(NewsNation) — Two of rapper and record executive Sean “Diddy” Combs’ properties were searched Monday, one in Los Angeles and the other in Miami, by federal Homeland Security agents along with other law enforcement.
NewsNation affiliate WPIX reported this is part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by New York federal authorities.
Videos show officials moving into the Los Angeles house and placing multiple people in handcuffs.
While the specific reason for the raids was not immediately made clear, they come after a number of lawsuits filed against Combs in the past few months over alleged sexual misconduct.
First lawsuit by Cassie Ventura
Nov. 16, 2023
R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, sues Combs, alleging in New York federal court that he brought her into his “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle” when she was just 19 and he was 37. In the lawsuit, Ventura details a yearslong relationship that included beatings and rapes, saying that a pattern of abuse began as soon as the relationship started.
Combs’ attorney Ben Brafman said he “vehemently denies” the allegations.
Nov. 17, 2023
Combs and Ventura announce they settled the suit. A news release said the two reached a deal to their “mutual satisfaction,” though the terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The deal was reached “amicably,” Ventura said in a statement in which she thanked her family, fans and lawyers.
In his own statement, Combs said he wished “Cassie and her family all the best.”
Two more women come forward
Nov. 23, 2023
Two lawsuits are filed a day before the expiration of a New York law that allowed victims of sexual abuse a one-year window to file civil action, regardless of the statute of limitations.
Both filings described sexual assault, beatings and forced drugging by Combs in the early 1990s, when he was a talent director and party promoter in New York City.
One of the women, Joi Dickerson, said she was a student at Syracuse University when, while on a date, Combs “intentionally drugged” her, then brought her home and sexually assaulted her. Dickerson alleges Combs videotaped the assault and shared it with friends in the music industry, an act that contributed to her “severe depression.”
The other lawsuit was brought by an unnamed woman who said Combs and an R&B singer sexually assaulted her and a friend, then beat her several days later in an attempt to stop them from speaking out. In the latter attack, the suit says, Combs choked the woman, identified as Jane Doe, until she passed out.
A spokesperson for Combs denied these allegations.
More lawsuits
Dec. 6, 2023
Combs is accused of the 2003 rape of a woman when she was a 17-year-old high school junior, in a lawsuit. The woman, who filed the suit under a “Jane Doe” pseudonym, stated that Combs, his producing partner and a third man “sex trafficked and gang raped” her, according to Business Insider. She said the producing partner met her in Detroit, Michigan, where she lived, and flew her to Combs’ studio in New York City on a private jet. Combs and his producing partner, the lawsuit alleged, “plied Ms. Doe with drugs and alcohol,” getting her more inebriated to the point she could not consent “to having sex with anyone, much less someone twice her age,” Business Insider reported.
On Instagram, Combs put out a statement, saying he has “sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy.”
“Let me be absolutely clear,” he wrote. “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
Feb. 26, 2024
A music producer files a lawsuit in New York federal court saying Combs sexually assaulted him, and forced him to have sex with prostitutes.
The suit says there were repeated instances of unsolicited groping and sexual touching, and that the man had to work in a bathroom while Combs showered and walked around naked.
“We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies,” Combs attorney Shawn Holley said in a statement. “We will address these outlandish allegations in court and take all appropriate action against those who make them.”
NewsNation digital producer Liz Jassin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
