It’s been greater than every week for the reason that arrest of music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs on a litany of federal prices together with intercourse trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, however the questions surrounding the allegations have solely grown in current days.
Which of Combs’s many celeb pals heard in regards to the alleged “freak-offs”? What, if something, did his former romantic companions, together with Jennifer Lopez, know? If there are tapes, what’s on them? Why do individuals hold speaking about Justin Bieber?
It’s not a stretch to attract parallels between Combs’s case and that of infamous intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein. Copious quantities of cash, a protracted record of highly effective pals, and a tradition of celeb silence make for a potent mixture that, as Anna has written, is “tailored to supply conspiracy theories.” Within the wake of the arrest, novice web sleuths have surfaced quite a few movies and images and pored over interviews with Diddy and his celeb associates searching for solutions.
In the meantime, the allegations in opposition to Combs proceed to pile up. After a number of civil lawsuits have been filed in opposition to Combs late final yr, one other girl got here ahead in late September to allege in a 26-page civil go well with that Combs and his bodyguard took her to the recording studio for his file label, Dangerous Boy, in 2001, raped her repeatedly, and recorded the assault. After placing out a name for added victims — and netting greater than 3,000 responses — attorneys introduced on October 1 that they’d be submitting 120 extra civil lawsuits in opposition to Combs and a number of other codefendants in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami within the following weeks.
As courtroom filings turn into public, they promise to unfurl an entire new set of allegations in opposition to Combs and provide new particulars on beforehand unknown accusations going again a long time. The sheer scope of the instances and inclusion of codefendants, plus allegations that Combs used his leisure enterprise to lure victims, might flip Combs’s case into one of many largest Me Too reckonings the music trade has seen.
By way of his attorneys, Diddy has repeatedly asserted that the civil claims in opposition to him are baseless, calling a number of of them “sickening allegations” made “by people searching for a fast payday.”
He has pleaded not responsible within the legal case, too, and is presently being held in a Brooklyn jail after twice being denied bail. His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, has stated the rapper is “going to struggle this with all of his vitality and all of his may,” and through a courtroom listening to argued that the so-called freak-offs — marathon sexual productions that prosecutors say concerned employed intercourse employees and ladies coerced to carry out sexual acts for the gratification of Combs and others — have been consensual, if unconventional. “Is it intercourse trafficking?” he requested in courtroom final week. “No, not if everyone desires to be there.”
With so many gamers, civil and legal instances, and loads of misinformation floating round, we’re pulling collectively a number of the most continuously requested questions on Diddy and making an attempt to reply them — as greatest we are able to, in fact, given what we all know.
For a extra detailed historical past of all of the allegations in opposition to Diddy, take a look at Anna’s full explainer right here.
What’s Combs accused of?
Combs is dealing with two sorts of instances: one legal case introduced by the federal authorities and a number of other civil instances introduced by people, every involving totally different accusations.
Combs was arrested on legal prices; the federal government alleges that he used his enterprise enterprise to conduct legal exercise, together with intercourse trafficking and kidnapping, after which used his energy to intimidate victims and canopy up the crimes.
The case facilities on the alleged performances with ladies and intercourse employees. The indictment alleges that Diddy usually transported intercourse employees to carry out within the periods and taped the encounters to coerce silence from contributors, utilizing an array of workers and his enterprise group to facilitate the legal exercise. For all of this, they’ve charged Combs with racketeering conspiracy: a strong cost that was initially used largely to prosecute organized crime leaders and may end up in a hefty sentence.
It was the civil instances, nevertheless, that opened the floodgates that in the end led to the indictment.
In November 2023, Combs’s ex-girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, also called the singer Cassie, filed the primary explosive lawsuit that uncovered a number of allegations in opposition to Combs to the general public, together with that the rapper orchestrated the performances with intercourse employees and compelled her to take part. Although she filed a civil case (which was settled by Combs inside sooner or later), Ventura’s allegations look like the central basis of the federal legal case in opposition to Combs.
4 different instances have been filed shortly thereafter, three by ladies who alleged that he raped them (in some instances drugging them), and one by a male music producer who accused Diddy of grooming him and coercing him to rent intercourse employees for intercourse.
After Combs’s arrest, a group of attorneys led by the legislation corporations of Tony Buzbee and Andrew Van Arsdale put out a name searching for different potential victims, and introduced that they’d be continuing with 120 extra civil lawsuits that might be filed within the weeks to come back.
In that case many individuals have been concerned, why did it take so lengthy for the allegations to come back out?
Combs was extremely highly effective within the music trade and in American tradition extra usually. He was one of many first individuals to mix the worlds of hip-hop, enterprise, and luxurious. His trend label, Sean John, based in 1998, turned recognized for high-end menswear. He promoted manufacturers of vodka and tequila and hosted unique white events within the Hamptons with friends like Martha Stewart, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, and Jay Z.
It’s troublesome for individuals to talk out about sexual assault beneath any circumstances, and doubly troublesome when the alleged perpetrator is somebody rich and well-connected who might have affect over their careers. Combs can also be accused of operating an infinite legal “enterprise” that threatened ladies with blackmail and violence — together with utilizing firearms to threaten victims — all of which might have made it much more troublesome for anybody to come back ahead.
What’s on the tapes talked about within the indictment? Will they ever come out?
A number of of the accusers, and the legal indictment, allege that Diddy videotaped sexual assaults and the performances with intercourse employees. The accuser this week alleges {that a} tape fabricated from her sexual assault was bought and seen by a number of different males.
Usually, accusers have stated any tapes served as a approach to make sure their silence. In courtroom, the New York Instances reported, prosecutors offered a press release from one who stated, “He simply threatened me about my intercourse tapes that he has of me on two telephones. He stated he would expose me, thoughts you these intercourse tapes the place I’m closely drugged.”
Why is everybody speaking about child oil? Is that this actual?
One of many odder particulars in the Combs indictment is that authorities say they seized “greater than 1,000 bottles of child oil and lubricant” in searches of the mogul’s residences in Miami and Los Angeles earlier this yr. Prosecutors say the oil was meant for the performances, and Ventura additionally stated in her lawsuit that she was advised to pour “extreme” quantities of oil on herself at these occasions.
Possessing child oil just isn’t a criminal offense, and the entire oil concern doesn’t matter very a lot within the context of the violent and disturbing conduct of which Combs has been accused. However a federal indictment of a public determine like Combs is supposed to be learn, and it’s commonplace for prosecutors to incorporate particulars they know will shock individuals and make headlines. Child oil did the trick.
Are different celebrities linked to the case?
It’s necessary to notice that no different individual, celeb or not, has been indicted alongside Combs within the legal case. The civil instances filed up to now don’t point out some other celebrities both, accusing solely Combs and infrequently these employed by him.
However with the announcement on October 1 of the extra 120 civil lawsuits, attorneys advised the media that the instances would come with quite a lot of codefendants. In response to the Washington Submit, they claimed that these codefendants would come with “members of Combs’s household, file labels, occasion venues and Combs’s associates,” and that the record would come with “family names.”
That stated, that is an extremely powerful query, tending to spark extra rumor and innuendo than uncover any truths, as onlookers attempt to decide who knew what when. Certainly, Combs had many pals in excessive locations. However pursuing the query tends to spawn misinformation, like a viral track about “a Diddy occasion” attributed to Justin Bieber that consultants now say was probably created by AI.
To date, a couple of bold-faced names who have been on the visitor lists at Combs’s celeb-packed “white events” have come ahead to say they have been by no means linked to any of the crimes Combs is accused of. However it’s greatest if all of us give the conspiracy theories a relaxation, anticipate authorized filings to be taught extra, and let the case be dealt with in courtroom. Wild hypothesis is just liable to exacerbate the victims’ ache.
What is going to occur to Combs’s companies and types now?
Within the weeks earlier than Ventura’s lawsuit went public final November, Diddy made a number of media-grabbing strikes, together with donating $1 million to Howard College, performing and amassing a World Icon Award on the VMAs, and throwing a high-profile celebration for himself in London with Naomi Campbell and Idris Elba among the many friends.
A lot has since crumbled, not the least of which is his enterprise empire. Diageo, the beverage model with which Combs as soon as partnered on vodka and tequila, shortly eliminated his picture from its web site, and the partnership broke ties after settling a lawsuit over one other matter this January. Capital Preparatory Colleges, a New York constitution college community Combs helped increase, posted a press release on the varsity’s web site final fall saying it was chopping ties with him (although the assertion was later eliminated). Combs additionally stepped apart as chair of Revolt, a TV community he helped begin in 2013, after which formally bought his stake this summer season. And Sean John’s web site, based on the Day by day Beast, was taken down.
In response to New York journal, he additionally now not has a devoted “Sean Diddy Combs Day” in Miami, returned his key to New York Metropolis, and had his deliberate Hulu present iced.
As for Howard, his alma mater? It returned the million-dollar reward.
If Diddy is convicted, how lengthy might he be in jail?
There’s no assure that Combs’s case will go to trial or that he’ll be convicted if he does, so at this level it’s not possible to guess the end result. However the Division of Justice has issued a record of the costs in opposition to Combs and what every might imply if he’s convicted. Unsurprisingly, the utmost sentences vary, with a transportation for functions of prostitution cost bringing a possible 10-year sentence, and that racketeering conspiracy cost which means Combs might face life in jail.
Replace, October 1, 4:30 pm: This piece was initially revealed on September 26 and has been up to date to incorporate a further 120 civil lawsuits filed in opposition to Combs and numerous codefendants.
