Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested in Manhattan on Monday evening following a grand jury indictment on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. This comes months after the music mogul faced multiple civil sexual assault lawsuits, all of which he has denied. Reporting by Forbes provides a timeline of legal actions and allegations against Combs:
September 16
Sean Combs is arrested in Manhattan after being indicted by a grand jury on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation for the purpose of prostitution. The indictment alleges that Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
May 29
Sources tell CNN that federal investigators are preparing to bring Combs’ accusers to testify before a grand jury. Most of the plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits against the rapper have already been interviewed, suggesting that prosecutors are moving toward filing charges, although none had been filed at this time.
May 24
Plaintiff April Lampros files a lawsuit in New York accusing Combs of sexual assault over four separate incidents between 1995 and 2001. The lawsuit includes allegations of three rapes and one instance where Combs forced her to take ecstasy.
May 22
Former model Crystal McKinney sues Combs in Manhattan federal court, alleging he drugged and sexually assaulted her in his New York recording studio in 2003.
May 19
Cassie Ventura, Combs’ ex-girlfriend, speaks out publicly after CNN obtains a 2016 video showing Combs attacking her in a hotel hallway. In an Instagram post, Ventura shares that domestic violence “broke” her and she will “always be recovering” from the trauma. Combs later issues an apology for the video.
February 26
Producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones files a lawsuit against Combs in New York, alleging that he was forced into unwanted sexual advances by Combs’ associates and compelled to engage in relations with sex workers hired by the rapper. Jones also accuses Combs of hosting “sex-trafficking parties” involving underage women and illegal drugs. He further claims that record label executives who turned a blind eye benefited from their connections to high-profile celebrities, including Prince Harry, though the British royal is not accused of attending or wrongdoing. Combs’ attorney dismisses the claims, labeling them as “reckless name-dropping.”
December 6
Combs faces another sexual assault lawsuit in December, where he is accused of drugging and participating in the gang rape of a woman in 2003, when she was 17 years old.
November 23
Joie Dickerson-Neal sues Combs, alleging that he drugged, sexually assaulted, and secretly recorded her while she was a college student in 1991.
November 23
An anonymous woman accuses Combs and singer Aaron Hall of raping her and a friend in 1990 or 1991 after meeting them at an MCA Records event in New York. The lawsuit is filed just before the expiration of a New York law temporarily allowing claims for older sexual assault cases that would otherwise be past the statute of limitations.
November 17
Cassie Ventura’s $30 million lawsuit against Combs is settled just one day after it was filed, for an undisclosed amount. Ventura tells CNN she chose to “resolve this matter amicably,” while Combs’ attorney emphasizes that the settlement is “in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
November 16
Cassie Ventura files her lawsuit, accusing Combs of raping her in 2018 and subjecting her to years of physical and emotional abuse, including exerting “complete control” over her personal and professional life.