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Sean “Diddy” Combs was as soon as one of the most in-demand entertainers and producers in the trade, with a roster of main energy gamers main his Bad Boys Records label.
Through worthwhile music and enterprise ventures, Diddy earned billionaire standing in 2022, in response to Forbes.
His life in the highlight hasn’t all the time been so shiny, although. On Monday, two of Combs’ residences in Los Angeles and Miami had been raided in connection to a federal human trafficking investigation.
The music mogul declared his innocence in a press release supplied to Fox News Digital, however legal specialists warned that “the damage to his reputation may be irreparable” even when the investigation would not result in his arrest or prison fees.
SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS DECLARES INNOCENCE AFTER FEDERAL AGENTS RAID HIS HOMES
Sean Combs has a protracted historical past of legal points. (Getty Images)
Monday’s investigation additionally is not Combs’ first run-in with the regulation.
In April 1999, Combs was arrested and initially charged with felony second-degree assault and prison mischief after attacking music government Steve Stoute following a dispute over music video imagery involving his consumer, Nas. Combs later pleaded responsible to a lesser cost of harassment and reportedly paid Stoute $500,000 in an out-of-court settlement.
Nine months later, Combs, his then-girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, and rapper Shyne, had been at a nightclub in New York when gunfire broke out, injuring three folks together with a girl who was shot in the face. Lopez and Combs fled in his Lincoln and had been later pulled over by NYPD for working a pink mild.
RAPPER SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS’ HOMES RAIDED BY HOMELAND SECURITY
A gun was present in the car, and Jennifer and Sean had been arrested. Lopez was let go, however Combs and Shyne had been every charged with a number of offenses. While Combs was discovered not responsible at trial, Shyne was convicted on 5 of eight counts, and was sentenced to 10 years in jail. Lopez and Combs broke up in 2001 after courting for 2 years.
Combs was arrested in 1999 following a capturing at a nightclub in New York. (Getty Images)
Sean and Jennifer dated for 2 years earlier than calling it quits in 2001. (Vince Bucci)
TV host Roger Mills sued Combs in 2001 and accused him of assault, false imprisonment and destruction of property, claiming Combs attacked him throughout an interview when he requested the rapper if he had any involvement in the loss of life of Notorious B.I.G. Years later, a courtroom sided in favor of “Diddy.”
Gerard Rechnitzer claimed that Combs punched him and pushed his girlfriend outdoors of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in a lawsuit filed in 2007. Combs settled the lawsuit one yr later, and phrases of the settlement weren’t disclosed.
In 2015, Combs was arrested and charged with assault with a lethal weapon stemming from an altercation with a coach at his son’s school.
Sean allegedly swung a kettlebell at an assistant UCLA soccer coach after they yelled at his oldest son, Justin, now 30. “The various accounts of the event and charges that are being reported are wholly inaccurate,” Nathalie Moar, a rep for Combs Enterprises, stated in a press release to The Associated Press at the time. “What we can say now is that any actions taken by Mr. Combs were solely defensive in nature to protect himself and his son.”
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Cindy Rueda, “Diddy”‘s former private chef, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in opposition to Combs in 2017, and claimed she was “regularly summoned by Mr. Combs to prepare and serve entrees and appetizers to him and his guests while Mr. Combs and/or his guests were engaged in or immediately following sexual activity.”
The swimsuit was settled in 2019.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs had a number of of his properties raided by Homeland Security on March 25. (Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images for Sean “Diddy” Combs)
By 2023, Combs could be hit with a number of lawsuits. In November, Cassie, legally often known as Casandra Ventura, accused “Diddy” of raping her in her own residence, enduring “over a decade” of his “violent behavior and disturbed demands” and forcing her to have intercourse with male prostitutes whereas he watched and filmed.
Combs denied Cassie’s claims in a press release supplied to Fox News Digital at the time.
“Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations. For the past six months, Mr. Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail,” his lawyer stated. “Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s reputation and seeking a payday.”
One day after she filed the declare, Sean and Cassie got here to an amicable decision, and she or he dropped the lawsuit. “I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control. I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support,” Cassie wrote. Combs stated in his personal assertion that the choice was agreed upon by each events, and he had no ailing will in the direction of the singer.
Three extra girls got here ahead with claims simply earlier than New York’s Adult Survivors Act expired, every claiming sexual abuse by Combs in separate incidents.
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A music producer who sued “Diddy” for sexual assault in February added actor Cuba Gooding Jr. to his criticism Monday. Jones claimed he lived with the “I’ll Be Missing You” singer for prolonged durations of time and accused Combs of unsolicited groping and sexual touching.
Cassie claimed she endured greater than a decade of abuse at the fingers of Sean “Diddy” Combs. (Getty Images)
Homeland Security officers raided Combs’ LA residence on Monday. (Getty Images)
A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the raids on Diddy’s properties Monday had been linked to a federal human trafficking investigation. It’s unclear if the rapper is the goal of the federal brokers’ investigation.
Criminal protection lawyer Donna Rotunno stated with HSI showing at Diddy’s doorstep, it is “just the beginning” as to what might come subsequent for the three-time Grammy award-winning rapper who not solely discovered his personal success in the enterprise, but additionally helped domesticate the careers of award-winning artists together with Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, R&B singer Usher, Faith Evans, Mase, and Lil Kim.
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“They’re looking for digital evidence, documents … financial records. Those are the types of things that they would be taking out of the house,” Rotunno advised Fox News Digital. “Logs of any type of records that would lend to the fact finding information that they’re looking for. It’s a serious thing. Trafficking could mean a whole lot of different things when it comes to … we don’t know the ages of the people. We don’t really know any of the allegations at this point.”
HSI officers additionally searched his residence in Miami on Monday. (Getty Images)
Judie Saunders, a associate with ASK LLP, famous that Combs’ “liberty, business, personal reputation and legacy are at all stake and may be subject to an immediate demise.”
She advised Fox News Digital, “The search of his residences by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations’ Transnational Organized Crime Division is a clear indication of the severity of the government’s investigation and possible charges that Combs may face in the near future.”
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On Tuesday, Combs declared his innocence and denied the “meritless accusations” waged in opposition to him as he spoke out for the first time following the raids.
“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” his lawyer, Aaron Dyer, stated Tuesday in a press release supplied to Fox News Digital. “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated. Mr. Combs was never detained but spoke to and cooperated with authorities.
“Despite media hypothesis, neither Mr. Combs nor any of his members of the family have been arrested nor has their potential to journey been restricted in any approach. This unprecedented ambush — paired with a sophisticated, coordinated media presence — results in a untimely rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing greater than a witch hunt based mostly on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits,” he added.
“There has been no discovering of prison or civil legal responsibility with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is harmless and can proceed to battle each single day to clear his title.”
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