LOS ANGELES — Months after being accused of sexual assault, American rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been arrested in Manhattan.
His arrest comes after a grand jury indicted him. Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo shared a statement with regards to the rapper’s arrest in New York, reports ‘Variety’.
The charges were not immediately clear. “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community”.
The statement further mentioned, “He is an imperfect person but he is not a criminal. 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 judgement until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court”.
As per ‘Variety’, Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, also released a statement on Monday. “Earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY”, he said. “We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time”.
Combs’ arrest comes amid an ongoing investigation and a wave of lawsuits alleging sexual assault. Recently, former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard filed a suit against Combs on September 10, alleging verbal abuse, assault, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In May, CNN posted a 2016 video of Combs attacking his then-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura. The footage matches allegations made in a lawsuit filed by Ventura in November last year, which outlines an incident that occurred at the now-shuttered InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. The two parties reached a settlement one day after the suit was filed on Nov. 16, 2023, in New York.