![Sean "Diddy" Combs](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/9059/production/_133035963_pa-5964113-cannes2008.jpg)
Sean “Diddy” Combs is taken into account as one of many key architects of the commercialisation of hip-hop
A string of sexual assault allegations have been made towards Sean “Diddy” Combs, one of the crucial profitable music moguls within the historical past of rap.
4 ladies, together with his long-time associate Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, have filed lawsuits towards the musician, accusing him of sexual and bodily abuse.
Producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed an identical go well with in February, alleging Combs abused him over a year-long interval when he was residing on the star’s properties and dealing on his music.
In an announcement issued final December, Combs defended himself towards what he described as “sickening allegations” made by “people searching for a fast payday”.
“Let me be completely clear: I didn’t do any of the terrible issues being alleged,” he stated, including he would combat to clear his title.
Nevertheless, in March 2024, federal brokers raided two homes owned by the star “as a part of an ongoing investigation” into intercourse trafficking.
His lawyer known as the motion an “unprecedented ambush” and a “gross overuse of military-level drive”, and maintained his shopper’s innocence.
Watch: Aerial footage exhibits raids at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s properties
Combs – who has additionally passed by the names Puffy, Puff Daddy, P Diddy, Love, and Brother Love – basically rewrote the foundations of hip-hop within the Nineteen Nineties, however his profession has been punctuated by controversies.
Here’s a timeline of his profession and the accusations made towards him.
1969-89: Adolescence in New York
Sean John Combs was born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York.
His mom, Janice, was a instructor’s assistant, whereas his father Melvin was a former member of the US Air Power who turned an affiliate of the drug-trafficker Frank Lucas, who later impressed the Ridley Scott movie American Gangster.
In 1972, Melvin was fatally shot in his automobile throughout a drug transaction after being misidentified as an informant. Combs was simply two, though he did not study the circumstances of his father’s demise till a lot later.
Raised by his mom, he was a flashy child who liked rap music and performed soccer for the college group.
As a teen, he danced in music movies for artists resembling Diana Ross and the Superb Younger Cannibals.
Taking a cue from his mom, who labored a number of jobs to assist Sean and his sister Keisha, he additionally labored six separate newspaper supply routes, earlier than enrolling to review enterprise administration at Howard College.
Early Nineteen Nineties: Occasion plans flip into tragedy
At college, Combs gained a popularity for throwing lavish events, a few of which attracted greater than a thousand visitors.
After reserving musicians resembling Heavy D and Terry Riley to play at these gigs, he got here to the eye of Uptown Data’ founder Andre Harrell, who gave him an internship in New York.
Combs finally dropped out of college to work there full-time, guiding the early careers of artists together with Mary J Blige and Jodeci.
Nevertheless, tragedy struck in 1991, when Combs co-promoted a celeb basketball recreation and live performance at Metropolis School of New York. Almost 5,000 folks confirmed as much as the gymnasium, which might solely match 2,730 folks. Within the ensuing crush, 9 folks died and 29 folks had been injured.
An inquiry by the New York Mayor’s Workplace cited Combs for hiring inexperienced safety guards. Nevertheless, the star and his attorneys maintained he was not accountable for safety on the occasion.
“Metropolis School is one thing I take care of daily of my life,” the musician stated in 1998. “However the issues that I take care of can by no means measure as much as the ache that the households take care of. I simply pray for the households and pray for the youngsters who misplaced their lives daily.”
No prison costs had been filed over the tragedy, however relations of the individuals who died sued the promoters, the school and the town, accusing them of negligence.
The case was settled for $3.8m (£3m), of which Mr. Combs paid $750,000.
Mid-to-late Nineteen Nineties: A brand new starting
Combs struck upon the thought of pairing R&B singers like Mary J Blige with the street-tough sounds of hip-hop
Whereas at Uptown, Combs signed a younger Brooklyn rapper known as Christopher Wallace – aka Biggie Smalls, or the Infamous B.I.G. – and began work on his debut album.
However his relationship with Harrell broke down and Combs was fired. He retaliated by establishing his personal label, Dangerous Boy Data, and taking Biggie with him.
The star’s debut album, Prepared To Die, was hailed as an all-time rap basic, promoting thousands and thousands of copies and producing the multi-platinum singles Juicy and Massive Poppa.
Combs rapidly expanded the Dangerous Boy roster, releasing hit albums by Religion Evans, Ma$e, 112 and Whole.
The label’s sound was slick and polished. Its largest singles lifted chunky samples from well-known hits. The follow was frowned upon by hip-hop purists, however it was catnip to radio programmers.
