Here’s what we know following Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ arrest

About six months after federal authorities raided the homes of Sean “Diddy” Combs in Los Angeles and Miami, the music mogul was arrested in Manhattan Monday night.

It’s the latest chapter in a long-winding series of allegations of sexual assault and sex trafficking against the rapper.

Combs, 54, has been at the center of a string of lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault, trafficking, and other illegal activity. He has largely denied the allegations, but Combs apologized for physically assaulting his former girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, after CNN published hotel surveillance footage that showed him doing that.

He and Ventura settled her lawsuit against him — which alleged both sexual and physical assault — for an undisclosed amount one day after she filed in November.

Now, prosecutors allege that for decades Combs spearheaded a web of abuse and assault. According to the indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday morning, Combs’ music industry success was a critical tool for him and several of his employees to “carry out, facilitate, and cover up his abuse and commercial sex.” His relationship with Ventura is also invoked in the court documents.

The arrest marks one of the highest-profile criminal cases in the music world since R&B singer R. Kelly’s sentencing to prison for child sex crimes, sex trafficking, and racketeering charges.

Combs pleaded not guilty Tuesday afternoon in a New York courtroom and remains detained.

Details are still unfolding, but here are the basics surrounding the allegations against Combs and his arrest.

» READ MORE: 6 key questions about the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs home raid, including who is the mystery Philly rapper?

Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution, according to the federal indictment.

Prosecutors allege that Combs hit and abused women for more than a decade and spearheaded a domain of sexual crimes, using his position of power to coerce female victims and male sex workers for years.

Combs would lead dayslong drugged sexual performances, called “Freak Offs,” where he would force victims into sex acts, the indictment said. Combs would arrange, direct, masturbate during, and record the events, court documents said. Court documents say he would use the recordings as collateral to guarantee victims’ cooperation.

The events were so intense Combs and the victims would receive IV fluid bags to recover from the sexual activity and drug use afterward, court documents say.

The documents go on to say that Combs “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals.”

Racketeering is described as an organized crime that involves profiting off a pattern of illegal activities. In Combs’ case, prosecutors say the producer’s sex parties involved abuse and the involvement of his employees. Combs would lure women into his life, purport to begin a romantic relationship, but then force them to perform in the “Freak Offs,” court documents say.

Representing Combs in court is Marc Agnifilo, of Agnifilo Law Group. Agnifilo is a high-profile criminal defense attorney. He previously represented Keith Raniere, the founder of NXIVM, originally a multilevel marketing company that evolved into what was described as a “cult-like” group, according to Newsweek. Raniere was convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering in 2019.

In 2022, Agnifilo represented Roger Ng, a Goldman Sachs employee convicted of a bribery and corruption scheme involving the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

A statement from Agnifilo said that Combs’ legal team was disappointed in the decision to prosecute the rapper but that they were cooperating. It said Combs “voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges.”

“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,” the statement said. “He is an imperfect person but he is not a criminal.”

A federal magistrate judge on Tuesday ordered Combs to be held without bail, siding with prosecutors who had requested in a detention memo that Combs stay in custody while he awaits trial citing public safety and him potentially being a flight risk. Agnifilo had told reporters Combs “should be released” since he was brought into custody “voluntarily,” and the rapper’s attorneys proposed a $50 million bond.

In a bail appeal hearing Wednesday afternoon, Judge Andrew L. Carter referenced the video footage of Combs being violent against his ex, Ventura, calling it “troubling.” Agnifilo said Combs was acting out of “jealousy” and sought rehab for his actions.

Judge Carter said the government proved Combs to be a danger and said the proposed bail package was insufficient. Combs will remain detained.

The indictment goes into previously unreported details from the raids on Combs’ properties earlier this year.

Court documents say that law enforcement seized supplies for Combs’ elaborate “Freak Offs,” including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.

The raids also recovered multiple firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, and a drum magazine. Investigators say Combs and his security personnel would carry weapons to intimidate victims and witnesses.

We’ve embedded the unsealed indictment below.