AMERICAN HIP-HOP RAP IDOL DIDDY IN A SERIOUS WAVE OF SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSATIONS

On Monday 25^th March 2024 afternoon, properties owned by American hip-hop mogul, Sean Combs, or mostly known as “Diddy”, located in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by Homeland Security.

According to New York Times and Reuters, which are American online newspapers, U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents have opened an investigation of hip-hop star Sean “Diddy” Combs, searching his properties in Los Angeles and the Miami area. Homeland Security Investigations carried out the raids, but did not provide details about the case, including whether Mr. Combs was a target, or which criminal charges were being investigated. The black American hip-hop rapper, who is mostly known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, has been accused of sexual assault and sex trafficking in multiple civil lawsuits over the last several months.

The home searched in Miami Beach was on Star Island, an exclusive enclave of mansions in Biscayne Bay popular with celebrities and the wealthy. On Monday 25^th March, its usual tranquillity was interrupted by a Homeland Security Investigations van with flashing red-and-blue lights, law enforcement officials in blue windbreakers and at least two agents with dogs, as well as journalists dotting its palm-lined lawns. A similar scene played out near Mr. Combs’s home in Los Angeles same day, whereby late afternoon a few dozen people, many of them journalists, milled about the tony neighborhood of Holmby Hills, unable to cross the yellow caution tape strung across South Mapleton Drive. A few Los Angeles Police officers blocked the road leading up to Mr. Combs’s property.

Los Angeles City News Service reported several people were detained outside the home, but it was unclear whether any arrests were made. It also reported that Combs’ whereabouts during the raids were not known.

The inquiry was led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in New York, where a lawsuit was filed against Combs by a former girlfriend in federal court in November 2023, accusing him of engaging in sex trafficking. In a statement, Homeland Security said that agents from New York had “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 raids were a stunning development in the career of Mr. Combs, a producer, label executive and occasional rapper who has been one of the most influential and widely recognized figures in the music business over the last 30 years. He also played an integral role in the transformation of hip-hop into a global commercial force, crafting hits and larger-than-life personas for rap and R&B performers like the Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige. He also made smash hits himself with songs like “I’ll Be Missing You” (1997), a ballad to the Notorious B.I.G. after his killing in a drive-by shooting, which featured Faith Evans, the rapper’s widow, and sampled the Police’s hit “Every Breath You Take”.

According to New York Times, a video from Fox 11 (KTTV), which is a local television station in Los Angeles, showed armed officers entering a home in the Holmby Hills area of the city, which a law-enforcement official said was connected to Mr. Combs. Public records in California, also indicate that the home is owned by a company led by Mr. Combs.

NBC News cited an unnamed source as saying that three women and a man have been interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan, and three other interviews are scheduled in relation to allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms.

The artist and entrepreneur faced several lawsuits stemming from sexual assault charges that started last year 2023 with accusations from R&B singer Cassie as artist name and Casandra Ventura, who dated Combs for years, in a suit filed on November 16^th, 2023. The suit claimed Combs had been combative towards her throughout their relationship. She described him as a “serial domestic abuser, who would regularly beat and kick Ms. Ventura”. In her suit, Ms. Ventura also accused Mr. Combs of forcing her to engage in sexual activity with male prostitutes over a period of years. The suit said that as a result of those encounters, which took place in a number of cities across the United States, Ms. Ventura was a victim of sex trafficking. The following day, the two parties settled the lawsuits on what they described as amicable terms. Following those allegations, Combs issued his resignation as chairman of Revolt and his Hulu reality show was subsequently cancelled.

A month later after R&B musician Cassie accused Diddy of assault, a month later, that is December 2023, another lawsuit came up and was alleged that Combs had gang-raped a 17-year-old girl in 2003. The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, accused Combs of plying her with drugs and alcohol at his New York studio and then raping her along with two associates. The suit accused Combs of a “sex trafficking scheme”, in which Jane Doe was flown by private jet from her home in Michigan to New York.

CNN revealed Diddy’s response after the suit came up against him. Combs responded to the suit in a statement through his representative Nathalie Moar: “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”

 According to another online newspaper named Variety, Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Cassie and Jane Doe, responded to reports of a search warrant issued on Sean Combs, writing, “We will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.”

Not only have these few cases been the only cases revealed about Mr Combs’ sexual assault adventure, but several cases have also been exposed. In one case filed last month February 2024,  New York Times revealed that, a music producer, Rodney Jones, mentioned that Mr. Combs had made unwanted sexual contact with him, and forced him to hire prostitutes and participate in sex acts with them. In recent months, many of Mr. Combs’s business partners have distanced themselves from him.

With all of these revelations popping up presently in the career of Sean Combs, the future is yet to be revealed on what next will come out . Several rumours have been roaming round social media outlets on the doings of Diddy. The rumours are yet to be confirmed. To think that this is a legend in Hip-Hop round the world and such heavy revelations, will Diddy still be regarded with such respect as the past years?

Delia Nyadi