Officials raided two of Sean Combs’ homes on Monday, a law enforcement source confirmed to Rolling Stone, as part of a federal sex trafficking investigation. Led by Homeland Security, the raid was carried out just four months after the rap mogul’s ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie, accused Combs of sex trafficking.
Helicopters and agents were seen swarming Combs’ Los Angeles mansion on Monday afternoon. Footage of the scene appeared to show some men — later identified as Combs’ sons Justin and King — detained and waiting outside the Holmby Hills house. Officials were also present at Combs’ Miami residence. Combs was in Florida at the time of the raid, according to NBC News, and officials reportedly seized his phones before the Bad Boy Records executive was scheduled to leave for a trip to the Caribbean.
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A source tells Rolling Stone four Jane Does and one John Doe already sat for interviews with Southern District of New York investigators for a probe related to alleged sex trafficking, domestic violence and racketeering. More interviews are scheduled, the source said.
“Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners. We will provide further information as it becomes available,” a Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson said in a statement. Rolling Stone has contacted Combs for comment.
Douglas Wigdor, who represents Cassie Ventura and a Jane Doe accuser, says in a statement provided to Rolling Stone, “We will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.”
Attorney Tyrone Blackburn, who represents two accusers, music producer Rodney Jones and Liza Gardner, tells Rolling Stone, “It’s about damn time. Sometimes justice delayed is not justice denied, so long as justice ultimately arrives.” Jones sued Combs last month for sexual assault, harassment, and not compensating him for work on the Grammy-nominated The Love Album. Gardner filed suit in November, alleging Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping her following an Uptown Records event in 1990.
It is not clear whether HSI’s search is related to any of the allegations raised in the several civil lawsuits filed in the past four months against Combs.
“The Southern District of New York is one of the most prestigious in the country. If they’re bringing a case against him, Diddy has a lot to worry about,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani tells Rolling Stone. “He is in a world of hurt right now.”
R&B singer Cassie filed a bombshell complaint against Combs on Nov. 16 alleging he subjected her to vicious beatings, sex trafficking, and rape. In her 35-page filing that started with a bright red “trigger warning,” Cassie claimed Combs punched, kicked, and “stomped” on her and forced her to have drug-fueled intercourse with male sex workers during arrangements he dubbed “freak offs.” In a statement, Combs’ lawyer said the lawsuit was a financial shakedown “riddled with baseless and outrageous lies.” (Diddy reached a private settlement with Cassie one day later.)
One week later, as New York’s Adult Survivors Act was set to expire, two more women stepped forward on Thanksgiving Day with similarly disturbing claims against Combs. The second accuser alleged Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her when she was a Syracuse University student in 1991. The woman claimed Combs filmed the incident and showed the video to others in an act described as “revenge porn.” Through a rep, Combs denied the allegation. “This last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned on its head. (This) 32-year-old story is made up and not credible. Mr. Combs never assaulted her, and she implicates companies that did not exist. This is purely a money grab and nothing more,” the spokesperson said.
The third lawsuit was from Gardner, who said in the suit she was 16 years old at the time of the alleged assault. She further claimed that a day later, Combs turned “irate and began assaulting and choking” her until she almost “passed out” because he was worried she might divulge what happened. “These are fabricated claims falsely alleging misconduct from over 30 years ago and filed at the last minute,” a Combs spokesperson said of Gardner’s lawsuit. “This is nothing but a money grab.”
In early December, a fourth accuser alleged Combs’ former Bad Boy president Harve Pierre and a third man gang raped her at Combs’ New York recording studio in 2003 when she was 17 years old.
Combs has denied any wrongdoing in each case. Still, he stepped down from the chairmanship of his Revolt TV media company last year as 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.
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