How Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs wielded energy and status to gasoline a long time of alleged abuse

For many years, Sean “Diddy” Combs introduced the picture of a rich, Black music mogul, one who broke enterprise obstacles, threw lavish events and even created iconic TV moments. However behind the scenes, prosecutors say, was a extra sinister image, with allegations of violence, intercourse trafficking and extreme abuses of energy. 

All through his profession, Combs’ dominated music, tv and vogue, amassing a fortune value tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars}. In public, he was a shrewd music producer, producing hip-hop hits beneath his Unhealthy Boy Information label, which he based in 1993 and helped set up him as a cultural magnate. Combs was on the heart of certainly one of rap’s most infamous — and lethal — beefs between the east and west coasts culminating within the deaths of Tupac and Infamous B.I.G. He capitalized on hip-hop’s shift into mainstream tradition on the daybreak of a brand new millennium. His “All In regards to the Benjamins” was parodied by “Bizarre” Al Yankovich. He famously dated Jennifer Lopez when she made a splash on the pink carpet on the 2000 Grammy awards in an iconic Versace robe. On the floor, Combs introduced himself because the fun-loving producer who danced in music movies and the robust enterprise mogul creating recent expertise. 

However in non-public, prosecutors allege in an indictment unsealed Tuesday, Combs, now 54, and his associates “wielded” his “energy and status” to orchestrate sexual, emotional and bodily abuse towards the individuals round him. Whereas Combs’ explosive mood was an open secret and rumors lengthy swirled about his intercourse life, his energy and affect, consultants say, has shielded him from accountability for years of alleged criminal activity.

Combs was arrested Monday and charged with intercourse trafficking, racketeering and transportation to have interaction in prostitution. It got here after months of lawsuits and a number of other allegations of sexual assault, gender violence, misconduct and different “severe criminal activity” that passed off over a number of years. He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, and a decide denied him bail after U.S. Lawyer Damian Williams argued Combs is a flight danger and a hazard to the neighborhood. Combs is at present being held within the Metropolitan Detention Middle in New York, and is on “procedural” suicide watch, as is typical with with excessive profile purchasers.

“We’ve seen this sample earlier than — somebody ready of energy and affect chooses to use others for their very own achieve, utilizing worry, manipulation and violence to keep up management over his victims,” Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the Nationwide Girls’s Legislation Middle, mentioned in an announcement.

The costs stem from Combs’ hours- and dayslong sexual performances known as “freak offs,” which allegedly included coerced intercourse acts that Combs is accused of orchestrating and recording. The indictment mentioned Combs sought “to satisfy his sexual wishes, shield his popularity, and conceal his conduct.”

“Combs relied on the workers, sources, and affect of the multi-faceted enterprise empire that he led and managed — making a legal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and tried to have interaction in, amongst different crimes, intercourse trafficking, compelled labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice,” it reads.

“These allegations reveal not solely a gross abuse of private energy however underscore a systemic use of networks and his staff to perpetuate sexual violence,” mentioned Goss Graves, who can be the co-founder of the Time’s Up Authorized Protection Fund, which supplies authorized assist to individuals who have skilled office sexual harassment.

The indictment listed Combs’ safety employees, family employees, private assistants, “high-ranking supervisors” and others among the many “associates” who made up a legal group, which the indictment calls the “Combs Enterprise.” Combs and these associates allegedly engaged in compelled labor, sexual coercion and trafficking, drug offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and different crimes beneath Combs’ management.

Since late 2023 and as recently as last week, a number of girls and a few males have filed lawsuits towards Combs alleging every little thing from abuse to intercourse trafficking. A flood of lawsuits got here after Combs’ former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura sued him in federal courtroom in November, accusing him of years of bodily abuse all through their 11-year relationship, throughout which, she mentioned, he exerted full management over her. Combs and Ventura had been first romantically linked in 2007 and cut up in 2018.

She and Combs settled the suit a day later however didn’t disclose the phrases of the settlement. On the time, Combs denied the allegations. Singer Dawn Richard, Combs’ producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, a number of unnamed girls and a Michigan man have filed lawsuits towards Combs accusing him of assorted types of abuse and misconduct. Combs has denied the allegations, and a decide halted a $100 judgment in favor of the Michigan man, Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, with the intention to maintain extra hearings.

Earlier than Ventura’s allegations final 12 months, Combs’ popularity had remained intact regardless of all the accusations, authorized troubles and rumors that trailed him during the last three a long time. Combs’ habits had lengthy fueled social media chatter amongst followers and artists, together with rivals and those that had labored with him. However the accumulation of assault prices, filmed outbursts and erratic habits, capped by Vetura’s allegations in November, lastly tipped the scales. That it took so lengthy for Combs to face authorized repercussions and public rebuke speaks to the facility of his celeb and the picture he had maintained since his ascent, mentioned Oronike Odeleye, activist and co-founder of the #MuteRKelly social media marketing campaign.

“The music business is constructed on exploitation,” she mentioned. “Behind all the sensationalism, the drama and the rumors are precise survivors, individuals who lived by means of these experiences. We must always hold them within the forefront of our minds.”

The indictment alleges that Combs threatened individuals with firearms, provided bribes and leveraged his cash and affect to each management victims and guarantee their silence.

The tradition of silence fostered by Combs’ energy and celeb is just like the protecting community that saved singer R. Kelly from being held accountable for his abuse of women and younger girls, Odeleye mentioned. Kelly was convicted of sexual exploitation and enticement of a minor in 2022.

