Thalia Graves said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York that she only learned of the alleged recording decades later, in November 2023, after the R&B singer Cassie sued Combs, alleging that he had subjected her to years of abuse, including severe beatings and rape, while they had dated. The singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, settled the suit with Combs in a day without disclosing the terms. Combs denied any wrongdoing.

Graves is seeking a jury trial. It appears to be the first lawsuit Combs has faced since he was indicted last week by federal authorities in New York on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. His representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

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In addition to Combs, Graves’ suit names Joseph Sherman, who, according to the suit, was known as “Big Joe,” and was for a time, Combs’ bodyguard and head of security. Sherman said Tuesday that he did not know or rape Graves and that he was not employed by Combs at the time of the alleged assault.

Graves met Combs in or around late 1999 or early 2000 through her then-boyfriend, who was an executive at Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, and had a close personal relationship with the hip-hop mogul, the suit says. Graves frequently visited her boyfriend, who is not identified in the complaint, at the Bad Boy studio in New York City and attended events hosted at Combs’ residences, the suit says.

According to the suit, in the summer of 2001, Combs called Graves, who was 25 at the time, and asked her to meet to discuss her boyfriend’s performance issues.

“Her boyfriend was determined to climb up the ladder at Combs’ records label and as his romantic partner, Plaintiff was committed to helping him,” the suit says, so she agreed to meet with Combs.

Combs and Joseph Sherman, who was behind the wheel of an SUV, picked Graves up from her mother’s home in Queens, the suit says. It alleges Combs, who was in the backseat, offered her a glass of wine that she accepted and that later caused her “to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and physically weak.” They drove her to the Bad Boy studio in Manhattan and as she exited the SUV, the lawsuit says, she felt odd and found it difficult to walk. The suit alleges Combs led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness. 

When she regained consciousness, she was naked, and her hands had been tied behind her back with what felt like a plastic grocery bag, the suit says. After she shouted for help, Sherman lifted her up from the couch and forcefully slammed her face down on a pool table, according to the suit. Shortly thereafter, Combs entered the room naked, the suit says. 

Combs applied lubricant to himself and then raped her as she screamed out in pain, the suit alleges. It says Graves, who is 4 foot 11 and weighed 103 pounds at the time, “was unable to move, totally overpowered physically, in addition to being drugged and bound.” She then lost consciousness again, according to the suit. When she regained consciousness, the suit alleges Sherman slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her. She again lost consciousness, the suit says.

When she next awoke, she was on the couch terrified, naked and alone in the room, so she quickly got dressed and fled, the suit says.

According to the suit, Graves called a livery driver she knew who drove her to a hospital and tried to convince her to report the alleged rape and to get a rape kit, but she was unable to leave the car, as she was “shaking and crying hysterically” and “terrified of what Combs would do to her and her family if she reported him.”

She was also involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time and feared that reporting the alleged rape would cause her to lose custody of her young child, the suit says. Her boyfriend, who was still employed by Combs, also allegedly discouraged her from disclosing the alleged assault, the suit says, and told her that it could negatively affect his career.

Graves said she sustained injuries, including bruising on her wrists and face, as well as burning in her vagina and anus and prolonged anal bleeding and hemorrhoids. She has relocated multiple times throughout the years to stay away from Combs, who, along with Sherman, has threatened her multiple times to stay silent, the suit alleges. Graves never went to police because she was afraid Combs and Sherman would follow through on their threats, the suit says.

In late November, Graves’ former boyfriend revealed to her for the first time that, years earlier, Combs and Sherman had showed him “and a group of men — some of whom were also employed by Combs’ companies and/or their related entities — the video” of her being raped, the suit alleges. Her former boyfriend reported that he and the other men watched the alleged recording on a handheld camera while at the Bad Boy studio in New York City, the suit says.

And in the years since, the suit says, both Combs and Sherman contacted her and warned her to stay silent and threatened repercussions, including that she could lose custody of her son if she ever disclosed the alleged assault.

According to the suit, Graves suffers from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and has experienced suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts, and has attempted to end her life.

“Plaintiff lives in constant fear,” the suit says. “She struggles with hypervigilance and experiences anxiety and panic attacks in social settings, preferring to be alone. Her need to hide to feel safe has strained her relationships with friends and family.”

Sherman, who denies the allegations in Graves’ lawsuit, said he was employed by Combs from 1998 to 1999, years before the alleged assault would have taken place. He said he provided security to Combs and other Bad Boy artists, such as Total, Carl Thomas and 112. He said he has never been alone with Combs and hasn’t seen him in 25 years.

Graves’ attorneys include Gloria Allred, a women’s rights attorney who represented several of singer R. Kelly’s accusers.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Graves said the worst pain she has experienced is shame and guilt.

“Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me,” Graves said through tears, as Allred consoled her.

Combs has faced a wave of sexual abuse allegations in civil lawsuits since Ventura sued him. Ventura signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the two dated on and off for many years. Her suit said Combs plied her with drugs and forced her to have sex with a series of male prostitutes in what Combs called “freak offs” and what the government has described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that sometimes lasted days and at times were recorded. Freak offs are at the heart of the sex trafficking case. 

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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Thalia Graves said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York that she only learned of the alleged recording decades later, in November 2023, after the R&B singer Cassie sued Combs, alleging that he had subjected her to years of abuse, including severe beatings and rape, while they had dated. The singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, settled the suit with Combs in a day without disclosing the terms. Combs denied any wrongdoing.

Graves is seeking a jury trial. It appears to be the first lawsuit Combs has faced since he was indicted last week by federal authorities in New York on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. His representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

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In addition to Combs, Graves’ suit names Joseph Sherman, who, according to the suit, was known as “Big Joe,” and was for a time, Combs’ bodyguard and head of security. Sherman said Tuesday that he did not know or rape Graves and that he was not employed by Combs at the time of the alleged assault.

Graves met Combs in or around late 1999 or early 2000 through her then-boyfriend, who was an executive at Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, and had a close personal relationship with the hip-hop mogul, the suit says. Graves frequently visited her boyfriend, who is not identified in the complaint, at the Bad Boy studio in New York City and attended events hosted at Combs’ residences, the suit says.

According to the suit, in the summer of 2001, Combs called Graves, who was 25 at the time, and asked her to meet to discuss her boyfriend’s performance issues.

“Her boyfriend was determined to climb up the ladder at Combs’ records label and as his romantic partner, Plaintiff was committed to helping him,” the suit says, so she agreed to meet with Combs.

Combs and Joseph Sherman, who was behind the wheel of an SUV, picked Graves up from her mother’s home in Queens, the suit says. It alleges Combs, who was in the backseat, offered her a glass of wine that she accepted and that later caused her “to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and physically weak.” They drove her to the Bad Boy studio in Manhattan and as she exited the SUV, the lawsuit says, she felt odd and found it difficult to walk. The suit alleges Combs led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness. 

When she regained consciousness, she was naked, and her hands had been tied behind her back with what felt like a plastic grocery bag, the suit says. After she shouted for help, Sherman lifted her up from the couch and forcefully slammed her face down on a pool table, according to the suit. Shortly thereafter, Combs entered the room naked, the suit says. 

Combs applied lubricant to himself and then raped her as she screamed out in pain, the suit alleges. It says Graves, who is 4 foot 11 and weighed 103 pounds at the time, “was unable to move, totally overpowered physically, in addition to being drugged and bound.” She then lost consciousness again, according to the suit. When she regained consciousness, the suit alleges Sherman slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her. She again lost consciousness, the suit says.

When she next awoke, she was on the couch terrified, naked and alone in the room, so she quickly got dressed and fled, the suit says.

According to the suit, Graves called a livery driver she knew who drove her to a hospital and tried to convince her to report the alleged rape and to get a rape kit, but she was unable to leave the car, as she was “shaking and crying hysterically” and “terrified of what Combs would do to her and her family if she reported him.”

She was also involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time and feared that reporting the alleged rape would cause her to lose custody of her young child, the suit says. Her boyfriend, who was still employed by Combs, also allegedly discouraged her from disclosing the alleged assault, the suit says, and told her that it could negatively affect his career.

Graves said she sustained injuries, including bruising on her wrists and face, as well as burning in her vagina and anus and prolonged anal bleeding and hemorrhoids. She has relocated multiple times throughout the years to stay away from Combs, who, along with Sherman, has threatened her multiple times to stay silent, the suit alleges. Graves never went to police because she was afraid Combs and Sherman would follow through on their threats, the suit says.

In late November, Graves’ former boyfriend revealed to her for the first time that, years earlier, Combs and Sherman had showed him “and a group of men — some of whom were also employed by Combs’ companies and/or their related entities — the video” of her being raped, the suit alleges. Her former boyfriend reported that he and the other men watched the alleged recording on a handheld camera while at the Bad Boy studio in New York City, the suit says.

And in the years since, the suit says, both Combs and Sherman contacted her and warned her to stay silent and threatened repercussions, including that she could lose custody of her son if she ever disclosed the alleged assault.

According to the suit, Graves suffers from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and has experienced suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts, and has attempted to end her life.

“Plaintiff lives in constant fear,” the suit says. “She struggles with hypervigilance and experiences anxiety and panic attacks in social settings, preferring to be alone. Her need to hide to feel safe has strained her relationships with friends and family.”

Sherman, who denies the allegations in Graves’ lawsuit, said he was employed by Combs from 1998 to 1999, years before the alleged assault would have taken place. He said he provided security to Combs and other Bad Boy artists, such as Total, Carl Thomas and 112. He said he has never been alone with Combs and hasn’t seen him in 25 years.

Graves’ attorneys include Gloria Allred, a women’s rights attorney who represented several of singer R. Kelly’s accusers.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Graves said the worst pain she has experienced is shame and guilt.

“Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me,” Graves said through tears, as Allred consoled her.

Combs has faced a wave of sexual abuse allegations in civil lawsuits since Ventura sued him. Ventura signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the two dated on and off for many years. Her suit said Combs plied her with drugs and forced her to have sex with a series of male prostitutes in what Combs called “freak offs” and what the government has described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that sometimes lasted days and at times were recorded. Freak offs are at the heart of the sex trafficking case. 

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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Authorities allege Combs had plenty of help, and what comes next is the possible prosecution of an entire network of the rap mogul’s employees.

According to Combs’ indictment on federal charges of sex trafficking, the rap mogul used certain employees to carry out and facilitate his actions, which allegedly included threatening and abusing women who were part of his “freak-offs,” or sex parties.

Those employees ranged from security to household staff, personal assistants and high-ranking supervisors.

Former federal prosecutor Manny Medrano said some of the employees will likely make deals to testify against Combs — but others will be criminally charged.

Medrano said who gets prosecuted and who doesn’t will depend on whether they’re considered a “high level” or “low level” enabler.

“A low level would be let’s just say the housekeeper who picked up after one of the sex parties but a high level enabler would be someone who lured the women to come into the sex parties,” said Medrano.

The indictment states some employees helped Combs’ get drugs for the parties, made travel arrangements to lure victims, and got cash to pay sex workers to participate.

Medrano said it’s likely Combs wasn’t the only famous face in the room.

“I have no doubt that perhaps there are some other high-level celebrities high profile individuals in those parties, participated in them,” said Medrano.

