Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: What we know about the accusations against him

A string of sexual assault allegations have been made in opposition to Sean “Diddy” Combs, one of the profitable music moguls within the historical past of rap.

4 girls, together with his long-time associate Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, have filed lawsuits in opposition to the musician, accusing him of sexual and bodily abuse.

Producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed an identical go well with in February, alleging Combs abused him over a year-long interval when he was residing on the star’s properties and dealing on his music.

In a press release issued final December, Combs defended himself in opposition to what he described as “sickening allegations” made by “people searching for a fast payday”.

“Let me be completely clear: I didn’t do any of the terrible issues being alleged,” he mentioned, including he would battle to clear his identify.

Nevertheless, in March 2024, federal brokers raided two homes owned by the star “as a part of an ongoing investigation” into intercourse trafficking.

His lawyer referred to as the motion an “unprecedented ambush” and a “gross overuse of military-level power”, and maintained his shopper’s innocence.

Combs – who has additionally passed by the names Puffy, Puff Daddy, P Diddy, Love, and Brother Love – primarily rewrote the foundations of hip-hop within the Nineteen Nineties, however his profession has been punctuated by controversies.

Here’s a timeline of his profession and the accusations made in opposition to him.

Sean John Combs was born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York.

His mom, Janice, was a instructor’s assistant, whereas his father Melvin was a former member of the US Air Power who grew to become an affiliate of the drug-trafficker Frank Lucas, who later impressed the Ridley Scott movie American Gangster.

In 1972, Melvin was fatally shot in his automobile throughout a drug transaction after being misidentified as an informant. Combs was simply two, though he did not be taught the circumstances of his father’s demise till a lot later.

Raised by his mom, he was a flashy child who liked rap music and performed soccer for the college staff.

As a young person, he danced in music movies for artists similar to Diana Ross and the High-quality Younger Cannibals.

Taking a cue from his mom, who labored a number of jobs to help Sean and his sister Keisha, he additionally labored six separate newspaper supply routes, earlier than enrolling to check enterprise administration at Howard College.

At college, Combs gained a popularity for throwing lavish events, a few of which attracted greater than a thousand visitors.

After reserving musicians similar to Heavy D and Terry Riley to play at these gigs, he got here to the eye of Uptown Data’ founder Andre Harrell, who gave him an internship in New York.

Combs ultimately dropped out of college to work there full-time, guiding the early careers of artists together with Mary J Blige and Jodeci.

Nevertheless, tragedy struck in 1991, when Combs co-promoted a star basketball sport and live performance at Metropolis Faculty of New York. Almost 5,000 individuals confirmed as much as the gymnasium, which may solely match 2,730 individuals. Within the ensuing crush, 9 individuals died and 29 individuals have been injured.

An inquiry by the New York Mayor’s Workplace cited Combs for hiring inexperienced safety guards. Nevertheless, the star and his attorneys maintained he was not answerable for safety on the occasion.

“Metropolis Faculty is one thing I take care of day by day of my life,” the musician mentioned in 1998. “However the issues that I take care of can on no account measure as much as the ache that the households take care of. I simply pray for the households and pray for the youngsters who misplaced their lives day by day.”

No felony prices have been filed over the tragedy, however members of the family of the individuals who died sued the promoters, the faculty and town, accusing them of negligence.

The case was settled for $3.8m (£3m), of which Mr. Combs paid $750,000.

Whereas at Uptown, Combs signed a younger Brooklyn rapper referred to as Christopher Wallace – aka Biggie Smalls, or the Infamous B.I.G. – and began work on his debut album.

However his relationship with Harrell broke down and Combs was fired. He retaliated by organising his personal label, Dangerous Boy Data, and taking Biggie with him.

The star’s debut album, Prepared To Die, was hailed as an all-time rap traditional, promoting hundreds of thousands of copies and producing the multi-platinum singles Juicy and Large Poppa.

Combs shortly expanded the Dangerous Boy roster, releasing hit albums by Religion Evans, Ma$e, 112 and Complete.

The label’s sound was slick and polished. Its largest singles lifted chunky samples from well-known hits. The apply was frowned upon by hip-hop purists, however it was catnip to radio programmers.

