Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs at the 2018 Met Gala. (Angela Weiss/AFP)
- Homes belonging to Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs were raided by federal agents Monday.
- Entertainment title TMZ said pictures appeared to show the rapper’s sons Justin and King Combs in handcuffs.
- Combs, 54, founded the Bad Boy record label in 1993 and was a major figure in hip-hop’s commercialisation over the decades that followed.
Homes belonging to Sean “Diddy” Combs were raided by federal agents Monday, with the US hip-hop mogul at the centre of sex trafficking claims and sex assault lawsuits.
Armed agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered luxury properties on both the East Coast and West Coast of the US, with video footage showing helicopters circling overhead and a huge law enforcement presence on the ground.
READ | ‘I will fight for my name’: Sean Combs denies ‘sickening’ gang-rape claims in new lawsuit
“Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners,” the agency said.
A source confirmed to AFP that Combs was the target of the raids.
Media in Los Angeles carried aerial footage of a massive presence at a swanky Holmby Hills residence associated with Combs.
Homeland Security Investigation agents are seen at the entrance of US producer and musician Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s home at Star Island in Miami Beach on 25 March 2024. (Giorgio Viera/AFP)
Heavily armed agents could be seen all around the sprawling property, with footage showing unidentified individuals being detained at the scene.
Entertainment title TMZ said pictures appeared to show the rapper’s sons Justin and King Combs in handcuffs.
The outlet said it also had footage of a raid on a luxury waterside property in Miami connected to Combs.
Police and members of the media gather outside the home of US producer and musician Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in Los Angeles on 25 March 2024. (David Swanson/AFP)
There was no immediate official confirmation about what precipitated the raids, but the involvement of Homeland Security in large, coordinated raids at two locations suggests serious allegations.
The development comes with legal pressure increasing on the rapper, who has faced at least four lawsuits from people who say he sexually abused them, with allegations dating back decades.
Last year, Combs was sued by former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, who performed under the stage name Cassie and was signed to his Bad Boy label.
The lawsuit alleged that he forced her to perform sexual acts with multiple men over several years in cities across the US.
READ MORE | Singer Cassie, Sean Combs settle lawsuit alleging rape: US media
The suit also said that, as a result of stops in these different locations, which necessitated crossing state lines, Ventura was the victim of sex trafficking, which is a federal offence.
That suit was settled, but was followed by others, including one in December by a woman who accused Combs of sexual assault, alleging that he and others gang-raped her when she was 17 years old.
Combs and other men, the suit said, plied her with drugs and alcohol before violently raping her repeatedly.
Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer who represents two of the women who have accused Combs of abuse, told AFP on Monday: “We will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law.”
Wigdor added:
Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.
Combs has vehemently denied all accusations against him.
The 54-year-old founded the Bad Boy record label in 1993 and was a major figure in hip-hop’s commercialisation over the decades that followed. His protégé included the late Notorious BIG and Mary J Blige.
He is among the industry’s billionaires, not least due to his ventures in the liquor industry.
However, contrary to the public image of a suave businessman, lawsuits describe Combs as a violent man who used his celebrity to prey on and intimidate women.
