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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Legal Troubles, Explained: From ‘Freak-Offs’ to Sex Trafficking Charges to 120 Upcoming Lawsuits
Explore the extensive legal troubles of Sean 'Diddy Combs, including charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and more.
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Sean Combs, long known by rap aliases like Diddy and Puffy, is facing an avalanche of lawsuits and legal trouble. The latest in his ongoing issues includes three separate lawsuits filed by two Jane Does and a John Doe who allege drugging and sexual assault.
The first lawsuit was filed on behalf of John Doe, a male adult entertainer booked to perform a strip show in a Las Vegas hotel room for Combs in 2007. After Doe danced and stripped, Combs paid him $1,500 and subsequently booked him for at least two additional gigs where he performed for Combs and different women. During one engagement, Combs provided him with drinks and asked him to put baby oil on his skin. Shortly after, he became “unusually sleepy” and “disoriented,” and Combs instructed him to perform acts outside of his scope including masturbating while Combs and a woman had sex.
The man returned several times to perform at Combs’ request, with Combs allegedly dangling the prospect of a profitable music career. During their encounters, which continued for years, Doe stated that Combs touched his penis and directed him to engage in intercourse with a woman. He said that if he denied Combs’ requests, the mogul would fly into a rage and throw objects at him. On one or more occasions, Doe woke up with semen in his anus and was under the impression that Combs had raped him. Doe claims that Combs videotaped him as collateral, and continued to work with Combs until he realized he never had any intention of helping his music career. He cut off contact with him in Nov. 2012.
Popular on VarietyTwo other lawsuits were filed by Jane Does allege drugging and assault. The first suit was filed on behalf of one Doe who was a hip-hop dancer for live productions and acted in motion pictures. She claims that in the 1990s, she attended a private “shadow party” in New York City hosted by Combs, who prevented her from leaving when she felt uncomfortable around the clientele. As she began to feel that she was drugged, Combs allegedly forced her to engage in sexual acts with him and others at the party. Doe also detailed another instance at NYC club Limelight where she was held captive by Combs’ security guard, who she was dating. Combs and the guard later took her to the Trump Hotel where the guard physically and sexually assaulted her while Combs watched.
Another Jane Doe filed suit against Combs stemming from an incident at Combs’ Hamptons house party in 1997. She attended on the promise of earning $2,000 working as a bottle service attendant at the party. Doe and others arrived at the event and were taken to a separate room until they were called to join the main party, during which Combs entered to encourage them to drink. After one beverage, Doe became woozy and slipped in and out of consciousness. She alleges that Combs’ associates raped her at his direction, and recalls Combs being sodomized by another man. She also detailed a similar instance at the Trump Hotel that resembles the allegations from the other Doe.
In a statement shared with Variety, attorneys for Combs stated, “As we’ve said before, Mr. Combs cannot respond to every new publicity stunt, even in response to claims that are facially ridiculous or demonstrably false. Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone—man or woman, adult or minor.”
Below is an overview of the accusations that have been leveled against Combs, as well as the answers to frequently asked questions about his cases.
Combs is currently incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. He was arrested on Sept. 16, 2024 in Manhattan by Homeland Security on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. He pleaded not guilty to a grand jury indictment. He was denied bail by two separate judges, and is set to remain behind bars until his May 5, 2025 trial. Combs could face life in prison if found guilty of the racketeering charge.
Evidence of the charges was sought on March 25, when the Department of Homeland Security raided the rapper’s homes in Miami, New York and Los Angeles. Electronics including computers were seized due to containing potential evidence.
The federal criminal indictment describes Diddy’s wild sex parties filled with illegal activity, known as “freak-offs,” in great detail. They would frequently involve group sex, exhibitionism, sex workers, copious amounts of drugs and baby oil, and could be filmed and last for days.
Combs’ high-profile ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, filed a lengthy lawsuit against Combs on Nov. 16, 2023, accusing him of physical abuse, rape and sex trafficking. This included Ventura’s accusation that she participated in numerous “freak-offs,” where, as detailed in her lawsuit, Combs “treated the forced encounter as a personal art project, adjusting the candles he used for lighting to frame the videos he took.”