1997: Infamous B.I.G. is murdered
The Infamous B.I.G. and Puff Daddy (as he was then identified) on the set of the Hypnotize music video in 1997
In March 1997, Biggie Smalls was gunned down in a drive-by taking pictures on the age of 24.
The homicide has by no means been solved, however it has persistently been linked to the East-Coast-West-Coast rivalry that consumed rap music within the Nineteen Nineties and which had beforehand claimed the lifetime of Tupac Shakur.
Combs, who had been travelling within the automobile behind his buddy, poured his grief right into a music, I will Be Lacking You, which turned one of many largest songs of 1997.
The music, primarily based round The Police’s Each Breath You Take, additionally featured on Combs’ debut album, No Means Out, which bought seven million copies worldwide.
1999: New York taking pictures
By this stage, Dangerous Boy had develop into one of the crucial essential labels in rap. Other than its personal releases, artists together with Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez had been asking Combs to remix their songs, hoping for a splash of hip-hop credibility.
However there was hassle, too. In Could 1999, Combs was arrested on suspicion of assaulting Interscope Data government Steve Stoute, after a disagreement over a music video. He pleaded responsible to harassment and was sentenced to a one-day anger administration class.
Later that yr, he was charged with prison possession of a weapon when police discovered two nine-millimetre weapons in his automobile, after an argument in a membership turned violent.
Combs and his then girlfriend Jennifer Lopez had been each arrested. Combs was later acquitted of all costs. Lopez was not charged.
2003: Sued by enterprise associate
A former president of Dangerous Boy Leisure sued Combs in 2003, alleging that his former enterprise associate threatened him with a baseball bat and compelled him into signing over his shares within the firm.
In his lawsuit, Kirk Burrowes additionally says that Combs intimidated Mary J Blige into dropping him as her supervisor in 2001.
Combs denied the allegations, calling them “full fantasy”.
An appeals court docket dismissed the case in 2006, ruling that the statute of limitations has expired.
2005-2018: Relationship with Cassie Ventura
Sean Combs and Cassie Ventura had been in an on-and-off relationship for greater than a decade
In 2005, 20-year-old singer Casandra Elizabeth Ventura scored a minor membership hit in Germany together with her debut single, Me & U.
After listening to it on an evening out, Combs convinces Cassie (as she is understood professionally) to hitch Dangerous Boy Data for a 10-album deal.
Her self-titled debut was launched in 2008 and its futuristic, space-age R&B proved to be a success with critics.
By that stage, Combs and Ventura had been in a relationship. However in a civil lawsuit filed in December 2023, she stated the mogul had used his place of energy to “set the groundwork” for a “manipulative and coercive romantic and sexual relationship”.
Her lawsuit included a number of graphic descriptions of violent abuse, alleging that Combs “recurrently beat and kicked Ms Ventura, leaving black eyes, bruises, and blood”.
Ventura additionally alleged sexual abuse and rape, and claimed that many of those incidents had been witnessed by Combs’ “tremendously loyal community” who “weren’t prepared to do something significant” to cease the violence.
Combs strenuously denied the allegations and accused Ventura of making an attempt to extort him. They settled the case a day after it was filed in New York, with Combs’ lawyer saying the settlement was “by no means an admission of wrongdoing”.
2007-2024: Enterprise ventures
Music took a again seat after 2007, when Combs signed a take care of British drinks firm Diageo to advertise the French vodka model, Cîroc, within the US for a 50-50 revenue cut up.
His endorsement noticed the model positioned in dozens of music movies – together with Diddy’s personal single “Ciroc Star” – and helped enhance gross sales from 40,000 to 2,000,000 circumstances per yr by 2014.
Across the similar time, he co-founded the media firm Revolt, whose TV channels and web sites are described as “the unapologetic, authoritative voice of hip-hop tradition”.
Combs’ involvement with each corporations got here to an finish in 2023-24. He had beforehand sued Diageo, accusing it of neglecting his model due to race.
In 2015, Combs bought right into a scuffle along with his son’s soccer coach prompted by an argument throughout coaching.
Because the row escalated, Combs allegedly threatened an intern with a kettle bell. He was later arrested and charged with assault with a lethal weapon.
The fees had been subsequently dropped. A consultant for Combs stated press accounts of the incident had been “wholly inaccurate”.
2019: Gina Huynh alleges abuse
The primary allegations of abuse to floor towards Combs got here from his mannequin ex-girlfriend Gina Huynh.
