Update: Rapper Diddy indicted on sex trafficking, racketeering, kidnapping and prostitution charges

Embattled Hip Hop mogul, Diddy has been charged with sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution , and racketeering conspiracy, alleging he ran an “enterprise that he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor or, kidn@pping, arson and other crimes,” according to the indictment unsealed on Tuesday, September 17.

Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan Monday night, September 16,  and he spent the night in federal custody.

Federal prosecutors said Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his s3xual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct” from 2008 to now. The allegations mirror 11 civil complaints filed against him since 2023.

Combs, with help from Combs Enterprise associates, is accused of transporting commercial s3x workers across state lines and internationally, the indictment said.

Combs allegedly “manipulated women to participate in highly orchestrated performances of sexual activity with male commercial sex workers,” the indictment said, and he allegedly coerced the women into participating by giving them drugs, “controlling their careers, leveraging his financial support and threatening to cut off the same, and using intimidation and violence.”

“Sometimes unbeknownst to the victims, Combs kept videos he filmed of victims engaging in sex acts with commercial sex workers,” federal prosecutors said.

The mogul is accused of verbal, emotional, physical and sexual abuse, the federal indictment said.

The indictment alleges Combs’ victims were enmeshed in a web of control through “physical violence” and the promise of career advancement, with Combs “granting and threatening to withhold financial support, and by other coercive means, including tracking their whereabouts, dictating the victims’ appearance, monitoring their medical records, controlling their housing, and supplying them with controlled substances.”

Federal prosecutors mention the 2016 hotel surveillance video that showed Combs allegedly physically assaulting his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

“When a member of the hotel security staff intervened, Combs attempted to bribe the staff member to ensure silence,” the indictment said.

His attorney said outside court Tuesday that Combs would plead not guilty to the charges and that he would “fight like hell” to try to get his client released from custody.

“His spirits are good. He’s confident,” Agnifilo said of Combs after the indictment came down.

Just hours before his Monday arrest, Combs had been photographed strolling around the Big Apple with his son Christian “King” Combs.

His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said the star had voluntarily traveled to the city in anticipation of his apprehension despite calling the decision an “unjust prosecution.”

“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,” Agnifilo said in the wake of Combs’ arrest.

“He is an imperfect person but 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,” he continued.

“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.”