“Extortion”, “sex trafficking” and “forced prostitution”… with the trial of rapper P. Diddy, a word finally released in the music industry?

American rapper P. Diddy, also called Puff Daddy, has been incarcerated in New York since September 16 following around ten complaints of sexual assault. This affair affects the entire American music industry and even the world of show business as a whole as the rapper was linked to numerous celebrities. The scale of this trial and the notoriety of the people potentially concerned could lead to a MeToo movement similar to that experienced by the world of cinema following the “Weinstein affair”.

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Singer Dawn Richard filed a complaint against Sean Combs, P. Diddy’s legal name, on September 10 in a federal court in New York. This author and composer closely collaborated and frequented the rapper in the early 2000s. This complaint contains the sexual assaults, kidnapping and mistreatment of which she says she was the victim but also various scenes of violence, which she allegedly witnessed.

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The ten complaints filed outline a system of violence and oppression entirely structured around the pleasure and security of the artist as reported by Libération. P. Diddy has been the target of a federal investigation for sex trafficking since March. He is currently in pre-trial detention on charges of “corruption”, “extortion”, “sex trafficking” and “forced prostitution”.

The influence of the accused in his environment explains the comparison with Harvey Weinstein

The parallel with Harvey Weinstein comes in particular from the secrecy and complicity which reigned in Sean Combs’ personal and professional entourage, allowing him to indulge in these practices.

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Cassie, a famous R’nB singer who shared her life, filed a complaint in 2023. She accuses him of having led her into an “ostentatious, frantic lifestyle overflowing with drugs”. She adds that she witnessed “a decade of violent behavior and deranged demands.” Among the facts reported, a rape, which occurred at his home after their separation, or even forced and filmed sexual acts with sex workers but also an attack on the car of another rapper, Kid Cudi. The accused and his alleged victim agreed the day after the complaint on an agreement which spared P. Diddy the revelation of dozens of probably compromising documents. CNN subsequently revealed images, taken from a hotel’s video surveillance, of incredible violence, confirming Cassie’s words. We see the rapper deliver several violent blows to Cassie before trying to pull her by the hair, probably to force her to return to the room.

Long evenings lasting several days which give pride of place to the worst sexual excesses

At the heart of this complaint, the rapper’s so-called “freak off” evenings during which he forced his partner, sometimes for several days, to have relations with sex workers, which he denies. These evenings would have been made possible by the complicity of its employees, forced into silence by the influence of their employer who had total power over the rest of their careers. Another element which made it possible to silence these actions, the habit adopted by P. Diddy of filming his own rapes in order to coerce the victims under penalty of revelations of his intimate and compromising images.

Beyond the extreme seriousness of the acts in question, this trial captivates America because potential stars could be involved because they were concerned by these evenings. On social networks, the names of Donald Trump, Mariah Carrey, Paris Hilton and Leonardo DiCaprio are mentioned without any evidence to support these rumors. Above all, since the revelation of P. Diddy’s actions, many questions have arisen around the case of Justin Bieber, whom the rapper took under his wing when he was only 15 years old. Many Internet users believe, in view of certain interactions which resurface, that the Canadian was a victim of his mentor.

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For Tiffany Red, a close friend of Cassie interviewed by the New York Times and quoted by Libération, “we needed someone very famous so that the industry would finally understand.” The future will tell whether the notoriety of the victims like that of the accused will allow freedom of speech in the world of music.