Rap icon and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs was taken into custody Monday evening, as confirmed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York City.
The music mogul who had been residing at the Park Hyatt hotel on West 57th Street for several weeks, was reportedly caught off guard by the arrest.
“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,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.
Highlights
- Music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs was taken into custody on Monday in New York City.
- He had been residing at the Park Hyatt hotel on West 57th Street for several weeks and was reportedly caught off guard by the arrest.
- The nature of the charges against him are currently unknown.
- The artist recently faced a wave of lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct, assault, and abuse.
Sean "Diddy" Combs taken into custody by federal agents in New York City
Image credits: Shareif Ziyadat / Getty Images
The nature of the charges currently remain unclear.
The Grammy-winning artist has faced increasing legal trouble in recent months. A wave of lawsuits, including one filed by former girlfriend and singer Cassie (Casandra Ventura) in November, accused him of sexual misconduct, assault, and abuse.
Cassie’s lawsuit—in which he accused him of raping and abusing her over the course of their decade-long relationship—was quickly settled, but the terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
The music mogul, who had been staying at the Park Hyatt hotel, was reportedly caught off-guard by the arrest
Since then, others have come forward, including singer Dawn Richard, who alleged that he groped her and threatened her while she was working for him from 2005 to 2012. She also said she witnessed him abuse Cassie and physically assault her.
Earlier this year, video footage was released showing the Last Night rapper brutally kicking and punching Cassie in the hallway of a hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that. I was f—ed up — I mean, I hit rock bottom — but I make no excuses,” the rapper said in a since-deleted video statement in May.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable," he said in a video message posted on Instagram after hotel surveillance footage showed him physically assaulting Cassie in 2016. "I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted"
Following his Monday arrest, the music mogul’s attorney Marc Agnifilo expressed disappointment and said his client was an “imperfect person” but not a criminal.
"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," Marc said in a statement. "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."
Cassie married Alex Fine in 2019 and is a mother to two daughters, Frankie and Sunny
"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,” Marc continued. "Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
As the alleged victims await justice, the arrest of the Bad Boy Records founder was “long-awaited," according to attorney Tyrone Blackburn, who is representing three of Sean’s accusers.
In light of the hotel surveillance footage, Cassie released the following statement on Instagram
“We leave the criminal aspect of this case in the hands of the people and justice system,” the attorney said in a statement. “As for the civil cases, we await our time for the facts to reveal themselves and seek the justice our clients deserve.”
“We knew this was coming. The evidence is very clear and it was only a matter of time. This is an important step towards justice for all of Mr. Combs’ victims including my clients. Justice will prevail,” Tyrone added.