Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been arrested and faces federal charges in New York

NEW YORK –

Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested Monday night in New York City, where he faces an undisclosed felony charge, prosecutors announced Monday night.

Details of the charges he faces have only been revealed by prosecutors, but the hip-hop mogul has faced a series of sexual assault allegations from women in recent months.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that federal agents arrested Combs. “We expect to move forward with unsealing the indictments in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”

Combs’ attorney, Mark Agnifilo, issued a statement saying, “We are disappointed by the federal prosecutors’ decision to prosecute Mr. Combs fairly.”

He added that Combs had gone to New York last week to await the arraignment.

“He is an imperfect person, but not a criminal,” Agnifilo said.

Combs was arrested in the lobby of a Manhattan hotel and remains in federal custody, said a person familiar with the arrest who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The criminal charges are a significant, but not unexpected, setback for one of the most famous and celebrated producers in hip-hop history.

The federal investigation into Combs, 58, came to light when Homeland Security Investigations agents simultaneously served search warrants and searched Combs’ residences in Los Angeles and Miami on March 25.

His defense attorney, Aaron Dyer, called the raids a “crude use of military-grade force” and said the charges were “baseless,” adding that Combs “is innocent and will continue to fight” to clear his name.

In November, her former protégé and boyfriend, R&B singer Cassie, became the first person to sue her for sexual assault, alleging that there was a steady stream of sex workers in drug-fueled environments, where some of those in were coerced into sex or abused.

Combs, also known as Puff Daddy, was at the center of the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop battle of the 1990s as the partner and producer of the Notorious B.I.G., who was murdered in 1997. He survived the era, his public image mellowing with age into a dapper party figure in Hollywood and the Hamptons, a businessman and a loving father who doted on his children, some of whom lost their mothers in 2018.

At a court hearing in November, Cassie alleged years of abuse, including beatings and rape. Her lawsuit also alleges Combs engaged in sex trafficking by “requiring her to engage in coercive sexual acts in various jurisdictions” and by “harboring and transporting Plaintiff for sexual purposes induced by force, fraud, or coercion.” She also said he forced her to help him buy and sell sex workers, with whom Combs forced Cassie to have sex during filming.

The lawsuit was settled the next day, but the backlash is taking too long. Combs has lost allies, supporters and those who have denied his conviction since CNN leaked a video of him punching Cassie, kicking her and throwing her to the ground in a hotel hallway in May.

The next day, in his first real admission of guilt since the series of accusations began, Combs posted a video on social media in which he apologized, saying, “I was angry when I did it” and “I’m upset now.” Cassie’s lawsuit was followed by at least a half-dozen other lawsuits in the following months.

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging that Combs forced her to call prostitutes and pressure her to have sex with them.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago, when she was 17.

The woman who filed the lawsuit, April Lampos, said she was a college student in 1994 when she met Combs and began a series of “horrific sexual encounters” with him and his entourage that lasted for years.

Combs and his attorneys have denied nearly all of the allegations in the lawsuit.

While authorities have not publicly said the allegations have triggered a criminal investigation, Dyer said that when the arrest warrants were obtained, the case was based on “unsubstantiated allegations in the civil lawsuits.”

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually harassed unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie and Lampros did.

As the founder of Bad Boy Records, Combs became one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades. Along with the Notorious B.I.G., he collaborated with a number of notable artists including Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans, and 112 worked with.

Combs’ business roles outside of music, including high-grossing private label liquor brands, a media company and the Sean John fashion line, took a major hit when the allegations surfaced.

When the leaked video of Cassie’s beating was released, the implications became even greater. Howard University cut ties with him and gave him back the key to New York at the mayor’s request.

___

Dalton reported from Los Angeles.