Embattled rapper and hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested at a New York City hotel Monday night amid a federal sex trafficking investigation, officials said.
The fallen star, 54, voluntarily traveled to the Big Apple in anticipation of his arrest on federal charges stemming from a grand jury indictment, according to prosecutors and sources.
Combs, who was photographed walking through Manhattan with his son Christian “King” Combs earlier in the night, was taken into custody at the Park Hyatt New York by Homeland Security Investigations, which typically handles sex trafficking probes, the sources said.
It was not immediately clear Monday what charges Combs is facing. He is expected to be arraigned at Manhattan federal court Tuesday morning — at which point the indictment with the charges against him will be unsealed.
“Earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY,” Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. “We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”
Combs has recently been accused of repeated instances of sexual and physical abuse during the height of his fame as a producer to huge names in hip hop, like Mary K. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim and the late Biggie Smalls, in the 1990s and 2000s.
He was first accused of a years-long pattern of domestic and sexual violence — and even trafficking — against his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura in a lawsuit she filed against him last November.
Though the pair quickly settled, Ventura’s suit unleashed the floodgates, as since then more than a half-dozen alleged victims came forward with their own lawsuits against Combs.
And on March 25, Combs’ Beverly Hills and Miami mansions were simultaneously raided by Homeland Security.
It’s unclear what the agents were looking for during the March raid, but the searches are believed to be part of a sex-trafficking investigation.
In her suit against the Bad Boy Records founder, Ventura described years of alleged abuse including beatings, repeated rapes and the hiring of male sex workers he would force her to have sex with while he filmed.
Combs denied wrongdoing and settled in just a day, but a distressing video showing him assaulting the singer in a hotel hallway in 2016 recently surfaced — prompting a new round of backlash that he couldn’t talk his way out of.
The clip, aired by CNN in May, shows Combs throwing Ventura to the ground and punching, pulling and kicking her on the hallway floor.
Combs posted a video apologizing for the shocking assault on social media the next day — the first time he owned up to allegations against him.
The same month, Diddy’s accusers — many who sued him for alleged abuse — were notified by federal investigators that they could be brought to court to testify before a grand jury.
His alleged victims have accused the music mogul of drugging and raping them, filming their sexual encounters without their knowledge or consent, and forcing them to have sex with others in their individual lawsuits.
Here’s what we know about the allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs
- Sean “Diddy” Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security in March amid a possible connection with an ongoing sex-trafficking investigation.
- Authorities targeted the rapper’s homes to seize phones and computers, sources told The Post.
- At least four Jane Does and one John Doe have been interviewed by New York prosecutors in connection to sex-trafficking allegations and a RICO case, sources told Rolling Stone.
- Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie (Cassandra Ventura) filed a lawsuit against him in November 2023 on several allegations, including rape and physical abuse for over a decade.
- Combs and Cassie settled the lawsuit one day after she filed it.
- In November 2023, the rapper was accused of drugging, filming and sexually assaulting a woman on a date in 1991.
- A third woman filed a lawsuit against the celebrity in November 2023, claiming that he and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns sexually assaulting her and a friend in the early 1990s.
- In December 2023, Combs was hit with a fourth sexual assault lawsuit that accused him and others of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at his NYC recording studio after drugging her and supplying her with alcohol.
- In September 2024, Diddy was sued by Dawn Richard, a participant on Combs’ 2004 MTV show “Making The Band,” claiming that he once broke into her dressing room and began groping her breasts and butt.
Combs has vehemently denied all the allegations and claimed that the plaintiffs were “looking for a quick pay day.” The only lawsuit he settled was with Ventura.
His lawyer admitted that the famous producer is not perfect, but said he was no criminal in a statement following his arrest Monday night.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sean “Diddy” Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community,” Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a statement.
“He is an imperfect person but Is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
If you have been sexually assaulted and live in New York, you can call 1-800-942-6906 for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the state, you can dial the 24/7 National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
Additional reporting by Ben Kochman and Larry Celona