Combs’ defense attorney will likely argue no one was forced to do anything, according to Medrano.

“The key defense for Combs will be: did the women participate voluntarily and consensually, or were they forced? If they were forced, Combs will likely spend the rest of his life in federal prison,” said Medrano.

Thalia Graves said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York that she only learned of the alleged recording decades later, in November 2023, after the R&B singer Cassie sued Combs, alleging that he had subjected her to years of abuse, including severe beatings and rape, while they had dated. The singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, settled the suit with Combs in a day without disclosing the terms. Combs denied any wrongdoing.

Graves is seeking a jury trial. It appears to be the first lawsuit Combs has faced since he was indicted last week by federal authorities in New York on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. His representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

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In addition to Combs, Graves’ suit names Joseph Sherman, who, according to the suit, was known as “Big Joe,” and was for a time, Combs’ bodyguard and head of security. Sherman said Tuesday that he did not know or rape Graves and that he was not employed by Combs at the time of the alleged assault.

Graves met Combs in or around late 1999 or early 2000 through her then-boyfriend, who was an executive at Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, and had a close personal relationship with the hip-hop mogul, the suit says. Graves frequently visited her boyfriend, who is not identified in the complaint, at the Bad Boy studio in New York City and attended events hosted at Combs’ residences, the suit says.

According to the suit, in the summer of 2001, Combs called Graves, who was 25 at the time, and asked her to meet to discuss her boyfriend’s performance issues.

“Her boyfriend was determined to climb up the ladder at Combs’ records label and as his romantic partner, Plaintiff was committed to helping him,” the suit says, so she agreed to meet with Combs.

Combs and Joseph Sherman, who was behind the wheel of an SUV, picked Graves up from her mother’s home in Queens, the suit says. It alleges Combs, who was in the backseat, offered her a glass of wine that she accepted and that later caused her “to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and physically weak.” They drove her to the Bad Boy studio in Manhattan and as she exited the SUV, the lawsuit says, she felt odd and found it difficult to walk. The suit alleges Combs led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness. 

When she regained consciousness, she was naked, and her hands had been tied behind her back with what felt like a plastic grocery bag, the suit says. After she shouted for help, Sherman lifted her up from the couch and forcefully slammed her face down on a pool table, according to the suit. Shortly thereafter, Combs entered the room naked, the suit says. 

Combs applied lubricant to himself and then raped her as she screamed out in pain, the suit alleges. It says Graves, who is 4 foot 11 and weighed 103 pounds at the time, “was unable to move, totally overpowered physically, in addition to being drugged and bound.” She then lost consciousness again, according to the suit. When she regained consciousness, the suit alleges Sherman slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her. She again lost consciousness, the suit says.

When she next awoke, she was on the couch terrified, naked and alone in the room, so she quickly got dressed and fled, the suit says.

According to the suit, Graves called a livery driver she knew who drove her to a hospital and tried to convince her to report the alleged rape and to get a rape kit, but she was unable to leave the car, as she was “shaking and crying hysterically” and “terrified of what Combs would do to her and her family if she reported him.”

She was also involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time and feared that reporting the alleged rape would cause her to lose custody of her young child, the suit says. Her boyfriend, who was still employed by Combs, also allegedly discouraged her from disclosing the alleged assault, the suit says, and told her that it could negatively affect his career.

Graves said she sustained injuries, including bruising on her wrists and face, as well as burning in her vagina and anus and prolonged anal bleeding and hemorrhoids. She has relocated multiple times throughout the years to stay away from Combs, who, along with Sherman, has threatened her multiple times to stay silent, the suit alleges. Graves never went to police because she was afraid Combs and Sherman would follow through on their threats, the suit says.

In late November, Graves’ former boyfriend revealed to her for the first time that, years earlier, Combs and Sherman had showed him “and a group of men — some of whom were also employed by Combs’ companies and/or their related entities — the video” of her being raped, the suit alleges. Her former boyfriend reported that he and the other men watched the alleged recording on a handheld camera while at the Bad Boy studio in New York City, the suit says.

And in the years since, the suit says, both Combs and Sherman contacted her and warned her to stay silent and threatened repercussions, including that she could lose custody of her son if she ever disclosed the alleged assault.

According to the suit, Graves suffers from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and has experienced suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts, and has attempted to end her life.

“Plaintiff lives in constant fear,” the suit says. “She struggles with hypervigilance and experiences anxiety and panic attacks in social settings, preferring to be alone. Her need to hide to feel safe has strained her relationships with friends and family.”

Sherman, who denies the allegations in Graves’ lawsuit, said he was employed by Combs from 1998 to 1999, years before the alleged assault would have taken place. He said he provided security to Combs and other Bad Boy artists, such as Total, Carl Thomas and 112. He said he has never been alone with Combs and hasn’t seen him in 25 years.

Graves’ attorneys include Gloria Allred, a women’s rights attorney who represented several of singer R. Kelly’s accusers.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Graves said the worst pain she has experienced is shame and guilt.

“Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me,” Graves said through tears, as Allred consoled her.

Combs has faced a wave of sexual abuse allegations in civil lawsuits since Ventura sued him. Ventura signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the two dated on and off for many years. Her suit said Combs plied her with drugs and forced her to have sex with a series of male prostitutes in what Combs called “freak offs” and what the government has described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that sometimes lasted days and at times were recorded. Freak offs are at the heart of the sex trafficking case. 

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Israeli woman freed from Hamas captivity recalls brutal conditions inside tunnels
• Korean adoptees say they were ‘commodified’ and governments ignored fraud, investigation finds
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Thalia Graves said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York that she only learned of the alleged recording decades later, in November 2023, after the R&B singer Cassie sued Combs, alleging that he had subjected her to years of abuse, including severe beatings and rape, while they had dated. The singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, settled the suit with Combs in a day without disclosing the terms. Combs denied any wrongdoing.

Graves is seeking a jury trial. It appears to be the first lawsuit Combs has faced since he was indicted last week by federal authorities in New York on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. His representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

Celebrity News Sep 23

Sean “Diddy” Combs predicts his arrest in haunting interview from 1999

Sean "Diddy" Combs Sep 18

Inside the New York City jail where Diddy is locked up: Violence, squalor and death

In addition to Combs, Graves’ suit names Joseph Sherman, who, according to the suit, was known as “Big Joe,” and was for a time, Combs’ bodyguard and head of security. Sherman said Tuesday that he did not know or rape Graves and that he was not employed by Combs at the time of the alleged assault.

Graves met Combs in or around late 1999 or early 2000 through her then-boyfriend, who was an executive at Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, and had a close personal relationship with the hip-hop mogul, the suit says. Graves frequently visited her boyfriend, who is not identified in the complaint, at the Bad Boy studio in New York City and attended events hosted at Combs’ residences, the suit says.

According to the suit, in the summer of 2001, Combs called Graves, who was 25 at the time, and asked her to meet to discuss her boyfriend’s performance issues.

“Her boyfriend was determined to climb up the ladder at Combs’ records label and as his romantic partner, Plaintiff was committed to helping him,” the suit says, so she agreed to meet with Combs.

Combs and Joseph Sherman, who was behind the wheel of an SUV, picked Graves up from her mother’s home in Queens, the suit says. It alleges Combs, who was in the backseat, offered her a glass of wine that she accepted and that later caused her “to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and physically weak.” They drove her to the Bad Boy studio in Manhattan and as she exited the SUV, the lawsuit says, she felt odd and found it difficult to walk. The suit alleges Combs led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness. 

When she regained consciousness, she was naked, and her hands had been tied behind her back with what felt like a plastic grocery bag, the suit says. After she shouted for help, Sherman lifted her up from the couch and forcefully slammed her face down on a pool table, according to the suit. Shortly thereafter, Combs entered the room naked, the suit says. 

Combs applied lubricant to himself and then raped her as she screamed out in pain, the suit alleges. It says Graves, who is 4 foot 11 and weighed 103 pounds at the time, “was unable to move, totally overpowered physically, in addition to being drugged and bound.” She then lost consciousness again, according to the suit. When she regained consciousness, the suit alleges Sherman slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her. She again lost consciousness, the suit says.

When she next awoke, she was on the couch terrified, naked and alone in the room, so she quickly got dressed and fled, the suit says.

According to the suit, Graves called a livery driver she knew who drove her to a hospital and tried to convince her to report the alleged rape and to get a rape kit, but she was unable to leave the car, as she was “shaking and crying hysterically” and “terrified of what Combs would do to her and her family if she reported him.”

She was also involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time and feared that reporting the alleged rape would cause her to lose custody of her young child, the suit says. Her boyfriend, who was still employed by Combs, also allegedly discouraged her from disclosing the alleged assault, the suit says, and told her that it could negatively affect his career.

Graves said she sustained injuries, including bruising on her wrists and face, as well as burning in her vagina and anus and prolonged anal bleeding and hemorrhoids. She has relocated multiple times throughout the years to stay away from Combs, who, along with Sherman, has threatened her multiple times to stay silent, the suit alleges. Graves never went to police because she was afraid Combs and Sherman would follow through on their threats, the suit says.

In late November, Graves’ former boyfriend revealed to her for the first time that, years earlier, Combs and Sherman had showed him “and a group of men — some of whom were also employed by Combs’ companies and/or their related entities — the video” of her being raped, the suit alleges. Her former boyfriend reported that he and the other men watched the alleged recording on a handheld camera while at the Bad Boy studio in New York City, the suit says.

And in the years since, the suit says, both Combs and Sherman contacted her and warned her to stay silent and threatened repercussions, including that she could lose custody of her son if she ever disclosed the alleged assault.

According to the suit, Graves suffers from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and has experienced suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts, and has attempted to end her life.

“Plaintiff lives in constant fear,” the suit says. “She struggles with hypervigilance and experiences anxiety and panic attacks in social settings, preferring to be alone. Her need to hide to feel safe has strained her relationships with friends and family.”

Sherman, who denies the allegations in Graves’ lawsuit, said he was employed by Combs from 1998 to 1999, years before the alleged assault would have taken place. He said he provided security to Combs and other Bad Boy artists, such as Total, Carl Thomas and 112. He said he has never been alone with Combs and hasn’t seen him in 25 years.

Graves’ attorneys include Gloria Allred, a women’s rights attorney who represented several of singer R. Kelly’s accusers.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Graves said the worst pain she has experienced is shame and guilt.

“Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me,” Graves said through tears, as Allred consoled her.

Combs has faced a wave of sexual abuse allegations in civil lawsuits since Ventura sued him. Ventura signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the two dated on and off for many years. Her suit said Combs plied her with drugs and forced her to have sex with a series of male prostitutes in what Combs called “freak offs” and what the government has described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that sometimes lasted days and at times were recorded. Freak offs are at the heart of the sex trafficking case. 

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Israeli woman freed from Hamas captivity recalls brutal conditions inside tunnels
• Korean adoptees say they were ‘commodified’ and governments ignored fraud, investigation finds
• How Aubrey Plaza and Maisy Stella dodge the time-travel cliche in ‘My Old Ass’

U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter ruled that Combs’ plan — which included a $50 million bail offer, GPS monitoring and strict limitations on visitors — was “insufficient” to ensure the safety of the community and the integrity of his case.

