The home of Sean Combs, the music mogul also known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Diddy, was raided by federal agents as part of a sex trafficking probe. It’s not clear whether Combs himself is the target of the investigation and officials aren’t saying anything on the record. The Associated Press describes a major operation at his Holmby Hills mansion, with agents gathered in numbers and a mobile command post visible from aerial footage.
In a statement, Homeland Security Investigations said it “executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners.” A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment. Messages to Combs’ lawyers and other representatives seeking comment were not immediately returned. A police line was set up around the Los Angeles house in the wealthy Holmby Hills neighborhood near Beverly Hills. Helicopter video from KABC-TV showed a group of agents with vests that indicated they were from Homeland Security Investigations gathered in the home’s backyard near the pool. A command post was set up outside the house and agents were still entering and leaving hours after the search began.
It’s not unexpected, with Combs recently facing three separate lawsuits from women who say they were manipulated, abused and sexually assaulted by him. Combs said that “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”
The music industry has a problem, has had it forever, and seems more resistant to having its secrets unraveled than other parts of the entertainment business.
The music industry has not faced a reckoning to the same degree [as Hollywood], but singer and producer R. Kelly is serving a prison sentence for sexually abusing young fans, seven women have sued hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons alleging he raped them and two women have sued Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler alleging sexual assault.