How Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs wielded power and prestige to fuel decades of alleged abuse

For decades, Sean "Diddy" Combs presented the representation of a wealthy, Black euphony mogul, 1 who broke concern barriers, threw lavish parties and adjacent created iconic TV moments. But down the scenes, prosecutors say, was a much sinister picture, with allegations of violence, enactment trafficking and terrible abuses of power. 

Throughout his career, Combs' dominated music, tv and fashion, amassing a luck worthy hundreds of millions of dollars. In public, helium was a shrewd euphony producer, generating hip-hop hits nether his Bad Boy Records label, which helium founded successful 1993 and helped found him arsenic a taste magnate. Combs was astatine the halfway of 1 of rap's astir notorious — and deadly — beefs betwixt the eastbound and westbound coasts culminating successful the deaths of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. He capitalized connected hip-hop's displacement into mainstream civilization astatine the dawn of a caller millennium. His "All About the Benjamins" was parodied by "Weird" Al Yankovich. He famously dated Jennifer Lopez erstwhile she made a splash connected the reddish carpet astatine the 2000 Grammy awards successful an iconic Versace gown. On the surface, Combs presented himself arsenic the fun-loving shaper who danced successful euphony videos and the pugnacious concern mogul processing caller talent. 

But successful private, prosecutors allege successful an indictment unsealed Tuesday, Combs, present 54, and his associates "wielded" his "power and prestige" to orchestrate sexual, affectional and carnal maltreatment against the radical astir him. While Combs' explosive temper was an unfastened concealed and rumors agelong swirled astir his enactment life, his powerfulness and influence, experts say, has shielded him from accountability for years of alleged amerciable activity.

Combs was arrested Monday and charged with enactment trafficking, racketeering and proscription to prosecute successful prostitution. It came aft months of lawsuits and respective allegations of intersexual assault, sex violence, misconduct and different "serious amerciable activity" that took spot implicit respective years. He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, and a justice denied him bail aft U.S. Attorney Damian Williams argued Combs is simply a formation hazard and a information to the community. Combs is presently being held successful the Metropolitan Detention Center successful New York, and is connected "procedural" termination watch, arsenic is emblematic with with precocious illustration clients.

"We've seen this signifier earlier — idiosyncratic successful a presumption of powerfulness and power chooses to exploit others for their ain gain, utilizing fear, manipulation and unit to support power implicit his victims," Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center, said successful a statement.

The charges stem from Combs' hours- and dayslong intersexual performances called "freak offs," which allegedly included coerced enactment acts that Combs is accused of orchestrating and recording. The indictment said Combs sought "to fulfill his intersexual desires, support his reputation, and conceal his conduct."

"Combs relied connected the employees, resources, and power of the multi-faceted concern empire that helium led and controlled — creating a transgression endeavor whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to prosecute in, among different crimes, enactment trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice," it reads.

"These allegations uncover not lone a gross maltreatment of idiosyncratic powerfulness but underscore a systemic usage of networks and his employees to perpetuate intersexual violence," said Goss Graves, who is besides the co-founder of the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, which provides ineligible assistance to radical who person experienced workplace intersexual harassment.

The indictment listed Combs' information staff, household staff, idiosyncratic assistants, "high-ranking supervisors" and others among the "associates" who made up a transgression organization, which the indictment calls the "Combs Enterprise." Combs and these associates allegedly engaged successful forced labor, intersexual coercion and trafficking, cause offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and different crimes nether Combs' leadership.

Since precocious 2023 and as recently arsenic past week, respective women and immoderate men person filed lawsuits against Combs alleging everything from maltreatment to enactment trafficking. A flood of lawsuits came aft Combs' erstwhile woman Casandra "Cassie" Ventura sued him successful national tribunal successful November, accusing him of years of carnal maltreatment passim their 11-year relationship, during which, she said, helium exerted implicit power implicit her. Combs and Ventura were archetypal romantically linked successful 2007 and divided successful 2018.

She and Combs settled the suit a time later but did not disclose the presumption of the settlement. At the time, Combs denied the allegations. Singer Dawn Richard, Combs' shaper Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones, respective unnamed women and a Michigan antheral person filed lawsuits against Combs accusing him of assorted forms of maltreatment and misconduct. Combs has denied the allegations, and a judge halted a $100 judgment in favour of the Michigan man, Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, successful bid to clasp much hearings.

Before Ventura's allegations past year, Combs' estimation had remained intact contempt each of the accusations, ineligible troubles and rumors that trailed him implicit the past 3 decades. Combs' behaviour had agelong fueled societal media chatter among fans and artists, including rivals and those who had worked with him. But the accumulation of battle charges, filmed outbursts and erratic behavior, capped by Vetura's allegations successful November, yet tipped the scales. That it took truthful agelong for Combs to look ineligible repercussions and nationalist rebuke speaks to the powerfulness of his personage and the representation helium had maintained since his ascent, said Oronike Odeleye, activistic and co-founder of the #MuteRKelly societal media campaign.

"The euphony manufacture is built connected exploitation," she said. "Behind each of the sensationalism, the play and the rumors are existent survivors, radical who lived done these experiences. We should support them successful the forefront of our minds."

The indictment alleges that Combs threatened radical with firearms, offered bribes and leveraged his wealth and power to some power victims and guarantee their silence.

The civilization of soundlessness fostered by Combs' powerfulness and personage is akin to the protective web that kept singer R. Kelly from being held accountable for his maltreatment of girls and young women, Odeleye said. Kelly was convicted of intersexual exploitation and enticement of a insignificant successful 2022.

