Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is in jail after he was denied bail on sex trafficking and racketeering charges on Tuesday.
The 54-year-old star was sensationally arrested after traveling to New York City to work with prosecutors.
He denies the claims – which include allegations of drug-fueled ‘freak offs’ where he is said to have forced victims into having sex with each other – and stashing weapons.
In an indictment unsealed by New York authorities on Tuesday morning US time, he was charged with three crimes – racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The 54-year-old, who was worth $1billion in 2022, caused a stir in Australia long before his current legal tribulations, and may have contributed to the downfall of a music festival in Australia.
Diddy never officially toured Down Under (except for a short visit in 1999 with then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez), but came very close as he was announced as a headliner for the now-defunct SupaFest in 2012.
The hip hop festival, which was held in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, ran from 2010-2012, before the parent company, Paper Chase Touring and Entertainment, went into administration.
In 2012, Diddy publicly excoriated the festival for not delivering what was initially promised.
Sean ‘ Diddy ‘ Combs is in jail after he was denied bail on sex trafficking and racketeering charges on Tuesday. The 54-year-old, who was worth $1billion in 2022, caused a stir in Australia long before his current legal tribulations, and may have contributed to the downfall of a music festival in Australia
In 2012, Diddy publicly excoriated the festival for not delivering what was initially promised. Taking to his Twitter at the time, the rapper said he was ‘mad as f***’ about what he said was a breach of contract by SupaFest
Taking to his Twitter at the time, the rapper said he was ‘mad as f***’ about what he said was a breach of contract by SupaFest.
‘SupaFest 2012 stop playing around and come thru with what you agreed to in the contract!!! Don’t cheat the people, givem what dey want,’ he tweeted in 2012.
The 2012 shows, which would be the festival’s last run, would see Diddy eventually cancel, as well as Missy Elliott and Rick Ross.
Around the same time, Missy claimed she was falsely advertised by the festival as a headliner while she was only in early negotiations.
Around the same time, Missy Elliott (pictured) claimed she was falsely advertised by the festival as a headliner while she was only in early negotiations
Even while the festival went into administration, the 2012 shows saw Chris Brown, Kelly Rowland, and Ludacris perform.
Founder John Denison had plans to hold SupaFest again in 2013, with a lineup that included 50 Cent, Akon, Ne-Yo, and Young Jeezy.
But with debts in excess of $2million the festival was cancelled that year and was never held again.
In 2016, parent company Paper Chase Touring was deregistered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Combs headed to jail Tuesday to await trial in his federal sex trafficking case, after a magistrate ordered him to be held without bail in a case that accuses him of presiding over a sordid empire of sexual crimes.
He’s accused of inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes dayslong sexual performances dubbed ‘Freak Offs.’
The indictment against him also alleges he coerced and abused women for years while using blackmail and shocking acts of violence to keep his victims in line. It refers obliquely to an attack on his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, that was captured on video.
In this courtroom sketch, Sean Combs, center, is flanked by his defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, left, and Teny Garagos, in Manhattan Federal Court Tuesday
Media members congregated outside of Combs arraignment hearing Tuesday in NYC
Prosecutors wanted him jailed. His attorneys proposed that he be released on a $50 million bond to home detention with electronic monitoring. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky sided with the government.
Combs was arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
A conviction on every charge in the indictment would require a mandatory 15 years in prison with the possibility of a life sentence.
Combs was arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
A conviction on every charge in the indictment would require a mandatory 15 years in prison with the possibility of a life sentence.
The indictment describes Combs as the head of a criminal enterprise that engaged or attempted to engage in sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, drug offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.
Combs and his associates wielded his ‘power and prestige’ to intimidate and lure women into his orbit, ‘often under the pretense of a romantic relationship,’ the indictment says.
Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky presided during a hearing for Sean Combs Tuesday. Seen in a courtroom sketch
It says he then would use force, threats and coercion to get the women to engage with male sex workers in the ‘Freak Offs’ – ‘elaborate and produced sex performances’ that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during and often recorded, creating dozens of videos.
He sometimes arranged to fly the women in and ensured their participation by procuring and providing drugs, controlling their careers, leveraging his financial support and using intimidation and violence, according to the indictment.
The events could last for days, and Combs and victims would often receive IV fluids to recover from the exertion and drug use, the indictment said.
It said his employees facilitated ‘Freak Offs’ by arranging travel, booking hotel rooms, stocking them with such supplies as drugs and baby oil, scheduling the delivery of IV fluids and cleaning the rooms afterward.
During the searches of Combs´ homes earlier this year, law enforcement seized narcotics, videos of the ‘Freak Offs’ 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 – two of them, broken into parts, in his bedroom closet in Miami.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk