New York (AFP) – Sean “Diddy” Combs will plead not guilty on Tuesday to racketeering and sex trafficking charges, his lawyer said ahead of a court appearance by the superstar rapper. Combs, 54, was arrested on Monday by federal agents acting on a sealed indictment filed by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He is to be arraigned at a Manhattan courthouse and the indictment unsealed.
Combs’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, told reporters he already knows what the charges are going to be. “It’s going to be racketeering. It’s going to be sex trafficking,” he said. “And he’s not guilty. He’s innocent of these charges.” Agnifilo added that the music mogul’s “spirits are good.” “He’s going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might,” he said.
Combs is the target of several civil lawsuits that characterize him as a violent sexual predator who used alcohol and drugs to subdue his victims. The rapper’s luxury homes in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by agents in March in a heavily publicized bicoastal operation that indicated a federal investigation and potential criminal case was mounting against Combs.
The powerful music industry figure, who has gone by various monikers including Puff Daddy and P Diddy, was credited as being key to hip hop’s journey from the streets to luxury clubs. He has amassed vast wealth over the decades, not least due to his ventures in the liquor industry. Despite his efforts to cultivate the image of a smooth party kingpin and business magnate, a spate of lawsuits describe Combs as a violent man who used his celebrity to prey on women.
Combs has no major convictions but has long been trailed by allegations of physical assault, dating back to the 1990s. The floodgates opened last year after singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rape. The pair met when Ventura was 19 and Combs was 37, after which he signed her to his label and they began a relationship.
The bombshell suit was settled out of court, but a string of similarly lurid sexual assault claims followed — including one in December by a woman who alleged Combs and others gang-raped her when she was 17. Disturbing surveillance video then emerged in May showing Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Ventura, corroborating allegations she made in the now-settled case.
Born Sean John Combs on November 4, 1969, in Harlem, the artist entered the industry as an intern in 1990 at Uptown Records, where he eventually became a talent director. He gained a reputation as a party planner, which would be central to his brand as his fame rose. In 1991, he promoted a celebrity basketball game and concert at the City College of New York that left nine people dead after a stampede. The event was over capacity by thousands and resulted in a string of lawsuits, with Combs blamed for hiring inadequate security.
He was fired from Uptown and founded his own label, Bad Boy Records. That began a quick ascent to the top of East Coast hip hop, along with his disciple, the late The Notorious B.I.G. Combs boasted a number of major signed acts and production collaborations with the likes of Mary J Blige, Usher, Lil’ Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey, and Boyz II Men. He was also a Grammy-winning rapper in his own right, debuting with the chart-topping single “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” and his album “No Way Out.” With an unapologetic swagger, he also ventured into Hollywood, reality television, and fashion and had high-profile romantic links with the likes of Jennifer Lopez.
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