"Some of the soundlessness is, 'I request to beryllium successful proximity to this idiosyncratic due to the fact that they're almighty and they tin marque oregon interruption my career,'" Odeleye said, adding that she believes unhealthy ideas of masculinity person played a relation successful Combs' alleged behavior. For immoderate men, she said, "violence against women, unfortunately, props up your masculinity."

Combs experienced a accelerated emergence from unpaid Uptown Records intern to euphony mogul successful conscionable a fewer years. In the aboriginal '90s, Combs tapped now-legendary artists Notorious B.I.G., Craig Mack, Faith Evans, 112 and Mase to capable the roster of his then-fledgling Bad Boy Entertainment label. He released his ain palmy albums initially arsenic Puff Daddy, a nickname he said stemmed from his ain volatile temper. Through the 1990s and aboriginal 2000s, his artists topped the charts.

Combs' lineup of rappers and singers presented a antithetic dependable from the gangsta rap, popular and grunge stone that were fashionable astatine the time. The euphony represented a marque of hip-hop that mixed antithetic sounds that appealed to antithetic demographics but ne'er felt inauthentic.

"They were trendsetters," Richard, 1 of the singers who aboriginal sued Combs, said of his signature artists back successful 2015. "It was owed to Puff's receptor and his quality to prime voices that were similar nary other."

As the years went on, Combs expanded his empire to see clothing, fragrances, deed MTV shows, intoxicant brands and more. As of June, Combs' estimated nett worthy was $400 million, according to Forbes, adjacent aft losing hundreds of millions arsenic allegations against him person piled on.

He became associated with wealthiness and powerfulness on with euphony and culture. His ever-growing empire earned him a estimation arsenic a wealthy, business-minded antheral and the representation of "Black excellence," with a bootstrapping, rags-to-riches communicative that served arsenic inspiration particularly for young, Black men.

Over the years, the nationalist has gotten glimpses into Combs' behind-closed-doors demeanor, astir notably successful interviews, abbreviated clips and erstwhile helium led the MTV world bid "Making the Band." From 2002 to 2009, Combs developed philharmonic acts connected the amusement with a tough, no-nonsense attitude. From making contestants locomotion respective miles to get him a portion of cheesecake to his verbal altercation with choreographer Laurieann Gibson, Combs bolstered his estimation arsenic a prolific but intimidating fig successful the industry.

Combs spoke astir his go-getter cognition in a clip helium shared to beforehand the 2017 documentary astir his life, "Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story." In the clip, Combs finishes mounting up a concern woody connected the telephone earlier excitedly throwing instrumentality successful his bureau and yelling, "I'm a savage! Whatever I privation I person to get!"

"We spot this and we're like, 'Diddy has to beryllium demanding.' You spot him being abusive and terrible. There are truthful galore instances of Diddy telling america immoderate mentation of this acheronian s--- publically and everybody conscionable ignored it due to the fact that rappers are expected to usage hyperbole to a definite degree," said A.D. Carson, a prof of hip-hop and the Global South astatine the University of Virginia.

"So, erstwhile rappers are talking astir their propensity for violence, oregon their propensity for battle … successful the sanction of moguldom, we're like, 'Oh, that's conscionable what it takes. He astir apt doesn't bash that for real.'"

Combs has leaned into this thought of aspirational wealth, astir notably with his lavish Labor Day White Parties.

From 1998 to 2009, Combs' yearly enactment was 1 of the hottest tickets, with guests similar Paris Hilton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z and Beyoncé attending. Combs said helium launched the White Party to subordinate hip-hop with wealthiness and the precocious echelon. "I wanted to portion distant everyone's representation and enactment america each successful the aforesaid color, and connected the aforesaid level," helium said successful a 2006 interrogation with Oprah.

"Rappers benignant of run with this symbolic worth to people. That's the Diddy phenomenon,"  Carson said.

Carson added that Combs' wealthiness and power successful Black civilization had made him idiosyncratic whom Black celebrities wanted to subordinate with, sometimes astatine the outgo of ignoring his alleged misconduct and abuse.

"That benignant of powerfulness produces each kinds of results, including radical organizing themselves successful specified a mode that this seems to beryllium the terms of participation," Carson said. "In the culture, radical are acrophobic with what they basal to summation by" remaining silent.

While Combs regularly smiled for photos with A-listers and happily hosted bashes, down closed doors, according to the indictment, helium was punching, dragging, striking, kicking and throwing objects astatine people, including women and his employees, and bribing witnesses to guarantee their silence.

The caller question of lawsuits isn't the archetypal clip Combs' behaviour has been called into question. For years, Combs has been criticized for allegedly keeping his artists' publishing rights, and he's been linked to shootings, accused of assault, and associated with abusive intersexual behavior.

Some of Combs' past artists person been captious of him successful caller decades and accused him of owing them millions of dollars. Mase, 1 of Combs' large collaborators successful the precocious '90s, has often called Combs out over his concern practices, including keeping Mase's publishing rights.

In 2023, Combs announced that helium would springiness Bad Boy artists and songwriters including Mase, the Lox, 112, Faith Evans and other creators their publishing rights. This was invited quality to galore but Aubrey O'Day, a subordinate of the now-disbanded all-girl Bad Boy radical Danity Kane. O'Day said successful an interview that arsenic portion of receiving her publishing rights, she would person to hold to motion a nondisclosure statement that barred her from making immoderate antagonistic comments astir Combs publicly.

O'Day has agelong been captious of Combs and said she was fired from the radical successful 2008 aft refusing to comply with Combs' commands "not talentwise but successful different areas."

"I ne'er thought I would spot this day," she told TMZ this week. "We each buried this wrong of america successful bid to beryllium capable to support going. And not conscionable me, but victims you don't adjacent cognize yet. We are each processing what that benignant of vindication tin really consciousness similar now. Every speech I've had with victims past nighttime has been beyond moving connected each levels."