Carter, agreeing with prosecutors who fought to keep Combs in jail, found that “no condition or set of conditions” governing his release could guard against the risk of him threatening or harming witnesses — a central charge in his case.

DIDDY ARREST

Sean "Diddy" Combs Sep 17

Diddy pleads not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking charges in NYC court

Sean "Diddy" Combs Sep 17

Guns & ammo, ‘Freak Off' supplies found in Diddy's Miami Beach mansion raid: Indictment

Combs’ lawyers were making their second attempt in as many days to spring him from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he has been held in the special housing unit since pleading not guilty Tuesday to charges he physically and sexually abused women for years.

A federal magistrate rejected Combs’ initial request for bail on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he and his lawyers struck out with Carter, the judge who will preside over his trial.

An indictment accuses Combs, 54, of using his “power and prestige” to induce female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances dubbed “Freak Offs” that Combs arranged, participated in and often recorded. The events would sometimes last days, the indictment said.

The indictment alleges he coerced and abused women for years, with the help of a network of associates and employees, while using blackmail and violent acts including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings to keep victims from speaking out.

Combs has been in federal custody since his arrest Monday night at a Manhattan hotel.

Arguing to keep him locked up, prosecutor Emily Johnson told U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter that the once-celebrated rapper has a long history of intimidating both accusers and witnesses to his alleged abuse. She cited text messages from women who said Combs forced them into “Freak Offs” and then threatened to leak videos of them engaging in sex acts.

Johnson said Combs’ defense team was “minimizing and horrifically understating” Combs’ propensity for violence, taking issue with his lawyer’s portrayal of a 2016 assault at a Los Angeles hotel as a lovers’ quarrel. Security video of the event showed Combs hitting his then-girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, in a hotel hallway.

Johnson seized on a text message from a woman who said Combs dragged her down a hallway by her hair. According to Johnson, the woman told the rapper: “I’m not a rag doll, I’m someone’s child.”

Combs is a “danger to the community and poses a serious risk to the integrity” of his case, Johnson argued.

Federal Magistrate Robyn F. Tarnofsky initially ruled that Combs was too dangerous to be freed. But Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, submitted a letter to Carter on Wednesday asking again for bail under conditions that would allow him to leave the Metropolitan Detention Center, the lockup on the Brooklyn waterfront where he was taken after his arraignment.

The jail, which has around 1,200 inmates, is the subject of frequent complaints from lawyers and some judges that it is overcrowded, violent and neglected.

Combs’ South Florida house is on Star Island, a man-made dollop of land in Biscayne Bay, reachable only by a causeway or boat. It is among the most expensive places to live in the United States. Combs’ request echoes that of a long line of wealthy defendants who have offered to pay multimillion-dollar bails in exchange for home detention in luxurious surroundings.

If he had been granted bail, Combs would have had to stay in that house while awaiting trial, according to the offer from his lawyers. Visits would be restricted to family, property caretakers and friends who are not considered co-conspirators, they said.

Many of the accusations in the indictment parallel allegations contained in a November lawsuit filed by Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura. The suit was settled the following day, but its allegations have followed Combs since.

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura did.

Without naming Ventura but clearly referring to her, Agnifilo argued at Tuesday’s arraignment that the entire criminal case is an outgrowth of one long-term, troubled-but-consensual relationship that faltered amid infidelity. The “Freak Offs,” he contended, were an expansion of that relationship, and not coercive.

Prosecutors portrayed the scope as larger. They said they had interviewed more than 50 victims and witnesses.

Like many aging hip-hop figures, Bad Boy Records founder Combs had established a gentler public image. The father of seven children was a respected international businessman, whose annual “White Party” in the Hamptons was once a must-have invitation for the jet-setting elite.

But prosecutors said he used the same companies, people and methods he used to build his business and cultural power to facilitate his crimes. They said they would prove it with financial and travel records, electronic communications and videos of the “Freak Offs.”

In March, authorities raided Combs’ luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami Beach, seizing narcotics, videos and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to prosecutors. They said agents also seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers.

A conviction on every charge in the indictment would require a mandatory 15 years in prison with the possibility of a life sentence.

Thalia Graves said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York that she only learned of the alleged recording decades later, in November 2023, after the R&B singer Cassie sued Combs, alleging that he had subjected her to years of abuse, including severe beatings and rape, while they had dated. The singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, settled the suit with Combs in a day without disclosing the terms. Combs denied any wrongdoing.

Graves is seeking a jury trial. It appears to be the first lawsuit Combs has faced since he was indicted last week by federal authorities in New York on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. His representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

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In addition to Combs, Graves’ suit names Joseph Sherman, who, according to the suit, was known as “Big Joe,” and was for a time, Combs’ bodyguard and head of security. Sherman said Tuesday that he did not know or rape Graves and that he was not employed by Combs at the time of the alleged assault.

Graves met Combs in or around late 1999 or early 2000 through her then-boyfriend, who was an executive at Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, and had a close personal relationship with the hip-hop mogul, the suit says. Graves frequently visited her boyfriend, who is not identified in the complaint, at the Bad Boy studio in New York City and attended events hosted at Combs’ residences, the suit says.

According to the suit, in the summer of 2001, Combs called Graves, who was 25 at the time, and asked her to meet to discuss her boyfriend’s performance issues.

“Her boyfriend was determined to climb up the ladder at Combs’ records label and as his romantic partner, Plaintiff was committed to helping him,” the suit says, so she agreed to meet with Combs.

Combs and Joseph Sherman, who was behind the wheel of an SUV, picked Graves up from her mother’s home in Queens, the suit says. It alleges Combs, who was in the backseat, offered her a glass of wine that she accepted and that later caused her “to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and physically weak.” They drove her to the Bad Boy studio in Manhattan and as she exited the SUV, the lawsuit says, she felt odd and found it difficult to walk. The suit alleges Combs led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness. 

When she regained consciousness, she was naked, and her hands had been tied behind her back with what felt like a plastic grocery bag, the suit says. After she shouted for help, Sherman lifted her up from the couch and forcefully slammed her face down on a pool table, according to the suit. Shortly thereafter, Combs entered the room naked, the suit says. 

Combs applied lubricant to himself and then raped her as she screamed out in pain, the suit alleges. It says Graves, who is 4 foot 11 and weighed 103 pounds at the time, “was unable to move, totally overpowered physically, in addition to being drugged and bound.” She then lost consciousness again, according to the suit. When she regained consciousness, the suit alleges Sherman slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her. She again lost consciousness, the suit says.

When she next awoke, she was on the couch terrified, naked and alone in the room, so she quickly got dressed and fled, the suit says.

According to the suit, Graves called a livery driver she knew who drove her to a hospital and tried to convince her to report the alleged rape and to get a rape kit, but she was unable to leave the car, as she was “shaking and crying hysterically” and “terrified of what Combs would do to her and her family if she reported him.”

She was also involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time and feared that reporting the alleged rape would cause her to lose custody of her young child, the suit says. Her boyfriend, who was still employed by Combs, also allegedly discouraged her from disclosing the alleged assault, the suit says, and told her that it could negatively affect his career.

Graves said she sustained injuries, including bruising on her wrists and face, as well as burning in her vagina and anus and prolonged anal bleeding and hemorrhoids. She has relocated multiple times throughout the years to stay away from Combs, who, along with Sherman, has threatened her multiple times to stay silent, the suit alleges. Graves never went to police because she was afraid Combs and Sherman would follow through on their threats, the suit says.

In late November, Graves’ former boyfriend revealed to her for the first time that, years earlier, Combs and Sherman had showed him “and a group of men — some of whom were also employed by Combs’ companies and/or their related entities — the video” of her being raped, the suit alleges. Her former boyfriend reported that he and the other men watched the alleged recording on a handheld camera while at the Bad Boy studio in New York City, the suit says.

And in the years since, the suit says, both Combs and Sherman contacted her and warned her to stay silent and threatened repercussions, including that she could lose custody of her son if she ever disclosed the alleged assault.

According to the suit, Graves suffers from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and has experienced suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts, and has attempted to end her life.

“Plaintiff lives in constant fear,” the suit says. “She struggles with hypervigilance and experiences anxiety and panic attacks in social settings, preferring to be alone. Her need to hide to feel safe has strained her relationships with friends and family.”

Sherman, who denies the allegations in Graves’ lawsuit, said he was employed by Combs from 1998 to 1999, years before the alleged assault would have taken place. He said he provided security to Combs and other Bad Boy artists, such as Total, Carl Thomas and 112. He said he has never been alone with Combs and hasn’t seen him in 25 years.

Graves’ attorneys include Gloria Allred, a women’s rights attorney who represented several of singer R. Kelly’s accusers.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Graves said the worst pain she has experienced is shame and guilt.

“Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me,” Graves said through tears, as Allred consoled her.

Combs has faced a wave of sexual abuse allegations in civil lawsuits since Ventura sued him. Ventura signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the two dated on and off for many years. Her suit said Combs plied her with drugs and forced her to have sex with a series of male prostitutes in what Combs called “freak offs” and what the government has described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that sometimes lasted days and at times were recorded. Freak offs are at the heart of the sex trafficking case. 

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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Thalia Graves said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York that she only learned of the alleged recording decades later, in November 2023, after the R&B singer Cassie sued Combs, alleging that he had subjected her to years of abuse, including severe beatings and rape, while they had dated. The singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, settled the suit with Combs in a day without disclosing the terms. Combs denied any wrongdoing.

Graves is seeking a jury trial. It appears to be the first lawsuit Combs has faced since he was indicted last week by federal authorities in New York on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. His representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

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In addition to Combs, Graves’ suit names Joseph Sherman, who, according to the suit, was known as “Big Joe,” and was for a time, Combs’ bodyguard and head of security. Sherman said Tuesday that he did not know or rape Graves and that he was not employed by Combs at the time of the alleged assault.

Graves met Combs in or around late 1999 or early 2000 through her then-boyfriend, who was an executive at Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, and had a close personal relationship with the hip-hop mogul, the suit says. Graves frequently visited her boyfriend, who is not identified in the complaint, at the Bad Boy studio in New York City and attended events hosted at Combs’ residences, the suit says.

According to the suit, in the summer of 2001, Combs called Graves, who was 25 at the time, and asked her to meet to discuss her boyfriend’s performance issues.

“Her boyfriend was determined to climb up the ladder at Combs’ records label and as his romantic partner, Plaintiff was committed to helping him,” the suit says, so she agreed to meet with Combs.

Combs and Joseph Sherman, who was behind the wheel of an SUV, picked Graves up from her mother’s home in Queens, the suit says. It alleges Combs, who was in the backseat, offered her a glass of wine that she accepted and that later caused her “to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and physically weak.” They drove her to the Bad Boy studio in Manhattan and as she exited the SUV, the lawsuit says, she felt odd and found it difficult to walk. The suit alleges Combs led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness. 

When she regained consciousness, she was naked, and her hands had been tied behind her back with what felt like a plastic grocery bag, the suit says. After she shouted for help, Sherman lifted her up from the couch and forcefully slammed her face down on a pool table, according to the suit. Shortly thereafter, Combs entered the room naked, the suit says. 

