Once hip hop's flashy impresario credited with commercializing the genre, Sean "Diddy" Combs has seen his star plunge as he faces a series of sex trafficking accusations and assault lawsuits. The music mogul's arrest in New York on Monday follows a raid in March by armed federal agents on his luxury properties in Miami and Los Angeles that had suggested an investigation into him was underway. Details of the charges against Combs are expected to be revealed Tuesday.
The arrest and heavily publicized raid on his homes mark a rapid downfall for the powerful mogul who in recent years has vied to rebrand as "Brother Love." The 54-year-old founded the Bad Boy record label in 1993, with proteges including the late Notorious B.I.
G. and Mary J. Blige, and is credited with ushering hip hop into the mainstream.
Over the decades the artist, who's gone by various monikers including Puff Daddy and P Diddy, amassed vast wealth not least due to his ventures in the liquor industry. But despite his efforts to cultivate an image of a smooth party kingpin and business magnate, multiple lawsuits describe Combs as a violent man who used his celebrity to prey on his victims. He has no major convictions but has long been trailed by allegations of physical assault, dating back well into the 1990s.
Late last year the floodgates opened after singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rap.