Though largely unreported on the time, Huynh gave an interview to YouTube character Tasha Okay, the place she stated Combs had been bodily abusive and supplied her cash to get an abortion throughout their on-off, five-year relationship.
On one event, she alleged that Combs had as soon as “stomped on my abdomen actually arduous – like, took the wind out of my breath”.
He didn’t reply to the accusations.
September 2023: Musical comeback
The musician gained a lifetime achievement award final yr, shortly earlier than accusation towards him began piling up
Combs ended an eight-year musical hiatus with the discharge of his fifth file. Titled The Love Album: Off The Grid, it featured collaborations with The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, 21 Savage and Mary J Blige.
The discharge coincided with Combs being named a “World Icon” on the MTV Awards.
In November, The Love Album earned the star his first solo nomination on the Grammys, in the most effective progressive R&B album class.
Nevertheless, he pulled out of the ceremony as his authorized troubles mounted.
November 2023: Three lawsuits within the house of 1 week
In the identical week as Cassie filed (and settled) her lawsuit towards Combs, two extra ladies got here ahead with claims of abuse and assault.
In a grievance filed in Manhattan, Joi Dickerson-Neal accused the star of drugging and sexually assaulting her when she was a school scholar in 1991. She additionally claimed he recorded the assault and distributed the footage with out her consent.
A 3rd girl, Liza Gardner, additionally filed court docket papers accusing Combs of coercing her into intercourse within the early Nineteen Nineties after which, a few days later, choking her so arduous that she handed out.
The lawsuits all got here shortly earlier than the expiration of the New York Grownup Survivors Act, which quickly allowed individuals who stated they had been sexually abused to file claims, even after the statute of limitations had expired.
Combs denied all of the allegations towards him, whereas his spokesperson known as the lawsuits a “cash seize”.
“The claims involving alleged misconduct towards Mr Combs from over 30 years in the past and filed on the final minute are all fully denied and rejected by him,” they stated in an announcement.
“The New York Legislature certainly didn’t intend or anticipate the Grownup Survivors Act to be exploited for improper functions. The general public needs to be sceptical and never rush to simply accept these unsubstantiated allegations.”
December 2023: Underage intercourse declare
A fourth girl sued in December, claiming she was “intercourse trafficked” and “gang raped” by Combs, former Dangerous Boy Data president Harve Pierre and one other man in 2003, when she was 17 years previous.
In court docket papers, the lady alleged she was given “copious quantities of medicine and alcohol” earlier than the assault and was left in a lot ache that she might barely stand or keep in mind how she bought house.
In response, Combs stated he “didn’t do any of the terrible issues being alleged”, whereas Pierre stated the “disgusting allegations” had been “false and a determined try for monetary acquire”.
The choose within the case later dominated that the lady, who filed her case anonymously, must use her actual title if she wished to proceed.
December 2023: Diddy’s denial
On 6 December, Combs responded to the flurry of lawsuits with an announcement on his Instagram web page.
“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” he wrote. “For the final couple of weeks, I’ve sat silently and watched folks attempt to assassinate my character, destroy my popularity and my legacy.
“Sickening allegations have been made towards me by people searching for a fast payday. Let me be completely clear: I didn’t do any of the terrible issues being alleged. I’ll combat for my title, my household and for the reality.”
February 2024: Accusations of grooming
Music producer Rodney Jones Jr, who produced 9 tracks on The Love Album, sued Combs in February 2024, accusing the star of constructing undesirable sexual contact and forcing him to rent prostitutes and take part in intercourse acts with them.
In court docket papers filed in New York, Jones additionally claimed that Combs tried to “groom” him into having intercourse with one other man, telling him it was “a standard follow within the music trade”.
Combs’ lawyer, Shawn Holley, known as the producer “nothing greater than a liar” and described his claims as “pure fiction” that may be discredited by “overwhelming, indeniable proof”.
March 2024: Combs’ properties raided
Aerial view of raid on Sean “Diddy” Combs house in LA
One month later, federal brokers raided two properties owned by Combs in Los Angeles and Miami. Computer systems and different units had been confiscated whereas officers searched his Californian mansion.
Combs was additionally stopped at an airport in Miami as he ready to go away for the Bahamas, based on the New York Instances. He’s stated to have handed over a variety of digital units and was not detained.
The Division of Homeland Safety stated the searches fashioned “a part of an ongoing investigation”, however it was not clear how their inquiries had been associated to the civil circumstances towards Combs.
His lawyer known as the raids a “witch-hunt primarily based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits” and stated his shopper was harmless.