Federal authorities raided rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami on Monday and seized a number of electronic devices amid allegations of sex trafficking, abuse and rape.
Now his alleged victims are “talking a lot” about his “disturbing history” in interviews with authorities, according to the New York Post.
The federal investigation came after the 54-year-old rapper was accused of sexual assault in several lawsuits filed late last year.
Combs, formerly known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, has strongly denied all of the allegations against him.
According to the U.K.’s Independent, his attorneys have called the lawsuits and allegations “baseless” and “sickening” and suggested they are merely an attempt to grab money from the artist, who Forbes estimated had a net worth near $1 billion in 2022.
However, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the investigation is based on specific allegations.
“We became aware of certain allegations during the course of the civil suits against Mr. Combs,” a Miami-based officer with the department, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Post.
“You have to understand that we didn’t just decide on a whim to search his homes,” the officer said. “A federal judge had to sign off. This isn’t a witch hunt.”
The officer said the search includes “photographs, electronic mails, text messages, travel schedules, and ideally, identities. We are targeting particular exchanges that we know of and expect to retrieve from the devices.”
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The comprehensive investigation involves multiple agencies and is being led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
On Nov. 16, Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, an R&B singer, filed a civil lawsuit accusing him of rape and physical abuse during their relationship. They settled the suit a day later, the Post reported.
On Nov. 23, however, two other lawsuits were filed against him.
One accused Combs of drugging, sexually assaulting and filming a woman with whom he went on a date in 1991.
Another alleged that he and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping a woman and her friend in the early 1990s.
Then, on Dec. 6, yet another lawsuit accused the rapper and others of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at his New York recording studio after drugging her and supplying her with alcohol in 2003.
Until recently, Combs’ business empire included record label Bad Boy Entertainment, fashion label Sean John, alcohol brands Cîroc Vodka and DeLeón Tequila, and Empower Global, an online platform aimed at boosting sales for black-owned businesses.
In the wake of the recent allegations, however, he has parted ways with some of those interests.
Combs also co-founded Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School in New York.
