The American hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, also known as P.Diddy, was arrested on Monday in Manhattan according to multiple American media outlets. He was taken into custody after a grand jury indicted him, with his arrest being confirmed by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams. While the charges of the indictment remain unclear, his legal team has described him as an imperfect person but not a criminal, expressing disappointment with the decision to pursue what they believe is an unjust prosecution.
“Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a renowned music figure, self-made entrepreneur, devoted family man, and recognized philanthropist who has spent the past 30 years building an empire, cherishing his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect individual but not a criminal.
To his credit, Mr. Combs has been fully cooperative with this investigation and voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please withhold judgment until you have all the facts. These are the actions of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.
Combs has been under federal investigation since March this year. His legal troubles began when his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, popularly known as Cassie, filed a lawsuit last November accusing him of years of sexual and physical abuse. Although the music businessman settled through suit with Ventura within a day, more lawsuits alleging sexual and physical abuse as well as sex trafficking have been filed by other women.
On March 25, federal agents raided Combs’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Florida. His electronic devices were reportedly confiscated after he was stopped at a Miami-area airport.
The New York Times reported that authorities made no announcements at the time, but a federal official said the inquiry was at least in part a human trafficking investigation.
Although he denied the allegations in the lawsuits while his lawyers described the raids as “a gross overuse of military-level force,” Combs was back in the spotlight in May after CNN released a hotel surveillance footage showing Combs physically assaulting Ventura. Combs would later apologize in a video but the damage to his reputation almost seemed irredeemable.”
He reportedly divested his interest in Revolt, the media company he established, and his stake in DeLeón tequila, a joint venture with the spirits conglomerate Diageo. A New York charter school network terminated its association with him. Additionally, his mansion in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, where federal agents conducted a raid in March, was put up for sale on the real estate market this month for $61.5 million.
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