Combs applied lubricant to himself and then raped her as she screamed out in pain, the suit alleges. It says Graves, who is 4 foot 11 and weighed 103 pounds at the time, “was unable to move, totally overpowered physically, in addition to being drugged and bound.” She then lost consciousness again, according to the suit. When she regained consciousness, the suit alleges Sherman slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her. She again lost consciousness, the suit says.

When she next awoke, she was on the couch terrified, naked and alone in the room, so she quickly got dressed and fled, the suit says.

According to the suit, Graves called a livery driver she knew who drove her to a hospital and tried to convince her to report the alleged rape and to get a rape kit, but she was unable to leave the car, as she was “shaking and crying hysterically” and “terrified of what Combs would do to her and her family if she reported him.”

She was also involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time and feared that reporting the alleged rape would cause her to lose custody of her young child, the suit says. Her boyfriend, who was still employed by Combs, also allegedly discouraged her from disclosing the alleged assault, the suit says, and told her that it could negatively affect his career.

Graves said she sustained injuries, including bruising on her wrists and face, as well as burning in her vagina and anus and prolonged anal bleeding and hemorrhoids. She has relocated multiple times throughout the years to stay away from Combs, who, along with Sherman, has threatened her multiple times to stay silent, the suit alleges. Graves never went to police because she was afraid Combs and Sherman would follow through on their threats, the suit says.

In late November, Graves’ former boyfriend revealed to her for the first time that, years earlier, Combs and Sherman had showed him “and a group of men — some of whom were also employed by Combs’ companies and/or their related entities — the video” of her being raped, the suit alleges. Her former boyfriend reported that he and the other men watched the alleged recording on a handheld camera while at the Bad Boy studio in New York City, the suit says.

And in the years since, the suit says, both Combs and Sherman contacted her and warned her to stay silent and threatened repercussions, including that she could lose custody of her son if she ever disclosed the alleged assault.

According to the suit, Graves suffers from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and has experienced suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts, and has attempted to end her life.

“Plaintiff lives in constant fear,” the suit says. “She struggles with hypervigilance and experiences anxiety and panic attacks in social settings, preferring to be alone. Her need to hide to feel safe has strained her relationships with friends and family.”

Sherman, who denies the allegations in Graves’ lawsuit, said he was employed by Combs from 1998 to 1999, years before the alleged assault would have taken place. He said he provided security to Combs and other Bad Boy artists, such as Total, Carl Thomas and 112. He said he has never been alone with Combs and hasn’t seen him in 25 years.

Graves’ attorneys include Gloria Allred, a women’s rights attorney who represented several of singer R. Kelly’s accusers.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Graves said the worst pain she has experienced is shame and guilt.

“Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me,” Graves said through tears, as Allred consoled her.

Combs has faced a wave of sexual abuse allegations in civil lawsuits since Ventura sued him. Ventura signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the two dated on and off for many years. Her suit said Combs plied her with drugs and forced her to have sex with a series of male prostitutes in what Combs called “freak offs” and what the government has described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that sometimes lasted days and at times were recorded. Freak offs are at the heart of the sex trafficking case. 

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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The U.S. Attorney’s Office accused Combs of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, among other counts. Read the full indictment below.

His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said earlier Monday that they were “disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution,” calling the entertainment star “an imperfect person but is not criminal.”

The former music executive has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) carried out the arrest in Manhattan on Monday, sources familiar with the matter told NBC New York. Combs was arrested in the lobby of a hotel, a representative told NBC News.

“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,” the statement from Agnifilo read. “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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Chloe Melas of NBC News contributed to this report.

Thalia Graves said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York that she only learned of the alleged recording decades later, in November 2023, after the R&B singer Cassie sued Combs, alleging that he had subjected her to years of abuse, including severe beatings and rape, while they had dated. The singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, settled the suit with Combs in a day without disclosing the terms. Combs denied any wrongdoing.

Graves is seeking a jury trial. It appears to be the first lawsuit Combs has faced since he was indicted last week by federal authorities in New York on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. His representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

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In addition to Combs, Graves’ suit names Joseph Sherman, who, according to the suit, was known as “Big Joe,” and was for a time, Combs’ bodyguard and head of security. Sherman said Tuesday that he did not know or rape Graves and that he was not employed by Combs at the time of the alleged assault.

Graves met Combs in or around late 1999 or early 2000 through her then-boyfriend, who was an executive at Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, and had a close personal relationship with the hip-hop mogul, the suit says. Graves frequently visited her boyfriend, who is not identified in the complaint, at the Bad Boy studio in New York City and attended events hosted at Combs’ residences, the suit says.

According to the suit, in the summer of 2001, Combs called Graves, who was 25 at the time, and asked her to meet to discuss her boyfriend’s performance issues.

“Her boyfriend was determined to climb up the ladder at Combs’ records label and as his romantic partner, Plaintiff was committed to helping him,” the suit says, so she agreed to meet with Combs.

Combs and Joseph Sherman, who was behind the wheel of an SUV, picked Graves up from her mother’s home in Queens, the suit says. It alleges Combs, who was in the backseat, offered her a glass of wine that she accepted and that later caused her “to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and physically weak.” They drove her to the Bad Boy studio in Manhattan and as she exited the SUV, the lawsuit says, she felt odd and found it difficult to walk. The suit alleges Combs led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness. 

When she regained consciousness, she was naked, and her hands had been tied behind her back with what felt like a plastic grocery bag, the suit says. After she shouted for help, Sherman lifted her up from the couch and forcefully slammed her face down on a pool table, according to the suit. Shortly thereafter, Combs entered the room naked, the suit says. 

Combs applied lubricant to himself and then raped her as she screamed out in pain, the suit alleges. It says Graves, who is 4 foot 11 and weighed 103 pounds at the time, “was unable to move, totally overpowered physically, in addition to being drugged and bound.” She then lost consciousness again, according to the suit. When she regained consciousness, the suit alleges Sherman slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her. She again lost consciousness, the suit says.

When she next awoke, she was on the couch terrified, naked and alone in the room, so she quickly got dressed and fled, the suit says.

According to the suit, Graves called a livery driver she knew who drove her to a hospital and tried to convince her to report the alleged rape and to get a rape kit, but she was unable to leave the car, as she was “shaking and crying hysterically” and “terrified of what Combs would do to her and her family if she reported him.”

She was also involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time and feared that reporting the alleged rape would cause her to lose custody of her young child, the suit says. Her boyfriend, who was still employed by Combs, also allegedly discouraged her from disclosing the alleged assault, the suit says, and told her that it could negatively affect his career.

Graves said she sustained injuries, including bruising on her wrists and face, as well as burning in her vagina and anus and prolonged anal bleeding and hemorrhoids. She has relocated multiple times throughout the years to stay away from Combs, who, along with Sherman, has threatened her multiple times to stay silent, the suit alleges. Graves never went to police because she was afraid Combs and Sherman would follow through on their threats, the suit says.

In late November, Graves’ former boyfriend revealed to her for the first time that, years earlier, Combs and Sherman had showed him “and a group of men — some of whom were also employed by Combs’ companies and/or their related entities — the video” of her being raped, the suit alleges. Her former boyfriend reported that he and the other men watched the alleged recording on a handheld camera while at the Bad Boy studio in New York City, the suit says.

And in the years since, the suit says, both Combs and Sherman contacted her and warned her to stay silent and threatened repercussions, including that she could lose custody of her son if she ever disclosed the alleged assault.

According to the suit, Graves suffers from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and has experienced suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts, and has attempted to end her life.

“Plaintiff lives in constant fear,” the suit says. “She struggles with hypervigilance and experiences anxiety and panic attacks in social settings, preferring to be alone. Her need to hide to feel safe has strained her relationships with friends and family.”

Sherman, who denies the allegations in Graves’ lawsuit, said he was employed by Combs from 1998 to 1999, years before the alleged assault would have taken place. He said he provided security to Combs and other Bad Boy artists, such as Total, Carl Thomas and 112. He said he has never been alone with Combs and hasn’t seen him in 25 years.

Graves’ attorneys include Gloria Allred, a women’s rights attorney who represented several of singer R. Kelly’s accusers.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Graves said the worst pain she has experienced is shame and guilt.

“Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me,” Graves said through tears, as Allred consoled her.

Combs has faced a wave of sexual abuse allegations in civil lawsuits since Ventura sued him. Ventura signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the two dated on and off for many years. Her suit said Combs plied her with drugs and forced her to have sex with a series of male prostitutes in what Combs called “freak offs” and what the government has described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that sometimes lasted days and at times were recorded. Freak offs are at the heart of the sex trafficking case. 

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Israeli woman freed from Hamas captivity recalls brutal conditions inside tunnels
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Agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) carried out the arrest in Manhattan on Monday, sources familiar with the matter told NBC New York. Combs was arrested in the lobby of a hotel, a representative told NBC News.

In a statement released late Monday night, Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo said they were “disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution,” calling the entertainment star “an imperfect person but is not criminal.”

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It was not immediately clear what charges Combs would face, but Agnifilo said that the charges were coming from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, indicating federal charges would be filed.

“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,” the statement from Agnifilo read. “These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

Spokespersons from Homeland Security Investigations declined to comment. Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, confirmed in a post on X that “earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY.” Williams added that they expect to unseal the indictment Tuesday morning.

Williams is expected to hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Combs is scheduled to appear in court in lower Manhattan on charges that appear to be in relation to allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms

Combs, 54, has been under federal investigation since at least March 2024 when HSI executed search warrants at Combs’ properties. At the time of those searches, NBC News reported that three women and a man had been interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in relation to the aforementioned allegations against Combs.

Those search warrants had also been part of an investigation led by the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

HSI officials seized phones from Combs in Miami before he was scheduled to depart for a trip to the Bahamas, according to three law enforcement sources familiar with the warrants. Combs was in the Miami area when federal authorities executed the searches, sources said.

In May, Combs apologized after a video, obtained by CNN, showed him beating his then girlfriend Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.

In a video apology posted to his Instagram, Combs admitted to the incident and said he took “full responsibility.”

“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Combs said. “I was f—ed up — I mean, I hit rock bottom — but I make no excuses.”

Combs initially denied Ventura’s allegations of assault and sex trafficking which she described in a federal lawsuit filed in November. The two settled for an undisclosed amount the following day.

At the time of Combs’ admission of the assault, an attorney for Ventura, Meredith Firetog, said, “When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday.”

Firetog added, “That he was only compelled to ‘apologize’ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation.”

The former music executive has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.

Chloe Melas of NBC News contributed to this report.

Thalia Graves said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York that she only learned of the alleged recording decades later, in November 2023, after the R&B singer Cassie sued Combs, alleging that he had subjected her to years of abuse, including severe beatings and rape, while they had dated. The singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, settled the suit with Combs in a day without disclosing the terms. Combs denied any wrongdoing.

Graves is seeking a jury trial. It appears to be the first lawsuit Combs has faced since he was indicted last week by federal authorities in New York on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. His representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

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Sean “Diddy” Combs predicts his arrest in haunting interview from 1999

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In addition to Combs, Graves’ suit names Joseph Sherman, who, according to the suit, was known as “Big Joe,” and was for a time, Combs’ bodyguard and head of security. Sherman said Tuesday that he did not know or rape Graves and that he was not employed by Combs at the time of the alleged assault.