In March 1997, Biggie Smalls was gunned down in a drive-by taking pictures on the age of 24.

The homicide has by no means been solved, however it has constantly been linked to the East-Coast-West-Coast rivalry that consumed rap music within the Nineteen Nineties and which had beforehand claimed the lifetime of Tupac Shakur.

Combs, who had been travelling within the automobile behind his pal, poured his grief right into a music, I am going to Be Lacking You, which grew to become one of many largest songs of 1997.

The music, primarily based round The Police’s Each Breath You Take, additionally featured on Combs’ debut album, No Method Out, which bought seven million copies worldwide.

By this stage, Dangerous Boy had develop into one of the necessary labels in rap. Apart from its personal releases, artists together with Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez have been asking Combs to remix their songs, hoping for a touch of hip-hop credibility.

However there was hassle, too. In Could 1999, Combs was arrested on suspicion of assaulting Interscope Data government Steve Stoute, after a disagreement over a music video. He pleaded responsible to harassment and was sentenced to a one-day anger administration class.

Later that yr, he was charged with felony possession of a weapon when police discovered two nine-millimetre weapons in his automobile, after an argument in a membership turned violent.

Combs and his then girlfriend Jennifer Lopez have been each arrested. Combs was later acquitted of all prices. Lopez was not charged.

A former president of Dangerous Boy Leisure sued Combs in 2003, alleging that his former enterprise associate threatened him with a baseball bat and compelled him into signing over his shares within the firm.

In his lawsuit, Kirk Burrowes additionally says that Combs intimidated Mary J Blige into dropping him as her supervisor in 2001.

Combs denied the allegations, calling them “full fantasy”.

An appeals court docket dismissed the case in 2006, ruling that the statute of limitations has expired.

In 2005, 20-year-old singer Casandra Elizabeth Ventura scored a minor membership hit in Germany together with her debut single, Me & U.

After listening to it on an evening out, Combs convinces Cassie (as she is thought professionally) to hitch Dangerous Boy Data for a 10-album deal.

Her self-titled debut was launched in 2008 and its futuristic, space-age R&B proved to be a success with critics.

By that stage, Combs and Ventura have been in a relationship. However in a civil lawsuit filed in December 2023, she mentioned the mogul had used his place of energy to “set the groundwork” for a “manipulative and coercive romantic and sexual relationship”.

Her lawsuit included a number of graphic descriptions of violent abuse, alleging that Combs “frequently beat and kicked Ms Ventura, leaving black eyes, bruises, and blood”.

Ventura additionally alleged sexual abuse and rape, and claimed that many of those incidents have been witnessed by Combs’ “tremendously loyal community” who “weren’t keen to do something significant” to cease the violence.

Combs strenuously denied the allegations and accused Ventura of making an attempt to extort him. They settled the case a day after it was filed in New York, with Combs’ lawyer saying the settlement was “on no account an admission of wrongdoing”.

Music took a again seat after 2007, when Combs signed a take care of British drinks firm Diageo to advertise the French vodka model, Cîroc, within the US for a 50-50 revenue break up.

His endorsement noticed the model positioned in dozens of music movies – together with Diddy’s personal single “Ciroc Star” – and helped enhance gross sales from 40,000 to 2,000,000 instances per yr by 2014.

Across the identical time, he co-founded the media firm Revolt, whose TV channels and web sites are described as “the unapologetic, authoritative voice of hip-hop tradition”.

Combs’ involvement with each corporations got here to an finish in 2023-24. He had beforehand sued Diageo, accusing it of neglecting his model due to race.

In 2015, Combs acquired right into a scuffle along with his son’s soccer coach prompted by an argument throughout coaching.

Because the row escalated, Combs allegedly threatened an intern with a kettle bell. He was later arrested and charged with assault with a lethal weapon.

The fees have been subsequently dropped. A consultant for Combs mentioned press accounts of the incident have been “wholly inaccurate”.

The primary allegations of abuse to floor in opposition to Combs got here from his mannequin ex-girlfriend Gina Huynh.

Though largely unreported on the time, Huynh gave an interview to YouTube persona Tasha Okay, the place she mentioned Combs had been bodily abusive and supplied her cash to get an abortion throughout their on-off, five-year relationship.

