teasing in December, adding that “as more victims come forward, I need more episodes.” Proceeds from the film will go to victims of sexual abuse, Jackson said in November.

Tangent

Combs posted an Instagram message in May apologizing for his “disgusting” behavior in surveillance video that shows him grabbing, dragging and kicking Cassie in 2016. The video appeared to corroborate many of the claims Ventura made in her November lawsuit, which an attorney for Combs called “offensive and outrageous.” The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office called the video “extremely disturbing” and “difficult to watch” but said no charges would be filed because the apparent assault occurred outside the statute of limitations in California. In his apology video, Combs said the events occurred during “one of the darkest times” of his life and said he was “truly sorry” for his behavior. Meredith Firetog, one of Ventura’s attorneys, later criticized the apology in a statement as disingenuous, saying it was “more about himself than the many people he hurt.” In the lawsuit Ventura filed in November, she accused Combs of paying $50,000 to the hotel where the surveillance footage was recorded.

Surprising fact

Combs’ former personal chef, Cindy Rueda, accused Combs in a now-settled 2017 sexual harassment lawsuit of preparing and serving food to the rapper and his guests while they were engaged in sexual activity or immediately afterwards.

Main background

The allegations in the lawsuits against Combs date back to the 1990s, when he founded his own record label, Bad Boy Records, which Rolling Stone described as “one of the most influential hip-hop labels of all time.” The label has signed major artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., Janelle Monáe and Cassie, and has released several of Combs’ albums, including “Press Play” and “Last Train To Paris.” Combs sold a 50% stake in Bad Boy to Warner Music Group in 2005 in a deal reportedly worth $30 million. Combs has built a fortune through Bad Boy Records, several liquor brands, a fashion label and other ventures. Earlier this year, he sold his stake in the tequila brand DeLeón for $200 million. He was ranked No. 14 on Forbes’ list of the highest-paid entertainers in 2022, having earned an estimated $90 million that year. One of the rapper’s homes that was robbed is in Holmby Hills, an affluent neighborhood where Combs bought a home for $40 million a decade ago.

Read more

Federal authorities search Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ homes in LA and Miami (Forbes)

Sean Combs Accused of Sexually Abusing 17-Year-Old in Latest Lawsuit (Forbes)

Rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of rape and sexual abuse in two new separate lawsuits (Forbes)

Rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of rape and sex trafficking by singer and ex-partner (Forbes)