Sean 'Diddy' Combs arrested in New York City over sealed federal indictment amid assault allegations

Combs was arrested on Monday evening (September 16) in New York, where he faces a sealed federal indictment, meaning that the charges have not yet been publicly confirmed. However, it comes at a time where the rapper and actor faces serious allegations of sexual and physical abuse.

The 58-year-old was arrested in a Manhattan hotel lobby and was taken into federal custody. Damian Williams, the US attorney in Manhattan, said: “We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”

Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lawyer, said in a statement: “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.”

Adding that his client had travelled to New York last week in anticipation of a possible arrest, Mr Agnifilo added: “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal.”

Trouble began in November 2023, when Combs’ former long-term girlfriend and R&B singer Casandra ‘Cassie’ Ventura filed a lawsuit suing the businessman for sexual abuse. The court document included alleged stories of Diddy facilitating a steady stream of sex workers in drug-fuelled environments, while others detailed allegations of physical and sexual abuse, including assaults and rape.

Ventura, 38, also accused Combs of engaging in sex trafficking by “requiring her to engage in forced sexual acts in multiple jurisdictions”. She also accused the rapper of compelling her to traffic male sex workers, whom Combs would force to have sex with Ventura while he filmed the encounters.

Combs settled the lawsuit the next day, however a video leaked to CNN showing the music mogul physically assaulting Ventura in a hotel hallway by kicking her and throwing her on the floor. While Combs admitted wrongdoing following the video leak, the Ventura lawsuit saw the floodgates open, with the rapper being his with at least half a dozen other lawsuits in the subsequent months.

This included a woman who accused Combs of rape in the 2000s when she was 17 years old, as well as another woman, April Lampros, who said that she had a series of “terrifying sexual encounters” with Combs when she was a college student in 1994.

The most recent allegations come from ex-Danity Kane member Dawn Richard, who worked closely with Combs in the 2000s. She alleged she witnessed multiple incidents involving Ventura, as well as being on the receiving end of physical and psychological abuse.

Combs and his attorneys denied almost all allegations made in the lawsuits.