With federal investigators looking into Sean “Diddy” Combs in a sex trafficking investigation after multiple women and at least one man accused him of bad behavior, the hip-hop mogul is drawing comparisons to Jeffrey Epstein.
Like Epstein, a financier who had his own private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Combs has been accused of luring victims with his luxurious lifestyle and – in some cases – assaulting them aboard a yacht he rented for trips to the Virgin Islands and Saint Barthelemy.
Some of the most explosive allegations have come from a February lawsuit producer Lil Rod, whose real name is Rodney Jones, filed against Combs, alleging a pattern of sexual assaults and sex trafficking he claims are recorded on hidden cameras throughout the mogul’s homes.
Combs’ mansions in Los Angeles and Miami were raided earlier this week in connection with a federal human trafficking investigation, months after similar accusations emerged in a series of lawsuits.
The lawsuit also alleges Combs had an aide who played a role similar to Ghislaine Maxwell’s, Epstein’s madame who is now a convicted trafficker.
Just a few weeks ago, Combs, 54, was riding high, receiving the ceremonial key to New York City and celebrating the release of his first album in years on the same day.
“The bad boy of entertainment is getting the key to the city from the bad boy of politics,” Mayor Eric Adams said as he presented a giant key to Combs in Times Square, according to FOX 5 New York.
“He escaped a lot because of who he was,” said Derrick Parker, a former member of the NYPD’s rap intelligence unit who investigated the 1999 nightclub shooting that landed Combs and Jennifer Lopez in handcuffs. “Now, a lot of stuff is just coming back to him.”
From a deadly stampede early in his career, to a nightclub shooting where a protégé took the fall and recent sex trafficking allegations, Bad Boy Records founder Combs has largely prevailed in his legal battles.
Combs has been acquitted of gun and bribery charges and been mentioned in connection with hip-hop feuds that led to real-life violence without being implicated in any crimes.
But the recent lawsuits kicked off a federal investigation that resulted in raids on his mansions in Los Angeles and Miami last week. Combs and his lawyers denied any misconduct.
The hip-hop icon and founder of Bad Boy Records rose to prominence in the music industry in the early 1990s, then branched out into clothing design, liquor and other businesses, making himself a billionaire.
He came from humble beginnings. His early rise to prominence involved a feud between emerging hip-hop stars on the country’s East and West coasts.
The hip-hop icon and founder of Bad Boy Records rose to prominence in the music industry in the early 1990s, then branched out into clothing design, liquor and other businesses, making himself a billionaire.
In 1991, Combs promoted a benefit event at the City College of New York that turned deadly when an altercation in the crowd led to a stampede of fans that crushed eight people to death.
Combs and girlfriend Jennifer Lopez were arrested in New York City in 1999 on weapons and bribery charges after an altercation with another man led to a gunfight at Club New York that injured three people.
The couple left, but after blowing a red light, police found a gun in their car.
Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector and now a Fox News contributor, happened to be working in the same precinct the following morning but was not involved in the investigation.
“Diddy was not there, I remember that,” he recalled. “She was all distraught. I just remember she had her head down, and I have this recollection of her looking very small and very, very diminutive and kind of shellshocked.”
Police held Lopez for about 14 hours before releasing her without charges. Combs was later indicted and then acquitted of gun charges and of bribing his bodyguard to take the fall.
His friend, rapper Shyne, wound up in prison for assault in connection with the bar brawl and recorded part of his next album behind bars.