On one event, she alleged that Combs had as soon as “stomped on my abdomen actually onerous – like, took the wind out of my breath”.

He didn’t reply to the accusations.

Combs ended an eight-year musical hiatus with the discharge of his fifth report. Titled The Love Album: Off The Grid, it featured collaborations with The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, 21 Savage and Mary J Blige.

The discharge coincided with Combs being named a “International Icon” on the MTV Awards.

In November, The Love Album earned the star his first solo nomination on the Grammys, in the perfect progressive R&B album class.

Nevertheless, he pulled out of the ceremony as his authorized troubles mounted.

In the identical week as Cassie filed (and settled) her lawsuit in opposition to Combs, two extra girls got here ahead with claims of abuse and assault.

In a grievance filed in Manhattan, Joi Dickerson-Neal accused the star of drugging and sexually assaulting her when she was a school scholar in 1991. She additionally claimed he recorded the assault and distributed the footage with out her consent.

A 3rd lady, Liza Gardner, additionally filed court docket papers accusing Combs of coercing her into intercourse within the early Nineteen Nineties after which, a few days later, choking her so onerous that she handed out.

The lawsuits all got here shortly earlier than the expiration of the New York Grownup Survivors Act, which briefly allowed individuals who mentioned they have been sexually abused to file claims, even after the statute of limitations had expired.

Combs denied all of the allegations in opposition to him, whereas his spokesperson referred to as the lawsuits a “cash seize”.

“The claims involving alleged misconduct in opposition to Mr Combs from over 30 years in the past and filed on the final minute are all fully denied and rejected by him,” they mentioned in a press release.

“The New York Legislature certainly didn’t intend or count on the Grownup Survivors Act to be exploited for improper functions. The general public must be sceptical and never rush to just accept these unsubstantiated allegations.”

A fourth lady sued in December, claiming she was “intercourse trafficked” and “gang raped” by Combs, former Dangerous Boy Data president Harve Pierre and one other man in 2003, when she was 17 years previous.

In court docket papers, the girl alleged she was given “copious quantities of medication and alcohol” earlier than the assault and was left in a lot ache that she may barely stand or bear in mind how she acquired dwelling.

In response, Combs mentioned he “didn’t do any of the terrible issues being alleged”, whereas Pierre mentioned the “disgusting allegations” have been “false and a determined try for monetary acquire”.

The decide within the case later dominated that the girl, who filed her case anonymously, must use her actual identify if she wished to proceed.

On 6 December, Combs responded to the flurry of lawsuits with a press release on his Instagram web page.

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” he wrote. “For the final couple of weeks, I’ve sat silently and watched individuals attempt to assassinate my character, destroy my popularity and my legacy.

“Sickening allegations have been made in opposition to me by people searching for a fast payday. Let me be completely clear: I didn’t do any of the terrible issues being alleged. I’ll battle for my identify, my household and for the reality.”

Music producer Rodney Jones Jr, who produced 9 tracks on The Love Album, sued Combs in February 2024, accusing the star of constructing undesirable sexual contact and forcing him to rent prostitutes and take part in intercourse acts with them.

In court docket papers filed in New York, Jones additionally claimed that Combs tried to “groom” him into having intercourse with one other man, telling him it was “a traditional apply within the music trade”.

Combs’ lawyer, Shawn Holley, referred to as the producer “nothing greater than a liar” and described his claims as “pure fiction” that may be discredited by “overwhelming, indeniable proof”.

One month later, federal brokers raided two properties owned by Combs in Los Angeles and Miami. Computer systems and different gadgets have been confiscated whereas officers searched his Californian mansion.

Combs was additionally stopped at an airport in Miami as he ready to go away for the Bahamas, in response to the New York Occasions. He’s mentioned to have handed over various digital gadgets and was not detained.

The Division of Homeland Safety mentioned the searches shaped “a part of an ongoing investigation”, however it was not clear how their inquiries have been associated to the civil instances in opposition to Combs.

His lawyer referred to as the raids a “witch-hunt primarily based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits” and mentioned his shopper was harmless.