The lawsuit was settled privately the next day with undisclosed terms. On May 17, 2024, CNN released hotel surveillance footage of Combs beating Ventura in Los Angeles in 2016, which led to Combs issuing a public apology — the sole time he acknowledged wrongdoing since this saga began.
Ventura’s headline-making lawsuit action was just the beginning of a wave of legal action against Combs from women and men he allegedly assaulted. His attorney, Erica Wolff, issued a statement on Oct. 1 denying his culpability in the upcoming wave of suits. “Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors,” said Wolff. “He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”
Nov. 23, 2023: Joi Dickerson-Neal accused Combs of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 1991. In a separate lawsuit filed that day, Liza Gardner sued Combs and R&B singer Aaron Hall for sexually assaulting her and a friend in 1990.
Dec. 6, 2023: A Jane Doe claimed that Combs, then-Bad Boy Records’ president Harve Pierre and another man raped her in New York City while she was a teenager.
Feb. 26, 2024: Producer Rodney Jones alleges Combs sexually assaulted him while he was an employee from Sept. 2022 to Nov. 2023.
Apr. 4, 2024: Combs is named as a co-defendant in a suit that claims his son Christian “King” Combs sexually assaulted a woman on a yacht. The suit, filed in Los Angeles, alleges that Combs paid to cover up the assault.
May 21, 2024: Crystal McKinney, a model, accused Combs of sexual assault in 2003.
May 24, 2024: April Lampros sued Combs for sexual assault and battery for a series of incidents from 1994 into the 2000s.
June 10, 2024: Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith filed a lawsuit saying he was sexually assaulted by Combs at a 1997 party.
Sept. 10, 2024: “Making the Band” star Dawn Richard sued Combs, alleging sexual battery, sex trafficking, sexual assault and more.
Sept. 24, 2024: Thalia Graves sued Combs, saying he drugged and raped her in 2001.
September 27, 2024: Jane Doe, a Florida model, sued Combs, alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted.
October 14, 2024: Six lawsuits, two from women and four from men, were filed against Combs in Manhattan. One man claimed that Combs assaulted him when he was 16 years old in 1998.
October 20, 2024: Combs was hit with an additional six lawsuits, with one claiming that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in 2000.
October 28, 2024: A John Doe filed a lawsuit against Combs alleging that the mogul drugged and raped him when he was 10 years old. Another filed a similar suit claiming that he was sexually assaulted when he was 17 years old while auditioning for “Making the Band” in 2008.
November 19, 2024: Five additional suits were filed against Combs by three men and two women who make similar allegations of being drugged and assaulted. One of the women was 17 at the time described in the incident.
December 8, 2024: Jay-Z was added as a defendant in a refiled case, which prompted the rapper to issue a swift, fiery rebuttal claiming that the allegations were untrue.
December 12, 2024: Three men filed suits against Combs, alleging similar accusations of sexual assault. One claimed that he was offered $2,500 after an encounter where he claimed that Combs raped him while others filmed the incident.
December 20, 2024: Two women filed lawsuits stating that they were drugged and sexually assaulted during separate incidents in 1991 and 2006.
January 13, 2025: A Jane Doe claimed that Combs and two of his male employees drugged and raped her when she was 16 years old.
February 3, 2025: An aspiring male musician stated that Combs drugged and groped him during an afterparty in New York City.
February 4, 2025: Three new lawsuits were filed, two by Jane Does alleging drugging and assault in the 1990s and another by a John Doe who was hired by Combs as an adult entertainer in 2007.
On Oct. 1, attorney Tony Buzbee said 120 more lawsuits are expected from alleged victims he is working with, which include assaults that took place in the 2000s and 2010s.
In a statement shared with Variety, Combs’ attorneys said, “The press conference and 1-800 number that preceded today’s barrage of filings were clear attempts to garner publicity. Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone—adult or minor, man or woman.”
The first batch of six lawsuits, filed on Oct. 14, lays out allegations from several men and women, including a then-16-year-old boy.
Prior to Ventura’s allegations, Combs was sued by Cindy Rueda in 2017 for sexual harassment and retaliation. The lawsuit was settled in February 2019.
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