It is an event that has shocked the entertainment world.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is now facing charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Tuesday that reads like a laundry list of criminal behavior including kidnapping, forced labor, bribery and other crimes.
But in the past two years, Combs has hit the headlines in various ways that meant the mystique surrounding one of the biggest names in American music and popular culture was already deeply tarnished.
Here is a timeline of events:
16 November 2023Casandra Ventura files a lawsuit alleging horrific attacks and abuse
Casandra Ventura, a singer and model known as Cassie who dated Combs for more than a decade, files a lawsuit against him, alleging incidents of rape and physical assault between 2007 and 2018. She describes “a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking” after being lured into a “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle” allegedly designed to keep her compliant – including engaging in sex acts with others against her will. The lawsuit also alleged that he destroyed the car of another successful US rapper, Kid Cudi – real name Scott Mescudi – to deter him from seeing Ventura. Combs denied the allegations.
The severity of Ventura’s allegations are the most serious Combs has faced.. He was charged with assault in 1998 and sentenced to an anger management class; in 1999 he was acquitted of gun charges following a nightclub shooting. In 2019, an ex-girlfriend, Gina Huynh, spoke to a blogger alleging emotional and physical abuse during her relationship with Combs, but no legal case was filed.
17 November 2023Ventura settles lawsuit
Ventura and Combs announce their lawsuit has been settled with undisclosed terms. Ventura said in a statement: “I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control.”
24 November 2023Two new lawsuits filed over sexual attacks
Combs is accused of sexual assault dating back to 1991 in two new lawsuits: one anonymously by a woman who claimed Combs and another man coerced her into sex; the other by Joi Dickerson-Neal, who alleged Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her, as well as filming the incident and showing it to others. Later, on 26 April 2024, Combs’s lawyers file a motion to dismiss elements of Dickerson-Neal’s lawsuit.
These lawsuits, and some of the other subsequent ones filed against Combs, were made possible by New York state laws such as the Adult Survivors Act and the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Act that allowed for lawsuits alleging sexual assault to be made even if the statute of limitations – ie the window of time for the allegations to originally be made – had expired.
29 November 2023Combs steps down as chair of Revolt
Combs steps down as chair of the TV network he founded, Revolt. The following week Hulu scraps plans for a reality show, produced by James Corden’s company Fulwell 73, that was to focus on Combs and his family.
6 December 2023Combs denies all allegations
Combs denies all allegations made against him in the preceding weeks, including in a new lawsuit filed by another anonymous woman who alleged Combs gang raped and sex trafficked her when she was 17. “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth,” Combs said.
26 February 2024Combs sued by Rodney Jones
Combs is sued by the music producer Rodney Jones who alleges Combs groped him and attempted to “groom him into accepting a homosexual relationship”, during sessions for Combs’s 2023 release The Love Album: Off the Grid. A lawyer for Combs describes the allegation as “pure fiction”, and later, on 26 August, Combs calls on a judge to throw out the case.
25 March 2024Raids at Combs’s properties in LA and Miami
According to unnamed law enforcement sources, US federal agents raid Combs’s properties in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a sex trafficking investigation. No charges are made against Combs at this stage.
17 May 2024CNN publishes shocking footage of Combs assaulting Ventura
CNN publishes surveillance footage of Combs assaulting Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. The following day, Combs apologises, saying: “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
22 May 2024Crystal McKinney files a suit
The model Crystal McKinney files a lawsuit against Combs, alleging that he drugged her and forced her to perform oral sex in a 2003 incident. Later that week, another woman, April Lampros, files her own lawsuit alleging four instances of sexual assault between 1995 and about 2000, as well as the allegation that Combs filmed one of the incidents and showed it to others.
7 June 2024Howard University revokes honorary degree
Howard University in Washington DC announces that it is revoking an honorary degree it awarded Combs, returning a $1m donation and ending a scholarship program in his name. The following week, Combs is ordered to return the ceremonial key to New York City by mayor Eric Adams, who wrote that he was “deeply disturbed” by the video footage of Combs assaulting Ventura.
4 July 2024Combs says he is innocent as faces eighth lawsuit
Via his lawyers, Combs again proclaims his innocence as he faces his eighth lawsuit alleging sexual assault. Adria English claims she was “groomed into sex trafficking over time” in events between 2004 and 2009 at Combs’s famous, star-studded “white parties”. “No matter how many lawsuits are filed it won’t change the fact that Mr Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone,” the lawyer Jonathan Davis says.
10 September 2024Combs a no-show at a hearing
Combs does not appear at a virtual hearing for a lawsuit filed against him by Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, who had alleged he was drugged and sexually assaulted by Combs at a party in Detroit in 1997. The no-show leads to a default judgement against Combs of $100m to be paid to Cardello-Smith, who is currently incarcerated following an unrelated case. Combs’s lawyers say they hope to have the case dismissed, claiming Combs had never heard of Cardello-Smith; on 13 September, emergency motions are filed by Combs’s legal team to try to overturn the ruling.
11 September 2024Another lawsuit is filed by Dawn Richard
Following Ventura, another high-profile musician files her own lawsuit against Combs. Dawn Richard, who was part of the Combs-signed girl group Danity Kane and later a trio with him called Diddy – Dirty Money, alleges that Combs sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions by touching her body, as well as verbally abusing and overworking her. She also alleges seeing him physically assault Ventura on numerous occasions.
16 September 2024Combs is arrested and charged in New York
Combs is arrested in New York and charged with three counts of sex trafficking and racketeering, in a federal indictment that describes “a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice”.