Graves met Combs in or around late 1999 or early 2000 through her then-boyfriend, who was an executive at Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, and had a close personal relationship with the hip-hop mogul, the suit says. Graves frequently visited her boyfriend, who is not identified in the complaint, at the Bad Boy studio in New York City and attended events hosted at Combs’ residences, the suit says.

According to the suit, in the summer of 2001, Combs called Graves, who was 25 at the time, and asked her to meet to discuss her boyfriend’s performance issues.

“Her boyfriend was determined to climb up the ladder at Combs’ records label and as his romantic partner, Plaintiff was committed to helping him,” the suit says, so she agreed to meet with Combs.

Combs and Joseph Sherman, who was behind the wheel of an SUV, picked Graves up from her mother’s home in Queens, the suit says. It alleges Combs, who was in the backseat, offered her a glass of wine that she accepted and that later caused her “to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and physically weak.” They drove her to the Bad Boy studio in Manhattan and as she exited the SUV, the lawsuit says, she felt odd and found it difficult to walk. The suit alleges Combs led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness. 

When she regained consciousness, she was naked, and her hands had been tied behind her back with what felt like a plastic grocery bag, the suit says. After she shouted for help, Sherman lifted her up from the couch and forcefully slammed her face down on a pool table, according to the suit. Shortly thereafter, Combs entered the room naked, the suit says. 

Combs applied lubricant to himself and then raped her as she screamed out in pain, the suit alleges. It says Graves, who is 4 foot 11 and weighed 103 pounds at the time, “was unable to move, totally overpowered physically, in addition to being drugged and bound.” She then lost consciousness again, according to the suit. When she regained consciousness, the suit alleges Sherman slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her. She again lost consciousness, the suit says.

When she next awoke, she was on the couch terrified, naked and alone in the room, so she quickly got dressed and fled, the suit says.

According to the suit, Graves called a livery driver she knew who drove her to a hospital and tried to convince her to report the alleged rape and to get a rape kit, but she was unable to leave the car, as she was “shaking and crying hysterically” and “terrified of what Combs would do to her and her family if she reported him.”

She was also involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time and feared that reporting the alleged rape would cause her to lose custody of her young child, the suit says. Her boyfriend, who was still employed by Combs, also allegedly discouraged her from disclosing the alleged assault, the suit says, and told her that it could negatively affect his career.

Graves said she sustained injuries, including bruising on her wrists and face, as well as burning in her vagina and anus and prolonged anal bleeding and hemorrhoids. She has relocated multiple times throughout the years to stay away from Combs, who, along with Sherman, has threatened her multiple times to stay silent, the suit alleges. Graves never went to police because she was afraid Combs and Sherman would follow through on their threats, the suit says.

In late November, Graves’ former boyfriend revealed to her for the first time that, years earlier, Combs and Sherman had showed him “and a group of men — some of whom were also employed by Combs’ companies and/or their related entities — the video” of her being raped, the suit alleges. Her former boyfriend reported that he and the other men watched the alleged recording on a handheld camera while at the Bad Boy studio in New York City, the suit says.

And in the years since, the suit says, both Combs and Sherman contacted her and warned her to stay silent and threatened repercussions, including that she could lose custody of her son if she ever disclosed the alleged assault.

According to the suit, Graves suffers from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and has experienced suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts, and has attempted to end her life.

“Plaintiff lives in constant fear,” the suit says. “She struggles with hypervigilance and experiences anxiety and panic attacks in social settings, preferring to be alone. Her need to hide to feel safe has strained her relationships with friends and family.”

Sherman, who denies the allegations in Graves’ lawsuit, said he was employed by Combs from 1998 to 1999, years before the alleged assault would have taken place. He said he provided security to Combs and other Bad Boy artists, such as Total, Carl Thomas and 112. He said he has never been alone with Combs and hasn’t seen him in 25 years.

Graves’ attorneys include Gloria Allred, a women’s rights attorney who represented several of singer R. Kelly’s accusers.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Graves said the worst pain she has experienced is shame and guilt.

“Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me,” Graves said through tears, as Allred consoled her.

Combs has faced a wave of sexual abuse allegations in civil lawsuits since Ventura sued him. Ventura signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the two dated on and off for many years. Her suit said Combs plied her with drugs and forced her to have sex with a series of male prostitutes in what Combs called “freak offs” and what the government has described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that sometimes lasted days and at times were recorded. Freak offs are at the heart of the sex trafficking case. 

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Thalia Graves said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York that she only learned of the alleged recording decades later, in November 2023, after the R&B singer Cassie sued Combs, alleging that he had subjected her to years of abuse, including severe beatings and rape, while they had dated. The singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, settled the suit with Combs in a day without disclosing the terms. Combs denied any wrongdoing.

Graves is seeking a jury trial. It appears to be the first lawsuit Combs has faced since he was indicted last week by federal authorities in New York on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. His representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

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In addition to Combs, Graves’ suit names Joseph Sherman, who, according to the suit, was known as “Big Joe,” and was for a time, Combs’ bodyguard and head of security. Sherman said Tuesday that he did not know or rape Graves and that he was not employed by Combs at the time of the alleged assault.

Graves met Combs in or around late 1999 or early 2000 through her then-boyfriend, who was an executive at Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, and had a close personal relationship with the hip-hop mogul, the suit says. Graves frequently visited her boyfriend, who is not identified in the complaint, at the Bad Boy studio in New York City and attended events hosted at Combs’ residences, the suit says.

According to the suit, in the summer of 2001, Combs called Graves, who was 25 at the time, and asked her to meet to discuss her boyfriend’s performance issues.

“Her boyfriend was determined to climb up the ladder at Combs’ records label and as his romantic partner, Plaintiff was committed to helping him,” the suit says, so she agreed to meet with Combs.

Combs and Joseph Sherman, who was behind the wheel of an SUV, picked Graves up from her mother’s home in Queens, the suit says. It alleges Combs, who was in the backseat, offered her a glass of wine that she accepted and that later caused her “to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and physically weak.” They drove her to the Bad Boy studio in Manhattan and as she exited the SUV, the lawsuit says, she felt odd and found it difficult to walk. The suit alleges Combs led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness. 

When she regained consciousness, she was naked, and her hands had been tied behind her back with what felt like a plastic grocery bag, the suit says. After she shouted for help, Sherman lifted her up from the couch and forcefully slammed her face down on a pool table, according to the suit. Shortly thereafter, Combs entered the room naked, the suit says. 

Combs applied lubricant to himself and then raped her as she screamed out in pain, the suit alleges. It says Graves, who is 4 foot 11 and weighed 103 pounds at the time, “was unable to move, totally overpowered physically, in addition to being drugged and bound.” She then lost consciousness again, according to the suit. When she regained consciousness, the suit alleges Sherman slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her. She again lost consciousness, the suit says.

When she next awoke, she was on the couch terrified, naked and alone in the room, so she quickly got dressed and fled, the suit says.

According to the suit, Graves called a livery driver she knew who drove her to a hospital and tried to convince her to report the alleged rape and to get a rape kit, but she was unable to leave the car, as she was “shaking and crying hysterically” and “terrified of what Combs would do to her and her family if she reported him.”

She was also involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time and feared that reporting the alleged rape would cause her to lose custody of her young child, the suit says. Her boyfriend, who was still employed by Combs, also allegedly discouraged her from disclosing the alleged assault, the suit says, and told her that it could negatively affect his career.

Graves said she sustained injuries, including bruising on her wrists and face, as well as burning in her vagina and anus and prolonged anal bleeding and hemorrhoids. She has relocated multiple times throughout the years to stay away from Combs, who, along with Sherman, has threatened her multiple times to stay silent, the suit alleges. Graves never went to police because she was afraid Combs and Sherman would follow through on their threats, the suit says.

In late November, Graves’ former boyfriend revealed to her for the first time that, years earlier, Combs and Sherman had showed him “and a group of men — some of whom were also employed by Combs’ companies and/or their related entities — the video” of her being raped, the suit alleges. Her former boyfriend reported that he and the other men watched the alleged recording on a handheld camera while at the Bad Boy studio in New York City, the suit says.

And in the years since, the suit says, both Combs and Sherman contacted her and warned her to stay silent and threatened repercussions, including that she could lose custody of her son if she ever disclosed the alleged assault.

According to the suit, Graves suffers from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and has experienced suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts, and has attempted to end her life.

“Plaintiff lives in constant fear,” the suit says. “She struggles with hypervigilance and experiences anxiety and panic attacks in social settings, preferring to be alone. Her need to hide to feel safe has strained her relationships with friends and family.”

Sherman, who denies the allegations in Graves’ lawsuit, said he was employed by Combs from 1998 to 1999, years before the alleged assault would have taken place. He said he provided security to Combs and other Bad Boy artists, such as Total, Carl Thomas and 112. He said he has never been alone with Combs and hasn’t seen him in 25 years.

Graves’ attorneys include Gloria Allred, a women’s rights attorney who represented several of singer R. Kelly’s accusers.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Graves said the worst pain she has experienced is shame and guilt.

“Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me,” Graves said through tears, as Allred consoled her.

Combs has faced a wave of sexual abuse allegations in civil lawsuits since Ventura sued him. Ventura signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the two dated on and off for many years. Her suit said Combs plied her with drugs and forced her to have sex with a series of male prostitutes in what Combs called “freak offs” and what the government has described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that sometimes lasted days and at times were recorded. Freak offs are at the heart of the sex trafficking case. 

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NBC6 obtained a resolution from June 26, of Miami Beach’s mayor and city commission, rescinding the proclamation designating October 13 as ‘Sean Diddy Combs Day.’

Miami Beach Commissioner David Suarez issued a strongly worded statement Monday, reacting to the resolution.

“As long as I am a City Commissioner of Miami Beach, women beaters, sexual predators and pedophiles will have no place in our city,” Suarez said.

It comes two months after the rap star’s mansion was raided by the FBI, as part of a sex trafficking investigation, and just weeks after the release of a 2016 assault video involving his ex-girlfriend Cassie.

Diddy claims that after that hotel incident, he began therapy and rehab.

“I’m so sorry,” Combs said. “But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”

Since Cassie came forward with her claims against Combs last year, the rapper has been hit with five lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault, sexual trafficking and engaging in other criminal activity.

Combs has denied all of the allegations and has filed paperwork in court seeking to dismiss a Jane Doe lawsuit and partially dismiss another woman’s suit.

The Board of Trustees made the decision at its regular meeting Friday.

“The Howard University Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to accept the return by Mr. Sean Combs of the honorary degree conferred upon him in 2014,” the Board said in a statement. “This acceptance revokes all honors and privileges associated with the degree. Accordingly, the Board has directed that his name be removed from all documents listing honorary degree recipients of Howard University.”

The move comes as Combs’ reputation has been sullied following several lawsuits filed late last year that raised allegations of sexual assault and rape on the part of one of hip-hop’s most recognizable performers and producers.

In November, he was sued by R&B singer Cassie, who said he subjected her to a yearslong abusive relationship that included beatings and rape. Combs settled the lawsuit with Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, a few days after it was filed.

