Targeted for several months by around ten complaints of rape and sexual assault, Sean Combs, his real name, has been in pre-trial detention since September 16.
Private parties at the heart of possible sex trafficking. While rapper and powerful hip-hop producer Sean Combs, alias P. Diddy, is still incarcerated on Saturday September 26, elements of the investigation are gradually being revealed. Federal prosecutors in New York accuse him of, “for decades”, “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to satisfy his sexual desires, protect his reputation and cover up his actions” during parties organized in hotel rooms or palaces, sometimes lasting several days. In total, the star is the target of around ten complaints for rape or sexual assault, to which was added a new complaint announced Tuesday during a press conference. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about these evenings nicknamed “Freak Offs”, which have also been the subject of multiple rumors for several days on social networks.
Fine parties in hotels
The former partner of Sean Combs, the American R&B singer Cassie, real name Casandra Ventura, is the first to have filed a civil complaint for rape and physical violence against the rapper in mid-November 2023. A case which was ultimately settled “amicably”according to an agreement that remained confidential. In a video from 2016, authenticated by CNNP. Diddy lashes out against the singer. We see the artist, simply wearing a towel around his waist, brutally grabbing her in a hotel corridor and throwing her to the ground, before kicking her several times.
However, this video, according to the Manhattan prosecutor’s office, was taken when Cassie was trying to escape from a “Freak Offs” party. But according to the defense, the description of these evenings differs in every way from that of the prosecution: all participants were consenting, including Cassie. “Is everyone used to having intimate relationships like this? No.”said Marc Agnifilo, the rapper’s lawyer, during the hearing on September 17. “Is this sex trafficking? No, not if everyone wants to be there,” he added, quoted by the New York Times. The lawyer claims that six men presented as prostitutes told him that they did not consider themselves as such.
It is during this procedure, according to the New York Timesthat Cassie said P. Diddy frequently directed “Freak Offs”, “in high-end hotels across the country”during which he ordered him “to pour ‘excessive’ quantities of oil on oneself” for baby and “telling him where to touch the prostitutes while he filmed and masturbated”.
Parties described as “dangerous”
P. Diddy, 54, is described by women who have filed complaints against him since November 2023 as a sexually violent predator, who used alcohol and drugs to obtain their submission. According to the indictment, the rapper relied on his employees, “the resources and influence of the multifaceted business empire he directed and controlled to create a criminal enterprise, whose members engaged in… sexual trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, obstruction of justice”.
In this American justice document, Sean Combs is depicted as the “coordinator of these parties called ‘Freak Offs'”reveals the New York Times in a long investigation. “He considered these forced encounters as personal artistic projectsdetail the investigators, and studied the way in which the candles should be arranged to obtain a particular brightness on his videos.”
These evenings are “the heart of this matter and they are inherently dangerous”summarized a prosecutor, Emily A. Johnson, during an appearance hearing during which Sean Combs pleaded “not guilty” to counts of trafficking for sexual exploitation and extortion. One of these parties took place at the Intercontinental Century Hotel in Los Angeles, says the New York Times.
Violent evenings with drugs
Another federal prosecutor from Manhattan, Damian Williams, cited by AFP, further describes a system based on “violence” to force women to have “long sexual relationships with sex workers”scenes that he “recorded” and during which the victims took substances such as ecstasy, GHB (also known as the “rape drug”) or ketamine. “When Combs didn’t get what he wanted, he was violent… kicking and dragging his victims, sometimes by the hair.”he said again.
According to elements of the indictment, cited by the New York TimesSean Combs used the videos he had shot as blackmail, “as a weapon to prevent participants from protesting”. According to the American daily, it was “horror shows”, “elaborate sex shows”, “which involved heavy drug use and forced sex, leaving participants so exhausted that they had to be given intravenous fluids to recover”.
Many rumors and speculations
Since P.Diddy’s arrest on September 16, speculation has been rife on social networks. Internet users are working to unearth and dissect archive videos of parties organized by the artist to guess the secrets and try to find out who the guests were. In ten yearsthese evenings were able to see hundreds of Hollywood celebrities parade, whom amateur investigators try to flush out. He However, it is impossible at the moment to name personalities who could have been aware of the violence mentioned in the indictment and the women’s complaints or even been present.
Internet users are also trying to determine possible victims of violence. Canadian singer Justin Bieber, whom P. Diddy took under his wing at the start of his career, when he was 15 years old, is at the heart of the speculation. Videos of some of their interactions resurface, reconsidered in light of the accusations against Sean Combs. Internet users think they see, in these short extracts, sometimes difficult to contextualize, elements confirming the thesis according to which the young boy was a victim of the actions of his mentor. In a 2009 documentary, P. Diddy thus promises to realize “crazy things” that he “cannot reveal”enough to fuel all the theories.
The lyrics of the song Lonely by the Canadian singer, released in 2021 and which mentions the difficulties of having been a child star, or the supposed coded messages of the clip of Yummyare also studied closely. Another song presented as performed by Justin Bieber was listened to millions of times on social networks, notably TikTok, in a few days. We would hear the artist singing: “I got lost at Diddy’s party.” However, according to specialists interviewed by CBS News, the title, which is not part of the artist’s discography, is probably the product of artificial intelligence.
Putting a coin back in the machine, rapper 50Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, said Wednesday that he was preparing a documentary series for Netflix on the accusations of sexual violence against P. Daddy. “This is a complex narrative that spans decades, not just the headlines or clips seen so far”he detailed in Variety. The rapper did not reveal further details about this project, but assures that the “benefits” will be used “to support victims of sexual assault”. Curtis Jackson also commits “to give a voice to the voiceless and present authentic and nuanced perspectives”.
