Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested Monday in New York City by the FBI.
The Grammy-winning rapper and producer has been taken to the FBI offices in Manhattan, according to sources. However, the bureau has neither confirmed nor denied that Combs has been taken into custody.
The arrest is related to the raids that took place earlier this year at the much-accused rapper’s Los Angeles and Miami homes, I’m told. Sources say an indictment could be made public by Tuesday or later in the week.
Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo told Deadline tonight that his client “is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal.”
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“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” the attorney added (see his full statement below).
While the charges have not been made public, Deadline understands that the U.S. Attorney’s Office convened a grand jury for the Combs case in recent weeks.
Since first accused late last year by singer and former girlfriend Cassie Ventura for sexual assault (which was settled a day later for $30 million), Combs has been the alleged perpetrator of sexual assault and other misconduct against multiple women and men.
While Combs has denied all accusations, he did admit to the severity of his abuse in his relationship with Ventura after a security camera footage emerged of him assaulting her in a L.A. hotel. At the end of last month, the artist went on the offensive, launching a bid to dismiss his former Love Album producer Lil Rod’s $30 million sexual assault and trafficking lawsuit, a move the latter’s lawyers deemed “a weak attempt to fill their pockets before he is indicted.”
As recently as last week, one of the singers from the ABC/MTV series Making the Band, Danity Kane’s Dawn Richard, filed a lawsuit claiming abuse and assault by Combs. Filed Tuesday in a New York federal court, per NPR, the singer alleged the hip-hop mogul sexually assaulted her, deprived her of food and sleep and refused to pay her fairly.
Here’s Agnifilo’s full statement.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sean “Diddy” Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person, but he Is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
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