CNN
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Sean “Diddy” Combs, the music mogul who has faced a string of sexual assault lawsuits and a federal human trafficking investigation over the past year, has been arrested, the producer’s lawyer told CNN.
Combs was arrested Monday night at the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan and was being held by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, a person familiar with the extradition negotiations told CNN.
The charges against Combs and details of the incident are unclear.
The arrests were made pursuant to an indictment that is expected to be unsealed Tuesday morning, according to a statement from Damien Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
HSI is the Department of Homeland Security’s lead investigative agency, responsible for investigating international crimes and threats, including human trafficking, terrorism, drug smuggling and other organized crime activity.
Combs has been in New York since last week, his lawyer said. Sources said extradition negotiations were continuing and that a grand jury voted to indict him on Monday.
“We are disappointed in the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s decision to pursue this unjustified prosecution against Mr. Combs,” Combs’ lawyer, Mark Anifilo, told CNN.
Combs’ lawyers said the musician had cooperated with the investigation that led to the indictment and “voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges.” His team maintains his innocence and says he has “nothing to hide.”
“Sean Diddy Combs is a music icon, a self-made entrepreneur, a family man and a proven philanthropist who has built an empire over the last 30 years, loves children and strives to uplift the black community. He is an imperfect human being, but he is not a criminal,” Anifilo told CNN.
Agniforo urged people to “withhold judgment until all the facts are known. This is the act of an innocent man who has nothing to hide and who hopes to have his reputation cleared in court.”
Earlier this year, Combs was the subject of a months-long sex trafficking investigation by Homeland Security Investigations that led to dramatic searches of the musician’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami in March.
After the raid, law enforcement sources told CNN the federal investigation stemmed from numerous allegations of sexual assault filed in several civil lawsuits against the producer. CNN has learned the investigation is much broader in scope, focusing on sex trafficking, money laundering and illegal drugs.
Since November of last year, Combs has been served with 10 lawsuits, nine of which directly accuse him of sexual assault. As CNN previously reported, several of those accusers have met and been questioned by federal investigators as part of a broader investigation.
CNN exclusively reported in May that federal investigators were preparing to subpoena Combs’ accusers to testify before a federal grand jury, a major expansion of the government’s investigation and a signal that the Justice Department was moving toward indicting the rapper and businessman.
Combs has previously denied all allegations of wrongdoing in various lawsuits, but earlier this year he issued a public apology after surveillance footage shown by CNN showing him assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Cassandra “Cathy” Ventura, at a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016.
Lawyers for Combs’ three accusers, Lil Rod, April Lampros and Grace O’Mulcahy, called the arrest “long overdue.”
“We will leave the criminal aspects of this case to the public and the justice system,” attorney Tyrone Blackburn said in a statement Monday night. “As for the civil lawsuit, we will wait for the facts to emerge and seek the justice my client deserves.”
Blackburn said he expects more victims will come forward.
“We knew this would happen. The evidence was so clear, it was only a matter of time. This is an important step toward justice for all of Mr. Combs’ victims, including my client. Justice will prevail,” Blackburn added.
It is unclear what evidence or charges led to Combs’ arrest, but he was filed in numerous civil lawsuits last year, all but one of which involve sexual assault allegations.
Just last week, Dawn Richards, a former member of the music group Danity Kane, filed a lawsuit against the producer in New York, accusing him of sexual assault, sexual harassment and false imprisonment.
Richard also claims in the lawsuit that he witnessed Combs “brutally beating” his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, who filed suit against Combs in November 2023 and quickly settled the matter.
In a statement to CNN, one of Combs’ lawyers, Erica Wolf, denied Richard’s allegations and accused him of being financially motivated.
Aubrey O’Day, one of the former members of Danity Kane, responded to the news of Combs’ arrest in a post on X on Monday night.
“Justice’s purpose is to give closure and give us space to create a new chapter. Women never get this. I feel validated. Today is a victory not only for me, but for women around the world. Things are finally changing,” O’Day wrote.
Like Ventura, Danity Kane was signed to Combs’ Bad Boy label.
Combs also alleged that Ventura raped him and subjected him to physical and other abuse over the years — allegations Ventura has repeatedly denied. But a 2016 video released by CNN earlier this year showed Combs grabbing, shoving, dragging and kicking Ventura. Two days after the video was released, Combs apologized for his behavior, which was caught on tape.
The music mogul has been under increased public scrutiny since his Los Angeles and Miami homes were raided in March, weeks after Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed a lawsuit against him.
According to the complaint filed in New York federal court, Jones, who worked as Combs’ videographer and producer, accuses Combs of sexual assault, sexual harassment and “grooming,” and claims he made video and audio recordings of the musician and his staff “engaging in serious misconduct.”
Jones alleges, among other charges, that Combs procured and coerced him into engaging with sex workers, threatened him and provided drug-laced alcoholic drinks to patrons at house parties.
Combs’ lawyer, Shawn Holley, denied the allegations in a statement to CNN and called Jones a “liar.”
“His reckless naming of people about completely fabricated events that never happened is nothing more than a blatant attempt to grab headlines. We have overwhelming and incontrovertible evidence that his claims are complete lies,” Holley said in a statement.
Of the 10 lawsuits against Combs, one names him as a defendant and alleges that a woman working as a crew member on a yacht sexually assaulted his son, Christian Combs.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Kara Scannell, John Miller and Amanda Jackson contributed to this report.
Correction: An earlier version of this report misstated the date the indictment against Sean Combs was scheduled to be unsealed. It is now Tuesday.
