Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is charged with multiple federal crimes. Lawyers in the United States say this may just be the beginning

Lavish parties, guns, sex toys and celebrities are all part of the Sean “Diddy” Combs story but it is his alleged crimes that have shocked the United States and the world.

Mr Combs, 54, is currently in prison, where he is expected to stay until his May 2025 trial on three criminal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Mr Combs has denied all of the charges laid against him.

Former US federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner and civil attorney Lisa Bloom say those allegations may simply scratch the surface.

“It is virtually impossible to make a chart of the entertainment industry that does not have everybody you’ve ever heard of within two degrees of connection with Sean Combs,” Mr Epner told 7.30.

Mr Epner also believes music mogul Mr Combs may spend the rest of his life in jail, the maximum punishment for the charges he faces.

Ms Bloom — an attorney representing singer Dawn Richard in a civil case against Mr Combs — says the number of people who may have been complicit could be staggering.

“We allege in our complaint, which was filed a week before the government’s criminal complaint, that there were a lot of people and entities who were enablers, who were complicit, helped him, funded him, who turned a blind eye to what was going on,” she told 7.30.

Infamous raids, notorious prison

The jail where Mr Combs is housed is Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Centre. Mr Epner says the prison has earned its fearsome reputation.

“It is rat infested and it is dangerous,” he told 7.30.

The legal team for Mr Combs has tried and failed to secure bail for their client multiple times, despite a bond offering of nearly $75 million.

Mr Combs has been in prison since federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations raided his properties in Miami and Los Angeles earlier this year.

What they found was shocking to many and included firearms with the serial numbers filed off.

“There were large amounts of different drugs that were found,” Mr Epner recounted.

“Everything from GHB … to all sorts of recreational drugs.

Forming the basis of other civil allegations against Mr Combs are allegations about sexual control and abuse.

It is his infamous “white parties”, which took place at his lavish property in New York State’s Hamptons, where many of the allegations against Mr Combs stem from.

In alleged “Freak-Off” sex performances, it is claimed he forced and threatened victims to perform sex acts.

“What has been reported is that these Freak Offs, which were in very large gatherings of basically public sex shows that went on for days at a time, were drug-fuelled and that these were only known to a subset of the people who were going to the very fancy schmancy white parties,” Mr Epner said.

In addition to the federal charges, Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee recently announced his firm was representing 120 individuals who alleged they were victimised by Mr Combs.

At the time of the alleged events, a number of them were said to be minors.

‘Abuse, harassment, discrimination’

Singer Dawn Richard first met Mr Combs more than 20 years ago when she was a contestant on television show Making the Band. 

She has also launched a civil suit against him.

Ms Richard says she was forced to attend these parties and perform their hit songs for guests. 

She alleges her mobile phone would be taken from her so she could not leave without him knowing, and says underage men and women were invited by Mr Combs to attend these parties, take drugs and perform sex acts.

“It was a big break in her musical career,” Ms Richard’s lawyer Lisa Bloom told 7.30.

“Then a couple of years later, she was selected for a second band that Sean Combs was involved in, called Diddy Dirty Money, and then she’s worked with him off and on since then.”

In the lawsuit filed by Ms Bloom on behalf of Ms Richard, it is alleged Mr Combs treated her “inhumanely” by forcing her to work up to 48 hours at a time, deprived her of food and sleep, and sexually harassed and assaulted her for two years when she worked with him in the trio group Diddy Dirty Money.

The lawsuit says Mr Combs would routinely barge into her changing room while she was dressing and would grope her without consent. It is also alleged he would attempt to touch Ms Richard’s buttocks and breasts and disguise this by describing to their stylist what he’d like her to wear.

“Those are claims relating to her not being paid properly for the work that she did with Mr Combs.”

Ms Richard was 21 years old when she auditioned for season three of Making the Band. She was a fan favourite and would go on to form the girl group Danity Kane with members Aubrey O’Day, Aundrea Fimbres, D Woods and Shannon Bex.

Mr Combs took a keen interest in her during filming, calling her “exceptional” while she was dancing on stage, and proclaiming he still wanted to work with her while he fired other members of the band towards the end of the series.

Danity Kane was officially disbanded in 2020, but Mr Combs continued to work with Ms Richard through their group Diddy Dirty Money which also included singer Kalenna Harper.

Inspired by his former partner

It was the abuse Mr Combs subjected his ex-partner Cassie Ventura to that inspired Ms Richard to come forward with her story.

“Even though that case was settled the very next day, we can all read the allegations in the complaint, and it was very inspiring and very moving to Dawn, who knew Cassie, and who alleges in her complaint that she witnessed some of the incidents as to Cassie and Kim Porter and others,” Ms Bloom said.

Ms Ventura was a singer and model previously known as Cassie — she first met Mr Combs when she signed with his record label in 2007.

In a damning New York lawsuit filed last year, she alleged the mogul had abused her during their decade-long relationship, which began when she was 19.

Surveillance footage from inside a hotel corridor was published in May this year, showing Mr Comb’s grabbing Ms Ventura by the neck and slamming her into the carpet before trying to drag her.

Days after the video surfaced, he offered an apology on his Instagram page.

“So difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life. But sometimes you gotta do that. I was f****d up. I mean I hit rock bottom,” he posted.

“When the horrific video came out of Cassie Ventura being beaten by Sean Combs, that further inspired [Dawn],” Ms Bloom said.

Mr Epner believes one of the major reasons Mr Combs will remain behind bars is to protect Ms Ventura.

“The danger to the community was about intimidation of witnesses,” he said. 

“The video that was released earlier this year of Mr Combs in a hotel in California beating his then-girlfriend, Cassie, had a tremendous impact. 

“It showed a proclivity for extreme violence, a danger to the community, and also it is widely believed that victim number one is Cassie.

“So when there is videotape of the defendant beating up brutally the most important witness, that goes a long way towards the denial of bail.”

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