17 September 2024
Newsdesk
Sean 'Diddy' Combs has been charged with sex trafficking and racketeering.
The rapper and record executive was arrested on Monday in Manhattan, New York, six months after federal authorities launched a sex trafficking investigation against him.
Combs, 54, has now been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
According to People, the musician's lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said outside the courthouse on Tuesday that the rapper would plead not guilty and that he would "fight like hell" to get his client released from custody.
The lawyer continued, "He's going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers, and I expect a long battle with a good result for Mr. Combs."
Meanwhile, in a statement released shortly after Combs' arrest, Agnifilo insisted his client was "not a criminal".
"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 said. "He is an imperfect person but he is not a criminal."
Over the past year, Combs has faced a series of allegations of physical and sexual abuse.
In November last year, the music mogul was sued by his ex-girlfriend Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura. She accused Combs of beating and raping her over the course of their relationship.
The lawsuit was settled the following day, but CNN later released hotel security footage showing Combs throwing Ventura to the ground and punching and kicking her.
A week later, a woman named Joi Dickerson-Neal filed a lawsuit against Combs accusing him of drugging and raping her in 1991. The following day, a third woman accused the rapper and his friend Aaron Hall of raping her in 1990 when she was 16.
In March, the rapper's luxury homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by federal authorities.
