Hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs arrested in New York

Rapper and producer Sean "Diddy" Combs has been arrested in New York City after the hip-hop mogul was indicted by a federal grand jury.

Combs’ charges are yet to be announced as the indictment was sealed. Manhattan attorney, Damian Williams confirmed that federal agents had the rapper in custody.

“We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time,” Williams said in a statement.

Combs was arrested in a Manhattan hotel lobby, according to a person familiar with the arrest who spoke with AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

This is just the latest chapter in a string of sordid legal troubles for Combs after multiple people have filed lawsuits against the star alleging him of sexual and physical abuse.

Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lawyer, has said the rapper was cooperating with the ongoing investigation and had relocated to New York in anticipation of the charges.

Agnifilo said they were “disappointed” with the decision and that Combs is “an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal”.

Combs’ criminal charges in New York are an unsurprising escalation from the 25 March raid by Homeland Security Investigation agents on his homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

His attorney Anthony Dyer called the raids a “gross use of military-level force” as Homeland Security served the search warrants in a sex-trafficking investigation.

The first allegations of sexual impropriety emerged last November when R&B singer Cassie, and former girlfriend, alleged him of years of abuse, beatings, forcing her to have sex with other men, and raping her during the period after she signed to his label in 2005-2007.

It also said he compelled her to help him traffic male sex workers Combs would force Cassie to have sex with while he filmed.

The suit was settled the following day, but its reverberations would last far longer. Combs lost lingering allies, supporters and those reserving judgement when CNN in May aired a leaked video of him punching Cassie, kicking her and throwing her on the floor in a hotel hallway.

Combs acknowledged the suit publicly, posting a video saying “I was disgusted when I did it” and “I’m disgusted now.”

This was only the beginning of sexual abuse suits filed against Combs. In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

Another woman who filed a lawsuit, April Lampros, said she was a college student in 1994 when she met Combs, and a series of “terrifying sexual encounters” with Combs and those around him began that lasted for years.

Combs and his attorneys have denied nearly all of the lawsuits’ allegations.

Sean John Combs, better known by his stage names "Puff Daddy" and "P.Diddy" or simply "Diddy", is an American rapper, producer, record executive and entrepreneur, who founded Bad Boy Records in 1993.

Establishing himself as one of the most influential figures in the entertainment industry, he is credited with discovering the likes of Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans and Usher.

Then known as Puff Daddy, was at the centre of the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop battles of the 1990s as the partner and producer of the Notorious B.I.G., who was shot and killed in 1997.

Outside of music, Combs has successfully ventured into areas like fashion, fragrance and media. He has been the brand ambassador for vodka brand Cîroc since 2007 and co-founded the television network and news website Revolt in 2013.

Forbes estimated his net worth to be at $1 billion (€922m) in 2022.

Combs has faced various arrests before, and decades ago he was at the centre of one of the biggest hip-hop industry trials of its era.

That trial stemmed from a Manhattan nightclub shooting that injured three people in 1999. His then-girlfriend, singer and actor Jennifer Lopez, was also there when the shots rang out.

Combs ultimately was acquitted of charges that he took an illegal gun into the club and tried to bribe his driver to take the fall for the weapon. His then-protégé, Shyne, was convicted of assault and other charges in the shooting and served about eight years in prison. Now going by Moses Barrow, he’s a member of the House of Representatives in his native Belize.

Also in 1999, Combs was arrested on a charge of beating up a record executive in New York. Combs pleaded guilty to harassment, which is a violation, and was sentenced to an anger management class.