Sean "Diddy" Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided Monday by federal authorities in connection to allegations of sex trafficking against the rapper and music mogul.
Homeland Security Investigations confirmed to Music Times that raids took place in L.A. and Miami as part "of an ongoing investigation" but did not name Combs in the statement.
"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," read the statement from HSI provided to Music Times.
Video footage of an L.A. street being shut down in conjunction with the raid was posted on TMZ along with footage of agents arriving in Miami by boat.
Additionally, FOX 11 posted video that appeared to show some individuals in handcuffs near the L.A. property, located in the Holmby Hills area, with TMZ speculating that they appeared to be Combs' sons Justin and King Combs.
The raids are likely connected to the allegations of rape, sexual harassment and sex trafficking made against Combs in recent months by several plaintiffs, including Combs' ex-wife, Cassie Ventura, professionally known as the R&B singer Cassie.
Douglas Wigdor, lawyer for Cassie Ventura and a woman identified as Jane Doe in another lawsuit against Combs, responded to the news of the raids with a statement to Music Times. "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," Wigdor said.
It was Cassie who instigated the latest actions against Combs when she filed a complaint on Nov. 16, alleging that she was beaten, raped and was forced to engage in sex trafficking.
In the 35-page complaint that included a "trigger warning," Cassie alleged that she was "stomped," kicked and punched and forced to have sex with male prostitutes in what Combs called "freak offs."
Although an attorney for Combs initially called the lawsuit a shakedown "riddled with baseless and outrageous lies," Combs announced the pair had reached a settlement a day later, but no details were publicly disclosed.
But the allegations against Combs didn't stop there. On Thanksgiving Day, a week after the initial allegations and as the Adult Survivors Act in New York was set to expire, two more women stepped forward with allegations against Combs. One was a Syracuse University student who claimed that Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1991 and filmed the incident in an alleged act of "revenge porn." Combs, through his spokesman, denied the allegations and dismissed them as "a money grab."
Another alleged victim, Liza Gardner, claimed that she was 16 when Combs allegedly assaulted her in 1990 after an Uptown Records event. Combs, through his spokesman, once again dismissed the allegations as a "money grab."
A fourth accuser, who came forward in early December, claimed that Harve Pierre, the former president of Bad Boy, Combs' label, Combs and a third man gang raped her a Combs' recording studio in New York in 2003. She was 17 at the time of the alleged attack.
Record producer Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones in February also sued Combs for sexual assault, harassment and failing to pay him for work on Combs' The Love Album.
Although Combs has denied wrongdoing in all these cases, they have affected his business. Last year, he resigned as chairman of his Revolt TV company after advertisers stopped supporting the company. He also split from the liquor company Diageo, giving up his joint ownership of DeLeon tequila and ending his relationship with Circo vodka.
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