Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is currently in jail as he faces charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, has been accused of setting fire to a car—believed to have belonged to musician Kid Cudi—between December 2011 and January 2012, amid a federal indictment and numerous civil lawsuits pending against the music mogul.
Combs has denied wrongdoing across all of the lawsuits and not been criminally charged. (Photo by … [+]
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Timeline
Thalia Graves filed a federal lawsuit in New York on Tuesday claiming she was offered a glass of wine by Combs and Sherman in 2001, when she was 25, that made her “lightheaded, dizzy and physically weak” before she lost consciousness and was raped by the two men her while her hands were tied behind her back.
Combs is sharing a unit with disgraced former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, according to The New York Times, as the former crypto mogul serves out a 25-year sentence in prison for counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering linked to a scheme that lost former FTX customers, lenders and investors several billion dollars.
A memo filed with New York judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky accuses Combs and co-conspirators of setting fire to an unnamed person’s car using a Moltov cocktail in an accusation that matches one brought by Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, who said in a lawsuit filed last year that Combs blew up a car owned by rapper Kid Cudi.
A federal court in Manhattan unseals charges against Combs for racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, alleging he “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
Combs is arrested in Manhattan after being indicted by a grand jury.
Federal investigators may bring Combs’ accusers to testify before a grand jury soon and most plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits against the rapper have already been interviewed by investigators, sources told CNN—a move that could indicate prosecutors are looking to charge somebody, though no charges have been filed yet.
Plaintiff April Lampros accuses Combs in a lawsuit filed in New York on Thursday of sexual assault over four “terrifying sexual encounters” between 1995 and 2001, including three incidents of rape and one instance of Combs forcing her to take ecstasy.
Former model Crystal McKinney files a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court accusing the rapper of drugging and sexually assaulting her at his New York recording studio in 2003.
Cassie Ventura, Combs’ ex-girlfriend, speaks out after CNN obtained a 2016 video of Combs attacking her in a hotel hallway, stating on Instagram Thursday morning that domestic violence “broke” her and she will “always be recovering” from her past—Combs later apologized for the video.
In February, producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones sues the rapper in New York in February and alleges he was “subjected to unwanted advances by associates of Diddy at his direction” and was forced to engage in relations with sex workers he hired. In a set of widely covered allegations, Jones says in the lawsuit that Combs regularly hosted “sex-trafficking parties” with underage women and illegal drugs, and implies record label executives who looked the other way financially benefited from access to celebrities and dignitaries like the British royal Prince Harry, who is not accused of any wrongdoing or of attending parties himself (Combs’ attorney tells the Los Angeles Times the suit includes “reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction”).
Combs is hit with another sexual assault suit in December, accusing the rapper of drugging and participating in a gang rape of the unnamed woman in 2003, when the accuser was 17 years old.
A woman named Joie Dickerson-Neal alleges in a lawsuit Combs drugged her, sexually assaulted her and secretly recorded the assault while she was a college student in 1991.
An anonymous plaintiff accuses Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall of raping her and a friend in 1990 or 1991 after meeting at an MCA Records event in New York—a suit that, like the Dickerson-Neal complaint, was filed shortly before the expiration of a New York law temporarily allowing lawsuits for older assault allegations that would ordinarily be past the statute of limitations.
Ventura’s $30 million suit is settled the day after it was filed for an undisclosed amount, with Ventura telling CNN she chose to “resolve this matter amicably,” while Combs’ attorney says the settlement was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing” and didn’t change his denial of the allegations.
Cassie Ventura files the suit against Combs, alleging he raped her in 2018 and subjected her to a years-long abusive relationship that included physical abuse and his assertion of “complete control” over her personal and professional life.
Contra
Combs has denied all of the allegations against him with his attorneys characterizing some of the lawsuits and their accusations to Forbes as money grabs, “baseless” or “sickening.”
What To Watch For
An upcoming docuseries. Producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson said Tuesday that Netflix had won a “bidding war” for a docuseries about the string of recent abuse, rape and sex trafficking allegations against Combs. Jackson confirmed in a tweet Tuesday that the streamer bought the G-Unit Film & Television series about Combs he first started teasing in December, adding that, “if more victims keep coming out, I’m gonna need more episodes.” Proceeds from the film go to victims of sexual assault, Jackson said in November.
Tangent
Combs posted to Instagram in May to apologize for his “disgusting” behavior in the surveillance video that showed him grabbing, dragging and kicking Cassie in 2016. The video seemed to back up much of the claims Ventura made in her November lawsuit, which an attorney for Combs called “offensive and outrageous” at the time. Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office called the video “extremely disturbing” and “difficult to watch” but said no charges would be filed because the apparent assault took place beyond the statue of limitation in California. In his apology video, Combs said the events occurred in “one of the darkest times” of his life and said he was “truly sorry” for his behavior. Meredith Firetog, one of Ventura’s lawyers, later slammed the apology as disingenuous in a statement and said it was “more about himself than the many people he has hurt.” In Ventura’s November lawsuit, she accused Combs of paying the hotel in which the surveillance video was captured $50,000 for the footage.
Surprising Fact
Combs’ former personal chef, Cindy Rueda, accused Combs in a since-settled 2017 sexual harassment lawsuit of having her prepare and serve food to the rapper and his guests while they were engaged in sexual activity or right after they had done so.
Key Background
The allegations contained in lawsuits against Combs date as far back as the 1990s, when he founded his own record label, Bad Boy Records, which Rolling Stone has called “one of the most influential hip-hop labels of all time.” The label has signed major artists like The Notorious B.I.G., Janelle Monáe and Cassie, and has put out several of Combs’ own albums, including “Press Play” and “Last Train To Paris.” Combs sold a 50% stake in Bad Boy to Warner Music Group in a reported $30 million deal in 2005. Combs has built a fortune through Bad Boy Records, several liquor brands, a fashion label and other ventures. He sold his share in the DeLeón tequila brand for $200 million earlier this year. He was ranked No. 14 on Forbes’ list of the highest-paid entertainers in 2022, making an estimated $90 million that year. One of the rapper’s raided homes is located in Holmby Hills, an affluent neighborhood where Combs purchased a home for $40 million ten years ago.
