After Sean “Diddy” Combs broke his social media silence on Easter Sunday following the raids on his Los Angeles and Miami homes on March 25, he lost thousands of followers.
The raids were part of a sex trafficking investigation, The Associated Press reported. Two of Combs’ sons, Justin and Christian, were spotted in handcuffs outside the Los Angeles home during the raid. No arrests were made, and no one has been charged.
Combs has since been spotted in Miami, and on Sunday the 54-year-old music mogul took to Instagram to post a series of photos of his 1-year-old daughter, Love, for Easter.
“HAPPY EASTER from Baby Love,” Combs captioned the post. Combs has muted the comments section of several of his social media accounts.
Sean “Diddy” Combs on October 4, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. He has lost followers after he posted to Instagram on Sunday.TIMOTHY NORRIS/GETTY IMAGES
However, it looks like his post resulted in him losing a chunk of followers. According to Social Blade, a social media analytics website, Combs lost a total of 21,897 followers on Monday.
Newsweek emailed a representative for Combs for comment Tuesday.
This is a big change compared to previous days, when he was actually gaining followers. On Sunday he gained 54 new followers, on Saturday he acquired an extra 1,784 and on Friday he gained 1,661 new followers. In the last 30 days, he has lost 27,698 Instagram followers and at the time of writing, his follower count sat at 20,207,215.
The rapper has seven children by four women: adopted son Quincy, 32; Justin, 30; Christian, 25; Chance, 17; twins D’Lila and Jessie, 17; and Love, whose mother is Dana Tran, a cybersecurity professional and model.
Combs announced Love’s birth in December 2022 when he posted on X, formerly Twitter. “I’m so blessed to welcome my baby girl Love Sean Combs to the world. Mama Combs, Quincy, Justin, Christian, Chance, D’Lila, Jessie and myself all love you so much! God is the greatest!” he wrote.
Federal Raids
Homeland Security Investigations said in a statement that it had “executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners.”
In response to the raids and subsequent media coverage, Combs’ attorney, Aaron Dyer, told Newsweek in an email on March 26: “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated. Mr. Combs was never detained but spoke to and cooperated with authorities.
“This unprecedented ambush—paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence— leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits,” Dyer added. “There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”
In a lawsuit filed against Combs in February and amended on March 25, music producer Rodney Jones accused Combs of coercing him to solicit prostitutes and then pressuring him to have sex with them. Jones alleged in the lawsuit that he was sexually harassed, drugged and threatened by Combs for more than a year. Jones produced several tracks on Combs’ The Love Album: Off the Grid and is seeking $30 million in damages.
Combs’ attorney Shawn Holley has disputed the allegations, previously telling Newsweek that “we have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.”
