Embattled music mogul Sean Combs was indicted Tuesday on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion and transporting for prostitution, online court records reveal.
The 54-year-old was due to make his first appearance in front of a judge on Tuesday morning, hours after he was arrested and escorted from the New York hotel where he’d been staying. Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo said they were “disappointed” with the “unjust prosecution,” calling Combs “an innocent man with nothing to hide.”
“For decades, Sean Combs…abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct,” the Department of Justice indictment read. “To do so, Combs relied on the employees, resources and the influence of his multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled.”
Prosecutors referred to this as the “Combs Enterprise,” which was technically comprised of Combs’ various business endeavors in the “media, entertainment, and lifestyle industries,” from Bad Boy to Ciroc to RevoltTV. But the indictment claims Combs and other “members and associates” of the Enterprise used their power to “intimidate, threaten, and lure female victims into Combs’ orbit, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship.”
Combs allegedly then “used force, threats of force and coercion, to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers that Combs referred to as, among other things, ‘Freak Offs.’” Combs allegedly “arranged, directed, and masturbated” during these “elaborate and produced sex performances,” which were often filmed as well.
On top of allegedly transporting commercial sex workers “across state lines and internationally,” Combs allegedly “distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims” during these Freak Offs, “in part to keep the victims obedient and compliant.”
Others in the Combs enterprise, per the indictment, facilitated all this by booking hotel rooms and travel for victims, as well as obtaining supplies, including drugs. The indictment says that during the raids of Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles earlier this year, cops seized “various Freak Off supplies, including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.” Authorities also reportedly seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, as well as a drum magazine.
Earlier on Monday, while Combs was spotted posing for photos with his children in Harlem, a grand jury indicted the hip-hop mogul. Rolling Stone has learned that several witnesses had been testifying to the grand jury throughout the summer. If convicted on the most serious charge — racketeering — Combs stands to face 20 years to life in prison.
Combs’ arrest comes nearly six months after Homeland Security agents carried out raids on the former billionaire’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami, and nearly a year after his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a sex trafficking and sexual abuse lawsuit against Combs in November. In the months since, eight more women and one man have come forward to sue Combs, with allegations ranging from sex trafficking to sexual assault.
Ventura’s 35-page lawsuit detailed numerous acts of alleged sexual abuse. She claims Combs forced her to recruit male sex workers from escort services and have sex with them while he watched the highly choreographed encounters dubbed “freak offs.” Ventura claims she was given copious amounts of alcohol and illegal drugs, and if she refused, Combs allegedly would beat her.
One incident detailed in Ventura’s filing has been corroborated through unearthed hotel surveillance video from 2016 first published by CNN. In the video, Combs is seen knocking Ventura to the ground and kicking and dragging her after she tried to sneak off from their hotel suite following one alleged “freak off.”
While Combs issued a public apology for the shocking video, Combs has denied any wrongdoing in the other lawsuits filed against him. As legal pressure has mounted, he stepped down from the chairmanship of his Revolt TV media company and sold his stake in the company. More than a dozen companies fled his e-commerce platform. In January, liquor giant Diageo cut him loose in a private settlement under which Combs will no longer be a joint owner of the tequila brand DeLeón or have any ties to Cîroc vodka. Once a billionaire, a new Forbes estimate places his net worth at roughly $400 million.
Combs’ 10-bedroom, gated neo-European estate just down the street from the Playboy Mansion in the tony Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles was listed for sale earlier this month with an asking price of $61.5 million.
This is a developing story
