United States: residences of P. Diddy searched amid rape accusations

Residences belonging to American rapper Sean Combs, aka “P. Diddy”, were searched this Monday, March 25, by federal agents in the United States. According to a source close to the matter, the hip-hop star is at the center of prosecution for rape and sexual assault. Armed police officers have entered the rap star’s luxury properties on both the West Coast and East Coast of the United States.

The investigation office of the Department of Homeland Security in New York announced in a press release that it had carried out actions alongside branches in Los Angeles and Miami, as well as local law enforcement. A source close to the matter confirmed to AFP that Sean Combs was the target of these searches.

Several Los Angeles media outlets had previously identified a raided residence in an affluent area of ​​the city as being associated with the rapper and producer. And celebrity media outlet TMZ said it had obtained footage of a search of a waterfront property in Miami, Florida, also associated with P. Diddy. Investigators did not immediately indicate the reasons for these searches.

Rape cases

These searches take place at a time when the rapper is in the midst of legal turmoil, facing several complaints relating to facts dating back several decades, some of them. In mid-November, Diddy’s former partner, R&B singer Cassie, was the first to file a civil complaint for rape and physical violence against the rapper. Two days later, they announced an “amicable” agreement, the details of which were not disclosed.

The singer’s complaint accused the rap star of having engaged in “violent behavior” and “deviant demands” for “more than a decade.” She explained that she had been beaten repeatedly and forced to have filmed sex with male prostitutes.

Since then, two other women have filed complaints, including one, openly, accusing him of having “drugged and sexually assaulted” her in 1992, at the time when the rapper was called “Puff Daddy”. This complainant assures that he had filmed the scene and distributed the video as “revenge porn”, a practice aimed at publicly revealing sexual images generally not consensual to take revenge on a person.

In December, the rapper was also the target of a civil complaint in New York accusing him of gang rape of a 17-year-old minor in 2003. In this case, Diddy is suspected of having forced the teenager to drinking and drugging her, before forcing her to have sex, in the company of the president of his production company Bad Boy Records, Harve Pierre, and a third individual.

“Depraved conduct”

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer who represents two of the women accusing Sean Combs, told AFP on Monday that he hoped this was “the beginning of a process that will hold Sean Combs accountable for his depraved conduct.” The 54-year-old rapper vigorously denies the accusations against him.

P. Diddy founded the Bad Boy Records label in 1993, a decade of glory for this major figure in the marketing and media coverage of the hip-hop scene. With this production house, he notably produced Notorious BIG, who died in 1997, and Mary J. Blige. The rapper rose to billionaire status, investing beyond music into fashion and alcoholic beverages. According to the complaints against him, he used this celebrity and his status to intimidate and subjugate women.