NEW YORK (AP) — Two properties owned by music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs in Los Angeles and Miami were searched Monday by federal Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement agencies as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
It is unclear whether Combs was a goal of the investigation. The officials weren’t authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
In a statement, Homeland Security Investigations said it “has initiated law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with the assistance of HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners.”
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment.
Messages to Combs’ lawyers and other representatives searching for comment weren’t immediately returned.
A police line was arrange around a Los Angeles home in the affluent Holmby Hills neighborhood near Beverly Hills. KABC-TV’s helicopter footage shows a group of agents wearing vests indicating they were from the Department of Homeland Security gathered in the backyard of a home near the swimming pool. A command post was arrange outside the home, and agents continued to come back and go several hours after the search began.
There were several of them sexual assault trials brought against Combs in recent months.
In February, the music producer filed a lawsuit alleging that Combs forced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them. Combs’ attorney, Shawn Holley, said of the allegations that “we have overwhelming, irrefutable evidence that his claims are complete lies.”
She was Combs’ protégé and girlfriend 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 case was settled the day after it was filed.
Combs’ other accuser was a woman who claimed the rap producer raped her twenty years ago when she was 17.
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The Associated Press doesn’t typically name individuals who say they’ve been victims of sexual abuse unless they arrive forward publicly, as Cassie did.
In a December statement, Combs said: “I did not do any of the terrible things I am accused of.”
Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer representing Cassie and one other woman who sued Combs, said in a statement Monday: “We hope this is the beginning of a lawsuit that holds Mr. Combs accountable for his depraved behavior.”
It is unclear whether the search is said to any of the allegations raised in the lawsuit.
Combs is one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the last three a long time. Formerly known as Puff Daddy, he built one of hip-hop’s largest empires, leading the way with several entities associated together with his famous name. He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy Award winner who has worked with many top artists, including Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.
Combs created the Sean John fashion clothing line, launched the music-focused television channel Revolt and produced the reality show “Making the Band” for MTV.
His latest album, “The Love Album – Off the Grid,” was released last 12 months, days after Combs was honored at the MTV VMAs. It was nominated for best progressive R&B album at February’s Grammy Awards, where the rap mogul was not in attendance.
In the years since stories about the movie mogul broke, the entertainment industry has been suffering from a regular stream of allegations of career-ending sexual misconduct Harvey Weinstein began the #MeToo movement in 2017. Weinstein and star of That ’70s Show. Danny Masterson each of them is serving prison sentences following rape convictions. Dozens of civil lawsuits have been filed against distinguished figures.
It’s not the music industry that has faced a reckoning as much as the singer and producer R. Kelly is serving a prison sentence for sexually abusing young fans, seven women sued the hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons claiming he raped them, and two women sued the Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler alleging sexual assault.
WeinsteinMasterson and Kelly are appealing their convictions, and Simmons has denied all charges against him. One lawsuit against Tyler was dismissed, and he’s contesting the other.
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