Combs issued an apology after footage was released that appeared to show him beating Cassie in 2016, matching the description of an alleged incident she detailed in the lawsuit.

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“Mr. Combs’ behavior as captured in a recently released video is so fundamentally incompatible with Howard University’s core values and beliefs that he is deemed no longer worthy to hold the institution’s highest honor,” the Board’s statement said.

The university also is returning a $1 million contribution and ending a 2016 gift agreement with Combs, a scholarship in his name and a 2023 pledge agreement with the Sean Combs Foundation.

Since Cassie came forward with her claims against Combs last year, the rapper has been hit with several lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault, sexual trafficking and engaging in other criminal activity.

Combs attended Howard from 1987 to 1989.

Thalia Graves said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York that she only learned of the alleged recording decades later, in November 2023, after the R&B singer Cassie sued Combs, alleging that he had subjected her to years of abuse, including severe beatings and rape, while they had dated. The singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, settled the suit with Combs in a day without disclosing the terms. Combs denied any wrongdoing.

Graves is seeking a jury trial. It appears to be the first lawsuit Combs has faced since he was indicted last week by federal authorities in New York on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. His representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

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In addition to Combs, Graves’ suit names Joseph Sherman, who, according to the suit, was known as “Big Joe,” and was for a time, Combs’ bodyguard and head of security. Sherman said Tuesday that he did not know or rape Graves and that he was not employed by Combs at the time of the alleged assault.

Graves met Combs in or around late 1999 or early 2000 through her then-boyfriend, who was an executive at Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, and had a close personal relationship with the hip-hop mogul, the suit says. Graves frequently visited her boyfriend, who is not identified in the complaint, at the Bad Boy studio in New York City and attended events hosted at Combs’ residences, the suit says.

According to the suit, in the summer of 2001, Combs called Graves, who was 25 at the time, and asked her to meet to discuss her boyfriend’s performance issues.

“Her boyfriend was determined to climb up the ladder at Combs’ records label and as his romantic partner, Plaintiff was committed to helping him,” the suit says, so she agreed to meet with Combs.

Combs and Joseph Sherman, who was behind the wheel of an SUV, picked Graves up from her mother’s home in Queens, the suit says. It alleges Combs, who was in the backseat, offered her a glass of wine that she accepted and that later caused her “to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and physically weak.” They drove her to the Bad Boy studio in Manhattan and as she exited the SUV, the lawsuit says, she felt odd and found it difficult to walk. The suit alleges Combs led her to a couch in a private room in the studio, where she lost consciousness. 

When she regained consciousness, she was naked, and her hands had been tied behind her back with what felt like a plastic grocery bag, the suit says. After she shouted for help, Sherman lifted her up from the couch and forcefully slammed her face down on a pool table, according to the suit. Shortly thereafter, Combs entered the room naked, the suit says. 

Combs applied lubricant to himself and then raped her as she screamed out in pain, the suit alleges. It says Graves, who is 4 foot 11 and weighed 103 pounds at the time, “was unable to move, totally overpowered physically, in addition to being drugged and bound.” She then lost consciousness again, according to the suit. When she regained consciousness, the suit alleges Sherman slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her. She again lost consciousness, the suit says.

When she next awoke, she was on the couch terrified, naked and alone in the room, so she quickly got dressed and fled, the suit says.

According to the suit, Graves called a livery driver she knew who drove her to a hospital and tried to convince her to report the alleged rape and to get a rape kit, but she was unable to leave the car, as she was “shaking and crying hysterically” and “terrified of what Combs would do to her and her family if she reported him.”

She was also involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time and feared that reporting the alleged rape would cause her to lose custody of her young child, the suit says. Her boyfriend, who was still employed by Combs, also allegedly discouraged her from disclosing the alleged assault, the suit says, and told her that it could negatively affect his career.

Graves said she sustained injuries, including bruising on her wrists and face, as well as burning in her vagina and anus and prolonged anal bleeding and hemorrhoids. She has relocated multiple times throughout the years to stay away from Combs, who, along with Sherman, has threatened her multiple times to stay silent, the suit alleges. Graves never went to police because she was afraid Combs and Sherman would follow through on their threats, the suit says.

In late November, Graves’ former boyfriend revealed to her for the first time that, years earlier, Combs and Sherman had showed him “and a group of men — some of whom were also employed by Combs’ companies and/or their related entities — the video” of her being raped, the suit alleges. Her former boyfriend reported that he and the other men watched the alleged recording on a handheld camera while at the Bad Boy studio in New York City, the suit says.

And in the years since, the suit says, both Combs and Sherman contacted her and warned her to stay silent and threatened repercussions, including that she could lose custody of her son if she ever disclosed the alleged assault.

According to the suit, Graves suffers from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and has experienced suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts, and has attempted to end her life.

“Plaintiff lives in constant fear,” the suit says. “She struggles with hypervigilance and experiences anxiety and panic attacks in social settings, preferring to be alone. Her need to hide to feel safe has strained her relationships with friends and family.”

Sherman, who denies the allegations in Graves’ lawsuit, said he was employed by Combs from 1998 to 1999, years before the alleged assault would have taken place. He said he provided security to Combs and other Bad Boy artists, such as Total, Carl Thomas and 112. He said he has never been alone with Combs and hasn’t seen him in 25 years.

Graves’ attorneys include Gloria Allred, a women’s rights attorney who represented several of singer R. Kelly’s accusers.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Graves said the worst pain she has experienced is shame and guilt.

“Being blamed, questioned and threatened has often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me,” Graves said through tears, as Allred consoled her.

Combs has faced a wave of sexual abuse allegations in civil lawsuits since Ventura sued him. Ventura signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the two dated on and off for many years. Her suit said Combs plied her with drugs and forced her to have sex with a series of male prostitutes in what Combs called “freak offs” and what the government has described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that sometimes lasted days and at times were recorded. Freak offs are at the heart of the sex trafficking case. 

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Israeli woman freed from Hamas captivity recalls brutal conditions inside tunnels
• Korean adoptees say they were ‘commodified’ and governments ignored fraud, investigation finds
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According to records, Miami-Dade State Attorneys officially filed a cocaine possession charge against 25-year-old Brendan Paul but dropped a possession of controlled substance charge. 

Despite Paul not being physically present, his attorney Brian Bieber entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. 

Paul was arrested on March 25 after being taken into custody at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport for carrying cocaine and marijuana-laced candy, Miami-Dade Police said in an arrest affidavit.

Paul, who played basketball for Syracuse University in 2019, bonded out of jail March 26.

Video from TMZ showed Diddy pacing around at the same airport March 25 as Homeland Security agents raided the mogul’s mansions in Miami Beach and Los Angeles.

At least five law enforcement sources told NBC the raids are connected to an ongoing sex trafficking probe.

In a statement, Combs’ attorney called the raids an “unprecedented ambush” and said the mogul “is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”

“There was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences. There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated,” Aaron Dyer’s statement said in part.

The video obtained by NBC6 on Thursday shows 25-year-old Brendan Paul being taken into custody at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on Monday.

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Paul, who’s wearing a blue-white hoodie, is seen in handcuffs being led out of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection building and placed in the back of a Miami-Dade Police vehicle.

Paul was arrested for carrying cocaine and marijuana-laced candy, Miami-Dade Police said in an arrest affidavit. He faces charges of possessing cocaine and a controlled substance.

Paul, who played basketball for Syracuse University in 2019, bonded out of jail Tuesday morning.

Video from TMZ showed Diddy pacing around at the same airport on Monday as Homeland Security agents raided the mogul’s mansions in Miami Beach and Los Angeles.

At least five law enforcement sources told NBC the raids are connected to an ongoing sex trafficking probe.

Diddy’s plane was reportedly heading to the Caribbean on Monday amid the raids, but it returned to the airport on Wednesday.

Diddy’s location remains unconfirmed. He hasn’t been criminally charged.

In a statement on Tuesday, Combs’ attorney called the raids an “unprecedented ambush” and said the mogul “is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”

“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences. There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated,” Aaron Dyer’s statement said in part.

The jet arrived at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport shortly before noon. Aerial footage from Chopper 6 showed the dark-colored plane parked on the tarmac.

Just 48 hours earlier, the rap star was seen pacing back and forth at the same airport, as seen on video obtained by TMZ.

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Sean "Diddy" Combs Mar 26

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His plane was reportedly heading to the Caribbean Monday amid the raids at his Los Angeles and Miami Beach homes.

At least five law enforcement sources told NBC the raids are connected to an ongoing sex trafficking probe.

Agents with the Department of Homeland Security were seen walking out of Diddy’s homes with numerous items including boxes, phones and a laptop.

On Wednesday, two black SUVs were guarding the 54-year-old’s Star Island home in Miami Beach.

One of the guards could be seen wearing a bulletproof vest while putting up umbrellas to block the view.

Diddy’s location remains unconfirmed. He hasn’t been criminally charged

Vic Williams, a retired special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, told NBC6 that specific elements are in play for this sex trafficking case.

“We know they got some information. That information was enough to get them a search warrant signed by a judge,” said Williams. “There are three elements to make up a human trafficking case and that’s force, fraud or coercion. You have to have one of those elements. The only time you don’t is when it applies to children.”

On Monday night, a former producer for Combs filed a lawsuit claiming he witnessed sex trafficking, the distribution and use of illegal drugs and firearms. He also claims he was sexually assaulted by Combs and others.

On Tuesday, Combs’ attorney released a lengthy statement Tuesday about the house raids.

“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” the statement read. “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.”

The statement said Combs wasn’t detained but spoke with and cooperated with authorities.

“Despite media speculation, neither Mr. Combs nor any of his family members have been arrested nor has their ability to travel been restricted in any way,” the statement read. “This unprecedented ambush — paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence — leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits. There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”

However, the Duke of Sussex is not accused of any wrongdoing in the suit.

Combs is part of a federal investigation following a series of lawsuits since last fall tied to a slew of allegations of wrongdoing, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The lawsuit that names Harry was filed by Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones. In the suit, filed in federal court in New York in February 2024, Jones said that Combs sexually harassed, drugged and threatened him for more than a year while he worked on Combs’ 2023 album.

Jones’ lawsuit, which seeks $30 million in damages, alleges that Combs used his known access to celebrities — such as Harry — as a way to give his sex trafficking parties legitimacy.

In Jones’ lawsuit, Harry is named just once.

“Affiliation with, and or sponsorship of Mr. Combs sex-trafficking parties garnered legitimacy and access to celebrities such as famous athletes, political figures, artist, musicians, and international dignitaries like British Royal, Prince Harry,” the initial filing from Feb. 26, 2024, reads.

Jones’ legal team would later amend the filing on March 25, 2024, to accuse actor Cuba Gooding Jr. of sexually harassing and assaulting him.

“Mr. Combs was known for throwing the ‘best’ parties. Affiliation with, and or sponsorship of Mr. Combs sex-trafficking parties garnered legitimacy and access to celebrities such as famous athletes, political figures, artists, musicians, and international dignitaries like British Royal, Prince Harry,” the updated lawsuit reads.

A spokesperson for Prince Harry did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment on March 26.

The lawsuit does not suggest Harry had any knowledge of the allegations against Combs or was involved, but instead seems to name the prince as an example of the type of well-known people to whom the defendants may have had access.

