Poppy Bilderbeck
Sean 'Diddy' Combs has been charged with sex trafficking and racketeering.
The 54-year-old rapper was arrested yesterday (September 16) at Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, New York after a grand jury indicted him. However, the charges weren't initially made clear at the time of his arrest.
The Southern District of New York US Attorney's office released a statement on Twitter reading: "Earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY. We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time."
The indictment was unsealed this morning and reveals Combs has been accused of having 'abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct' alongside using 'employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled' to 'attempt to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice'.
The indictment describes the abuse towards 'women and other individuals' as a combination of 'verbal, emotional, physical and sexual' and states the 'physical abuse by Combs' was 'recurrent and widely known' referring to the video of him and Cassie Ventura in a hotel corridor.
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The indictment reveals yesterday evening a federal grand jury charged Combs with racketeering and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and he's expected to appear in federal court later this morning.
Combs' attorney Marc Agnifilo has said the rapper is planning on pleading not guilty.
In response to the news of Combs' arrest, Agnifilo told UNILAD: "We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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"Sean 'Diddy' Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal.
"To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court."
UNILAD has contacted Agnifilo regarding Combs' indictment.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline on 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) 24/7. You can find a list of local resources here.