The fall of a big name in hip-hop. American rapper and producer P. Diddy, 54, was charged with “sex trafficking” and “extortion” on September 17, 2024 and remanded in custody pending trial.
He is accused by federal prosecutors in New York of putting his « empire » in the service of a violent sex trafficking system, while a tenth complaint for sexual assault was filed against him on September 24. We take stock of this matter in four questions.
1. Who is P. Diddy?
Sean Combs, his real name, was born in 1969 in New York. It was in 1990, as an intern, that he took his first steps in the music industry at Uptown Records, a record company where he became a talent recruiter. The young wolf is building a reputation as a party organizer which will only grow with his notoriety, reports theAgence France-Presse (AFP). And this despite the tragedy that occurred during a concert he supervised in New York in 1991: nine people died in a stampede because too many tickets were sold.
Read also: The rapper “Puff Daddy”, already targeted by several complaints, accused of sex trafficking by an actress
Accused of neglecting security, he faces a series of trials. Uptown Records is parting ways with it. He took the opportunity to found his own label in 1993, Bad Boy Records, and launch his meteoric rise. His record company reveals big names in American rap like Mary J. Blige and Notorious BIG. The latter became the king of the East Coast in 1994, with his first album Ready to Die. He was assassinated in 1997.
Starting in the late 1990s, P. Diddy also made a name for himself as a rapper, initially under the name Puff Daddy. His single Can’t Nobody Hold Me Downreleased in 1997, won a Grammy Award. No Way Outthe album on which the title appears, remains a classic.
During his career, Sean Combs has collaborated with many big names including Usher, Mariah Carey and rapper Lil’Kim. At the same time, the artist takes care of his bling-bling image and his relationship with the actress and singer Jennifer Lopez between 1999 and 2001 reinforces his media coverage.
In recent years, he has tried his hand at philanthropy and tried to improve his reputation, going so far as to take on yet another nickname, Brother Love. Invited in 2014 during a graduation ceremony in front of a university in Washington, the artist, whose father was killed during a drug sale, assured that he wanted “carry on the entrepreneurial spirit of (his) father but in an honest way”reminds himAFP.
The magazine Forbes estimates his current personal fortune at 400 million dollars (360 million euros), which is said to have halved in recent years under the weight of risky investments and a seriously damaged reputation.
2. What is he accused of?
“For decades”the rapper “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to satisfy his sexual desires, protect his reputation and cover up his actions”according to the indictment unveiled Tuesday September 17 by the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office.
Several women accuse P. Diddy of being a violent sexual predator, using alcohol and drugs to obtain their submission. The first suspicions of sexual assault against him date back to the beginnings of his rise in the 1990s, but it was his ex-partner, the R&B singer Cassie, who was the first to break the silence in mid-November 2023 .
In a civil complaint, she accuses the rapper of rape in 2018 and denounces a decade of “violent behavior” and“deviant demands” on his part, such as sexual relations with male prostitutes. This matter was resolved by a financial arrangement.
Read also: Domestic violence ‘broke me,’ singer Cassie says after P. Diddy’s apology
Since then, nine other complaints have been filed against the rapper. A former porn actress, Adria English, notably accused him at the beginning of July of having used her “as a sexual pawn for the pleasure and financial benefit of other people”between 2004 and 2009.
The latest complaint dates back to September 24: a woman accuses P. Diddy of having “brutally raped” in 2001 in the studios of his production company Bad Boy Records, in New York, with the help of an accomplice. According to the complaint, she had been drugged and tied up by her two attackers, who allegedly filmed the scene.
Federal prosecutor Damian Williams described 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 (the rapist 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 the indictment relayed by theAFPthe rapper relied on his employees, “the resources and influence of the multi-faceted business empire he directed and controlled to create a criminal enterprise whose members engaged […] trafficking for sexual exploitation, forced labor, kidnapping, obstruction of justice”.
3. What is his line of defense?
P. Diddy initially rejected the complaints against him outright. “These are trumped-up charges, falsely alleging misconduct dating back more than 30 years, and filed at the last minute.”assured one of its spokespersons in November 2023, quoted by the magazine Rolling Stone .
This same source saw it as an attempt to “to extract money” to the rapper: “Because of Mr. Combs’ fame and success, he is an easy target for anonymous accusers who lie without conscience or consequence to gain financial advantage. »
But the damning elements have multiplied, in particular the video recordings of his freak offs (the big parties that the rapper organized and where he allegedly engaged in sexual assault) and the evidence found in March during a search of his luxury residences in Miami and Los Angeles, including bottles of lubricant and weapons.
The rapper and producer admitted behavior « inexcusable »reports The World . Although he pleaded “not guilty” to the charges of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation and extortion, he said he was ready to cooperate with the courts to “clear his name in court” facing “unfair prosecutions”said his lawyers at the time of his arrest.
4. What does he risk?
If he is found guilty of all the charges against him, P. Diddy faces a sentence of between 15 years in prison and life in prison, according to a press release from the US Department of Justice cited by Newsweek .
Former prosecutor Elie Honig explained to the TV channel CNN that the charge of “sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion” constitutes a “extremely serious charge”. As this is a federal prosecution against the rapper (therefore national), the accusations “result in higher potential penalties” that if P. Diddy had been prosecuted by the simple State of New York, specifies the expert.
While awaiting trial, the American hip-hop mogul was placed in detention under suicide watch, due to a psychiatric state considered fragile. Federal justice rejected the artist’s lawyers’ appeal against his pretrial detention, despite a proposed bail of $50 million, the value of one of his residences in Miami.
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