Elsewhere in the lawsuit, Jones alleges that the music executive ordered him to procure sex workers and pressured him to engage in unwelcome sex acts with them and others. Jones also alleges that Combs gave laced alcoholic beverages to people at parties at his homes.

Jones’ case continues to move forward in the legal system. Following the raids on Combs’ homes on March 25, Tyrone Blackburn, the attorney for Jones and another person suing Combs, Liza Gardner, told NBC News that while they “appreciate” the federal government’s raids on Combs, “today’s events are not going to prevent nor delay my clients pending and forthcoming actions for justice and resolution from the Combs RICO Enterprise.”

Representatives for Combs have not commented on the Jones lawsuit to NBC News, but did say on March 26 that the search warrants executed at the musician’s homes were “excessive.”

“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences. There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated. Mr. Combs was never detained but spoke to and cooperated with authorities,” Aaron Dyer, Combs’ attorney said in a statement.

“Despite media speculation, neither Mr. Combs nor any of his family members have been arrested nor has their ability to travel been restricted in any way. This unprecedented ambush, paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence, leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits. There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”

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In a civil lawsuit that alleges Combs operated a criminal enterprise that included sex trafficking and the illegal distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms, 25-year-old Brendan Paul is accused of being a “mule” for the mogul’s drugs and guns.

Paul was arrested at Opa-locka Airport for carrying cocaine and marijuana-laced candy, Miami-Dade Police said in an affidavit. He faces charges of possessing cocaine and a controlled substance.

Video from TMZ showed Diddy pacing around at the same airport as Homeland Security agents executed the bi-coastal search warrants.

Combs is the subject of a federal criminal investigation amid several lawsuits filed against him in recent months, sources told NBC News.

In one civil lawsuit, producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who worked for Combs between September 2022 and November 2023, alleged that Combs sexually harassed, drugged and threatened him for more than a year. 

Jones also alleged that he had video and audio evidence of Combs, his staff and others “engaging in serious illegal activity.” The complaint provides photos of Paul holding pill bottles while on Combs’ yacht.

Paul, who played basketball for Syracuse University in 2019, bonded out of jail Tuesday morning.

Sean "Diddy" Combs Mar 26

Guns found at Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' LA and Miami properties during federal searches, sources say

Sean "Diddy" Combs Mar 26

Authorities searched Diddy's properties in sex trafficking probe. Here's what to know

On Monday, music mogul’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami were searched by federal agents with Homeland Security Investigators and other law enforcement. Officials said the searches were connected to an investigation by federal authorities in New York.

Footage from Chopper 6 showed multiple agents at the rapper’s property on the exclusive Star Island. NBC6 captured agents walking through the more than $30-million home with paper bags and walking out with multiple boxes and laptops. Among the items seized were several phones and guns, law enforcement sources said.

In a statement on Tuesday, Combs’ attorney called the raid an “unprecedented ambush” and the mogul “is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”

“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences. There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated,” Aaron Dyer’s statement said in part.

Homeland Security Investigations executed warrants out of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday and seized his phones in Miami before he was scheduled to depart for a trip to the Bahamas.

The music mogul is a subject of a federal criminal investigation amid several lawsuits filed against him in recent months, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The source said three women and a man had been interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in relation to allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms.

It was not immediately clear what kind of firearms were found or who they belonged to.

Aaron Dyer, an attorney for Combs, described Monday’s searches as “gross overuse of military-level force.” Neither Combs nor any of his family members have been arrested, Dyer noted in his statement.

“There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated,” Dyer said. “Mr. Combs was never detained but spoke to and cooperated with authorities.”

Combs is innocent and “will continue to fight every single day to clear his name,” Dyer said, adding that Combs had not been found liable of the allegations against him.

Since November, Combs has been the subject of numerous civil lawsuits following a civil suit from his former romantic partner, Cassie, who accused him of physically and sexually abusing her for years. Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, utilized the New York Adult Survivors Act, which offered a one-year window for adult victims of sexual assault to come forward with civil claims regardless of the statute of limitations.

She and Combs settled the suit a day after she filed in New York. Combs has rejected the accusations, calling them offensive and outrageous.

Since then, three other women have filed lawsuits in the Southern District of New York alleging that they were sexually assaulted by Combs. Two said they were teenagers at the time of the alleged assaults. 

Combs has denied each of the sexual assault allegations, calling them “sickening.” 

A former employee who worked for Combs between September 2022 and November 2023 also filed a lawsuit in February alleging that Combs sexually harassed, drugged and threatened him for more than a year.  In his suit, Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, a producer, also alleged that he had video and audio evidence of Combs, his staff and others “engaging in serious illegal activity.”

These cases are ongoing, and Combs has denied the allegations. 

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But several lawsuits filed late last year raised allegations of sexual assault and rape against Combs — one of hip-hop’s most recognizable names as a performer and producer.

The music mogul’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami were searched Monday by federal agents with Homeland Security Investigators and other law enforcement. Officials said the searches were connected to an investigation by federal authorities in New York.

Footage from Chopper 6 showed multiple agents at the rapper’s property on the exclusive Star Island. NBC6 captured agents walking through the more than $30 million home with paper bags and walking out with multiple boxes and laptops. Among the items seized were several phones and guns, law enforcement sources told NBC News.

In a statement on Tuesday, Combs’ attorney called the raid an “unprecedented ambush” and that the mogul was not detained but cooperated and spoke to authorities.

“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences. There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated,” Aaron Dyer’s statement said in part.

The attorney clarified that Combs nor any of his family members were not arrested and their travel was not restricted.

“This unprecedented ambush — paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence — leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits,” Dyer said. “There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”

Although Diddy was embroiled in one high-profile business dispute for part of 2023, it was a case filed by his former girlfriend and R&B singer Cassie that opened the door to other claims of sexual violence. Combs has vehemently denied the allegations.

It is not clear whether the search is related to any of the allegations raised in the lawsuits, which include one from a woman who claims Combs raped her when she was 17.

Here are some things to know about Combs and the investigation.

WHO IS DIDDY?

Combs is among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades. He built one of music’s biggest empires, blazing a trail with several entities attached to his famous name. He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy winner who has worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

The music mogul created the fashion clothing line called Sean John, was associated with a well-known vodka brand and launched Revolt TV network, which focuses on music and social justice issues targeting African Americans. He also produced the reality show “Making the Band” for MTV.

In 2022, BET honored Combs with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his ability to shape culture through his career.

Combs won Grammys for his platinum-selling 1997 album “No Way Out” and the single “I’ll Be Missing You,” a song dedicated to the late Notorious B.I.G. who was killed earlier that year. He won another Grammy for “Shake Ya Tailfeather” with Nelly and Murphy Lee.

Last year, Combs released his fifth studio album “The Love Album: Off the Grid,” which was nominated for best progressive R&B album at February’s Grammy Awards, which he did not attend. The album was his first solo project since his 2006 chart-topping “Press Play,” which had two top 10 hit singles: “Last Night” with Keyshia Cole and “Come to Me” featuring Nicole Scherzinger.

In 2004, Combs played Walter Lee Younger in the Broadway revival of “A Raisin in the Sun,” which aired as a television adaption four years later. He’s also appeared in films including “Get Him to the Greek” and “Monster’s Ball.”

Mar 25

Feds raid Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' properties in Los Angeles, Miami

Celebrity News Feb 26

Sean ‘Diddy' Combs accused of sexual harassment and assault by producer on his latest album

WHAT SPARKED THE LAWSUITS?

In November, Combs’ protege and singer Cassie sued him for alleging years of sexual abuse including rape. The lawsuit alleged he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them.

Combs and Ventura began dating in 2007 and had an on-and-off relationship for more than a decade.

The suit was settled the day after it was filed, but the lawsuits against Combs kept coming.

Combs had said in a December statement, “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them. Combs’ attorney Shawn Holley has said of those allegations that “we have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.”

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

The filings detail acts of sexual assault, beatings and forced drugging allegedly committed in the early 1990s by Combs, then a talent director, party promoter and rising figure in New York City’s hip-hop community.

ANY REPERCUSSIONS FROM THE LAWSUITS?

Last year, Combs stepped down as chairman of his cable television network Revolt amid the sexual abuse allegations against him.

Revolt announced Combs’ decision via social media. It’s not clear if he will ever return to the media company — which said Combs previously had “no operational or day-to-day role” at the network.

“This decision helps to ensure that Revolt remains steadfastly focused on our mission to create meaningful content for the culture and amplify the voices of all Black people throughout this country and African diaspora,” the network said.

The network had been preparing to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Combs also created an online marketplace called Empower Global that featured Black-owned brands. The website for the curated marketplace is still active, but shows no products being sold.

WHAT HAPPENED WITH DIAGEO?

Earlier this year, Combs withdrew the lawsuit filed last year against Diageo as part of a settlement with the London-based spirits giant.

Combs said the company didn’t make promised investments in Ciroc vodka and DeLeon tequila — two brands Combs promoted in the past — and treated them as inferior “urban” products. He also accused Diageo of racism.

In court filings, Combs said Diageo leadership told him race was one of the reasons it limited distribution to “urban” neighborhoods. Combs said he was also told some Diageo leaders resented him for making too much money.

In legal filings, Diageo accused Combs of resorting to “false and reckless” allegations “in an effort to extract additional billions” from the company.

Combs’ reputation took a serious hit after the lawsuit was filed. Diageo became the sole owner of Ciroc and DeLeon after the lawsuit was withdrawn.

Footage from Chopper 6 showed multiple agents at the rapper’s property on the exclusive Star Island. Agents with Homeland Security have executed search warrants out of the Southern District of New York at Diddy’s properties in Miami and Los Angeles, law enforcement sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The investigation involves allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms, the source told NBC News. Federal officials in Manhattan have interviewed three women and a man for the investigation.

NBC6 captured agents walking through the more than $30-million-dollar home with paper bags and walking out with multiple boxes and laptops.

Agents also seized phones from the rapper, who was in Miami at the time of the raids and was scheduled to depart for a trip to the Bahamas, sources said. There was no information regarding the number of phones, where the agents seized them, or whether they had any direct interaction with Diddy.

“The speed at which it appears these raids were conducted suggests that agents were concerned that they needed to secure evidence quickly and prevent anyone from destroying evidence before they got there,” legal analyst Danny Cevallos told NBC News.

In a statement on Tuesday, Combs’ attorney called the raid an “unprecedented ambush” that the mogul was not detained but cooperated and spoke to authorities.

“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences. There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated,” Aaron Dyer’s statement said in part.

The attorney clarified that Combs nor any of his family members were not arrested and their travel was not restricted.

“This unprecedented ambush — paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence — leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits,” Dyer said. “There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”

There have been several sexual assault lawsuits filed against the rapper, whose real name is Sean Combs, in recent months.

In February a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them. Combs’ attorney Shawn Holley has said of those allegations that “we have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.”

