Sean “Diddy” Combs taken into federal custody in New York, sources tell ABC News

NEW YORK (WABC) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was taken into federal custody in New York Monday night, multiple sources told ABC News.

A statement from his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said Combs had moved to New York in anticipation of the charges and said Combs was seeking to clear his name in court.

“We are disappointed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s decision to prosecute Mr. Combs, which we consider an injustice. Sean “Diddy” Combs is a music icon, a self-made entrepreneur, a loving family man, and a recognized philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, loving his children, and working to improve the Black community. He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. It must be acknowledged that Mr. Combs has only cooperated with this investigation and voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve judgment until you have all the facts. These are the actions of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he is eager to clear his name in court.”

The charges remain sealed.

In July, Combs faced new sex trafficking allegations in a lawsuit filed by a former porn star who also named a woman accused of being to “Diddy” what Ghislaine Maxwell was to Jeffrey Epstein.

Adria English, who performed under the name Omunique, said she “has lived her adult life with the memory of being trapped in a cycle of sex trafficking that she never asked to participate in and was chosen because Defendant Combs knew he could groom her.”

It was at least the tenth lawsuit filed against Combs alleging physical abuse and sex trafficking.

Combs, then known as Puff Daddy, was at the center of the East Coast and West Coast hip-hop battles of the 1990s as the partner and producer of Notorious B.I.G., who was gunned down in 1997. But like many who survived that era, his public image softened with age to that of a distinguished host of Hollywood and Hamptons parties, a forward-thinking businessman and a doting father who spoiled his children, some of whom lost their mothers in 2018.

But a different picture began to emerge in November, when his former protégé and girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie has become the first in a string of people to sue him for sexual abuse, with stories of a steady stream of sex workers in drug-fuelled environments where some of those involved were coerced or cajoled into having sex.

In her November lawsuit, Cassie alleged years of abuse, including beatings and rape. Her lawsuit also alleged that Combs engaged in sex trafficking by “obliging her to engage in coerced sexual acts in multiple jurisdictions” and “harboring and transporting Plaintiff for sexual purposes induced by force, fraud, or coercion.” She also claimed he forced her to help him traffic male sex workers with whom Combs forced Cassie to have sex while he filmed.

The lawsuit was settled out of court the next day, but its repercussions lasted much longer. Combs lost his last allies, supporters and those who reserved judgment when CNN aired video in May of him punching, kicking and throwing Cassie to the ground in a hotel hallway.

The next day, in his first real acknowledgement of wrongdoing since the allegations began, Combs posted a video on social media apologizing, saying, “I was disgusted when I did it” and “I’m disgusted now.” Cassie’s trial was followed by at least a half-dozen others in the months that followed.

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit accusing Combs of coercing him into soliciting prostitutes and pressuring him to have sex with them.

Another of Combs' accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her 20 years ago when she was 17.

Another woman who filed the complaint, April Lampos, said she was a college student in 1994 when she met Combs and that a series of “terrifying sexual encounters” with Combs and his entourage began that lasted for years.

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

Although authorities have not publicly stated that the lawsuits triggered the criminal investigation, Dyer said when the warrants were served that the case was based on “baseless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”

The AP generally does not name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Cassie and Lampros have done.

As the founder of Bad Boy Records, Combs has become one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the last three decades. Alongside Notorious B.I.G., he has worked with many top artists, including Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

Combs' roles in his businesses beyond music — including lucrative private-label spirits, a media company and the Sean John fashion line — took major hits when the allegations arose.

The consequences were even more serious when the video of the beating was revealed. Howard University cut all ties with him and he returned his key to the City of New York at the request of the mayor.

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