FILE: Sean 'Diddy' Combs faces new indictment, is accused of 'forced labor'

Record ID: 1983408

  • Title: FILE: Sean 'Diddy' Combs faces new indictment, is accused of 'forced labor'
  • Date: 10th October 2024
  • Summary: During his music career, Combs attended various awards ceremonies, movie premieres and fundraising galas. NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 28, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** COMBS ARRIVING AT MTV VMAS LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE - JUNE 21, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MUSICIAN, SEAN 'P DIDDY' COMBS, SAYI
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: P-DIDDY PUFF DADDY SEAN COMBS
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: Various
  • Topics: Celebrities,Arts/Culture/Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA009988407102024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs is due back in court on Friday (March 14) to be arraigned on a new indictment.
    U.S. prosecutors on Thursday (March 6) unveiled the new indictment against Combs, accusing the hip-hop mogul of forcing employees to work long hours and threatening to punish those who did not assist in his two-decade sex trafficking scheme.
    Combs, 55, still faces a scheduled May 5 trial in Manhattan on federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
    He has pleaded not guilty and denied all wrongdoing, including in dozens of civil lawsuits by women and men who accused him of sexual assault and other misconduct.
    Combs used his fame as one of hip-hop's biggest names to coerce women into demeaning sexual acts as part of a long-running scheme of sex trafficking and racketeering, prosecutors said on September 17 in bringing three criminal charges against him.
    In the same month, Combs pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court hours after the 14-page indictment was unsealed.
    U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky denied bail for Combs, granting a prosecution request for continued detention before trial following the music mogul's arrest on September 16.
    The rapper and producer used his business empire including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment to transport women, as well as male sex workers, across state lines to take part in recorded sexual performances called "Freak Offs" in which the music mogul would watch and masturbate, prosecutors said.
    In a possible preview of defense strategy, Combs' lawyer Marc Agnifilo called the sexual activity described by prosecutors consensual.
    Combs, in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial, faces a sentence of up to life in prison, and a minimum of 15 years, if convicted of the three felony counts: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
    Many of the civil lawsuits were filed under a 2022 New York City law giving alleged victims of gender-motivated violence a window to sue even if statutes of limitations had expired. The deadline to sue expired at the end of February.
    (Production: Carla O'Connor, Lisa Giles-Keddie)
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