“Among the silence is, ‘I must be in proximity to this particular person as a result of they’re highly effective and so they could make or break my profession,’” Odeleye mentioned, including that she believes unhealthy concepts of masculinity have performed a task in Combs’ alleged habits. For some males, she mentioned, “violence towards girls, sadly, props up your masculinity.”

How Combs’ dangerous habits was excused for thus lengthy

Combs skilled a fast rise from unpaid Uptown Information intern to music mogul in just some years. Within the early ’90s, Combs tapped now-legendary artists Infamous B.I.G., Craig Mack, Religion Evans, 112 and Mase to fill the roster of his then-fledgling Unhealthy Boy Leisure label. He launched his personal profitable albums initially as Puff Daddy, a nickname he said stemmed from his own volatile temper. Via the Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s, his artists topped the charts.

Combs’ lineup of rappers and singers introduced a special sound from the gangsta rap, pop and grunge rock that had been in style on the time. The music represented a model of hip-hop that combined completely different sounds that appealed to completely different demographics however by no means felt inauthentic.

“They had been trendsetters,” Richard, one of many singers who later sued Combs, said of his signature artists again in 2015. “It was attributable to Puff’s ear and his means to choose voices that had been like no different.”

Because the years went on, Combs expanded his empire to incorporate clothes, fragrances, hit MTV reveals, alcohol manufacturers and extra. As of June, Combs’ estimated web value was $400 million, according to Forbes, even after dropping tons of of thousands and thousands as allegations towards him have piled on.

He grew to become related to wealth and energy together with music and tradition. His ever-growing empire earned him a popularity as a rich, business-minded man and the image of “Black excellence,” with a bootstrapping, rags-to-riches story that served as inspiration particularly for younger, Black males.

Through the years, the general public has gotten glimpses into Combs’ behind-closed-doors demeanor, most notably in interviews, quick clips and when he led the MTV actuality collection “Making the Band.” From 2002 to 2009, Combs developed musical acts on the present with a tricky, no-nonsense angle. From making contestants stroll a number of miles to get him a slice of cheesecake to his verbal altercation with choreographer Laurieann Gibson, Combs bolstered his popularity as a prolific however intimidating determine within the business.

Combs spoke about his go-getter angle in a clip he shared to advertise the 2017 documentary about his life, “Can’t Cease, Gained’t Cease: A Unhealthy Boy Story.” Within the clip, Combs finishes establishing a enterprise deal on the telephone earlier than excitedly throwing tools in his workplace and yelling, “I’m a savage! No matter I would like I’ve to get!”

“We see this and we’re like, ‘Diddy must be demanding.’ You see him being abusive and horrible. There are such a lot of cases of Diddy telling us some model of this darkish s— publicly and all people simply ignored it as a result of rappers are anticipated to make use of hyperbole to a sure diploma,” mentioned A.D. Carson, a professor of hip-hop and the World South on the College of Virginia.

“So, when rappers are speaking about their propensity for violence, or their propensity for assault … within the title of moguldom, we’re like, ‘Oh, that’s simply what it takes. He most likely doesn’t try this for actual.’”

Many years of fame — and suspicion

Combs has leaned into this concept of aspirational wealth, most notably together with his lavish Labor Day White Events.

From 1998 to 2009, Combs’ annual celebration was one of many hottest tickets, with company like Paris Hilton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z and Beyoncé attending. Combs mentioned he launched the White Celebration to affiliate hip-hop with wealth and the higher echelon. “I wished to strip away everybody’s picture and put us all in the identical coloration, and on the identical degree,” he mentioned in a 2006 interview with Oprah.

“Rappers type of function with this symbolic worth to individuals. That’s the Diddy phenomenon,”  Carson mentioned.

Carson added that Combs’ wealth and affect in Black tradition had made him somebody whom Black celebrities wished to affiliate with, typically at the price of ignoring his alleged misconduct and abuse.

“That type of energy produces all types of outcomes, together with individuals organizing themselves in such a method that this appears to be the worth of participation,” Carson mentioned. “Within the tradition, individuals are involved with what they stand to realize by” remaining silent.

Whereas Combs commonly smiled for pictures with A-listers and fortunately hosted bashes, behind closed doorways, in line with the indictment, he was punching, dragging, hanging, kicking and throwing objects at individuals, together with girls and his staff, and bribing witnesses to make sure their silence.

The current wave of lawsuits isn’t the primary time Combs’ conduct has been known as into query. For years, Combs has been criticized for allegedly maintaining his artists’ publishing rights, and he’s been linked to shootings, accused of assault, and related to abusive sexual habits.

A few of Combs’ previous artists have been vital of him in current a long time and accused him of owing them thousands and thousands of {dollars}. Mase, certainly one of Combs’ main collaborators within the late ’90s, has typically known as Combs out over his business practices, together with maintaining Mase’s publishing rights.

In 2023, Combs introduced that he would give Unhealthy Boy artists and songwriters together with Mase, the Lox, 112, Religion Evans and different creators their publishing rights. This was welcome information to many besides Aubrey O’Day, a member of the now-disbanded all-girl Unhealthy Boy group Danity Kane. O’Day said in an interview that as a part of receiving her publishing rights, she must conform to signal a nondisclosure settlement that barred her from making any destructive feedback about Combs publicly.

O’Day has lengthy been vital of Combs and mentioned she was fired from the group in 2008 after refusing to comply with Combs’ commands “not talentwise however in different areas.”

“I by no means thought I might see today,” she told TMZ this week. “All of us buried this inside us so as to have the ability to hold going. And never simply me, however victims you don’t even know but. We’re all processing what that kind of vindication can truly really feel like now. Each dialog I’ve had with victims final evening has been past shifting on all ranges.”