Combs’ former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, sued him in November alleging years of sexual abuse, including rape. The lawsuit said he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them. The suit was settled the day after it was filed.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

Combs had said in a November statement, “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”

Celebrity News Feb 26

Sean ‘Diddy' Combs accused of sexual harassment and assault by producer on his latest album

Sean "Diddy" Combs Dec 6, 2023

Lawsuit accuses Sean Combs, 2 others of raping 17-year-old girl in 2003; Combs denies allegations

Combs is among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades. Formerly known as Puff Daddy, he built one of hip-hop’s biggest empires, blazing a trail with several entities attached to his famous name. He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy winner who has worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

Combs created the fashion clothing line Sean John, launched the Revolt TV channel with a focus on music, and produced the reality show “Making the Band” for MTV.

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Sean “Diddy” Combs and Diageo said Tuesday they have broken ties and settled the music mogul’s accusations that the spirits giant neglected vodka and tequila brands he promoted or co-owned.

In a joint statement, the London-based company and Combs said they “have now agreed to resolve all disputes between them. Mr. Combs has withdrawn all of his allegations about Diageo and will voluntarily dismiss his lawsuits against Diageo with prejudice.”

Diageo and Combs added that they have “no ongoing business relationship, either with respect to Cîroc vodka or DeLeón tequila, which Diageo now solely owns.”

The sides settled a lawsuit filed last year in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, where Combs alleged racial discrimination by Diageo and said the company neglected Cîroc vodka and DeLeón tequila. Combs’ lawyers accused the company of marketing the spirits as “urban” brands.

The suit sparked a monthslong dispute between Diageo and Combs.

In November, Diageo filed a letter aiming to prevent Combs from appearing in DeLeon tequila ads after the singer Cassie accused him of rape and abuse. Cassie and Combs settled the singer’s lawsuit that month, only a day after she filed it.

Combs Wines and Spirits and Diageo first partnered in 2007 to promote Cîroc. They later teamed up to jointly purchase DeLeón in 2013.

Diageo, one of the largest spirits companies in the world with a nearly $80 billion market value, owns more than 200 brands such as Don Julio and Johnnie Walker.

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The woman, whose name wasn’t disclosed in the court filing, is the fourth person to file a lawsuit accusing Combs of sexual assault in recent weeks.

The lawsuit alleges that Combs, Harve Pierre, the former president of Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment, and an unnamed man gave the accuser drugs and alcohol and then taking turns raping her inside Daddy’s House Recording Studio, a studio owned by Combs and Bad Boy, in 2003.

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Combs, 54, denied the allegations in a statement. A request for comment from Pierre was sent to Bad Boy Entertainment.

According to the lawsuit, Pierre met the teenager in Michigan and flew with her on a private plane to meet Combs.

“As alleged in the complaint, Defendants preyed on a vulnerable high school teenager as part of a sex trafficking scheme that involved plying her with drugs and alcohol and transporting her by private jet to New York City where she was gang raped by the three individual defendants at Mr. Combs’ studio,” the accuser’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, said in a statement. “The depravity of these abhorrent acts has, not surprisingly, scarred our client for life.”

The accuser’s lawyers say the claim was brought under New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which allows accusers to file civil complaints involving sexual assault claims after the statute of limitations has run out.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan follows three other lawsuits accusing Combs of abuse.

A lawsuit by the singer Cassie containing allegations of beatings and abuse by Combs was settled on Nov. 17, the day after it was filed. A lawyer for Combs said before the settlement that Combs denied the allegations.

Two additional lawsuits against Combs were filed a week later.

One of the accusers, Joi Dickerson, said she was a 19-year-old college student when she agreed to meet Combs at a restaurant in Harlem in 1991. After their date, Combs “intentionally drugged” her, then brought her home and sexually assaulted her, according to the filing.

A separate lawsuit filed by an unnamed woman accused Combs and another man of sexually assaulting her and a friend, then beating her several days later.

“For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy,” Combs, who is also known as Diddy or Puff Daddy, said in a statement Wednesday. “Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”

Both of the new suits were filed Thursday on the eve of the expiration of the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law permitting victims of sexual abuse a one-year window to file civil action regardless of the statute of limitations.

The filings detail acts of sexual assault, beatings and forced drugging allegedly committed in the early 1990s by Combs, then a talent director, party promoter and rising figure in New York City’s hip-hop community.

One of the accusers, Joi Dickerson, said she was a 19-year-old student at Syracuse University when she agreed to meet Combs at a restaurant in Harlem in 1991. After their date, Combs “intentionally drugged” her, then brought her home and sexually assaulted her, according to the filing.

Without her knowledge, Combs videotaped the assault and later shared it with several friends in the music industry, the suit alleges. The public exposure sent Dickerson into a “tailspin,” contributing to severe depression that landed her in the hospital and forced her to drop out of college.

In a separate lawsuit filed Thursday, an unnamed woman accused Combs and an R&B singer, Aaron Hall, of sexually assaulting her and a friend, then beating her several days later.

The woman — identified only as Jane Doe — said that she and her roommate returned to Hall’s home with him and Combs after a music industry event in 1990 or 1991. The accuser said she was coerced into having sex with Combs. Afterward, as she was getting dressed, “Hall barged into the room, pinned her down and forced Jane Doe to have sex with him,” the suit states.

When the victim later spoke to her friend, who is also not named, she learned that her friend “had been forced to have sex with Combs and Hall in another room,” according to the suit. “Upon information and belief, when Combs finished with Jane Doe, he and Hall switched, and they commenced assaulting Jane Doe’s friend,” the suit states.

A few days later, an “irate” Combs allegedly showed up at the home of the two women in an attempt to stop them from speaking out about the abuse. He then choked the woman identified as Jane Doe until she passed out, the suit states.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Combs denied the allegations, accusing the two women of seeking to exploit the New York law that temporarily extended the statute of limitations.

An email inquiry to Hall was not returned.

Tyrone Blackburn, an attorney for the unnamed accuser, said his client was in the process of securing medical documents and witness statements to support her suit, which was filed late Thursday “in an effort to preserve the statute of limitations.”

The suit brought by Dickerson notes that the victim filed police reports in New York and New Jersey after the abuse. Inquiries to the New York City Police Department were not immediately returned. It was not clear which other jurisdictions the reports may have been filed.

After the filmed assault, Dickerson said she approached friends in the music industry asking them to confirm the existence of the “revenge porn” tape, but was rebuffed by those who were “terrified that Combs would retaliate against them and that they would lose future business and music opportunities.”

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The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Dickerson has done.

In years after the alleged assaults, Combs, now 54, would found his own label, Bad Boys Records, helping to produce Mary J. Blige and Biggie Smalls on his way to becoming one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives in the genre’s history.

The pair of lawsuits follow a separate set of explosive allegations made last week by Cassie Ventura, who said that Combs subjected her to a pattern of abuse during their yearslong relationship, which began in 2005, when she was 19 and he was 37.

Among the allegations, Ventura said Combs plied her with drugs, subjected her to “savage” beatings, and forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he masturbated and filmed them. When she tried to end the relationship in 2018, Combs raped her, she alleged.

The lawsuit was settled one day after it was filed for an undisclosed sum.

In a statement shared by her lawyers, Ventura said she wanted to resolve this matter “on terms that I have some level of control.”

Combs said: “We have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love.”

“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.

The entertainer thanked Adams and shouted, “Diddy finally has the key to the city!”

Combs, 53, was born in New York City and raised in nearby Mount Vernon.

His new album “The Love Album – Off the Grid” is his first solo studio project since 2006. It features nearly 30 guest artists including Mary J. Blige, Justin Bieber, H.E.R., Babyface, John Legend and Busta Rhymes.

“I feel like I just had a baby, a newborn baby. It’s been three years in the making,” Diddy said.

Sean “Diddy” Combs will receive the Global Icon Award at the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards.

“Diddy will receive the Global Icon Award for his unparalleled career and continued influence that has achieved unrivaled global success in music and beyond,” reads a press release about the award.

The Global Icon Award started at MTV’s Europe Music Awards and “celebrates an artist or band whose unparalleled career and continued influence have achieved a unique level of global success in music and beyond,” continued the release.

Combs will also return to the VMA stage to perform at the show for the first time since 2005, which was the same year he hosted the show.

The hip-hop mogul and iconic rapper is up for four moonman awards at this year’s ceremony, including a pair in the best collaboration field. One is for “Gotta Move On (Queens Remix)” with Bryson Tiller, Ashanti and Yung Miami, while the other is for “Creepin’” with Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage. “Gotta Move On” also snagged a nomination for best hip-hop and “Creepin’” is also nominated for best R&B.

Combs, who has had five No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in his career, made his first VMAs performance in 1997 and won the award for best R&B video that year, while also claiming the viewer’s choice award the following year.

Combs will return with new music when his album “The Love Album: Off the Grid” comes out Sept. 15.

Shakira will also be honored with the Video Vanguard Award at the VMAs this year. She will perform on the show, as will Anitta, Demi Lovato, Doja Cat, Karol G, Kelsea Ballerini, Lil Wayne, Måneskin, Stray Kids and TOMORROW X TOGETHER.

Taylor Swift leads in nominations at this year’s ceremony with 11, followed by SZA with eight.

The 2023 VMAs will air live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET.

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The lawsuit, filed with the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, says Diageo North America starved Combs’ Ciroc vodka and DeLeon tequila brands of resources even as it showered attention on other celebrity brands. Diageo bought actor George Clooney’s Casamigos tequila brand for $1 billion in 2017, for example.

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Combs, who is Black, said Diageo leadership told him his race was one of the reasons it limited distribution to urban neighborhoods. He was also told that some Diageo leaders resented him for making too much money, according to the lawsuit.

“Cloaking itself in the language of diversity and equality is good for Diageo’s business, but it is a lie,” the lawsuit said. “While Diageo may conspicuously include images of its Black partners in advertising materials and press releases, its words only provide the illusion of inclusion.”

Combs’ relationship with Diageo dates to 2007, when the London-based company — which owns more than 200 brands, including Guinness beer and Tanqueray gin — approached Combs about Ciroc.

In a statement, Diageo denied allegations of racism.

“This is a business dispute, and we are saddened that Mr. Combs has chosen to recast this matter as anything other than that,” the company said in a statement. “While we respect Mr. Combs as an artist and entrepreneur, his allegations lack merit, and we are confident the facts will show that he has been treated fairly.”

In the lawsuit, Combs said he intends to seek billions of dollars in damages in other legal proceedings against Diageo.

That’s what the 53-year-old claims he was being last week when he tweeted that he’s still paying Police front man Sting $5,000 in royalties every day for sampling the group’s hit “Every Breath You Take” in 1997.

Diddy had retweeted a 2018 video on Wednesday in which Sting said that he was getting $2,000 per day from the rapper “for the rest of his life” for using the sample in his Notorious B.I.G. tribute “I’ll Be Missing You.”

In his tweet, Diddy said “Nope” and corrected the amount: The amount was actually “5K a day. Love to my brother @Official Sting!”

But the three-time Grammy winner has since changed his tune, tweeting on Friday that he was kidding about the whole thing.

“I want y’all to understand I was joking!” he wrote. “It’s called being Facetious!”

Diddy now says that he “never” paid Sting any amount of money each day for sampling the song without asking.

“Me and @OfficialSting have been friends for a long time! He never charged me $3K or $5K a day for Missing You,” he added. “He probably makes more than $5K a day from one of the biggest songs in history.”

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