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Firearms have been found by federal agents searching homes belonging to rapper Sean Combs, three sources close to the matter have told Sky News’s US partner network NBC News.
The 54-year-old‘s homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland SecurityInvestigations agents on 25 March, as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, the AP news agency reported.
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ homes raided by Homeland security
Several phones were seized from Combs in Miami before he was scheduled to depart on a trip to the Bahamas, NBC News understands.
Three women and a man were interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in relation to the probe, according to NBC News.
It’s not yet known what kind of firearms were found or whom they belonged to.
Following the raids on his house in late March, Combs’s lawyer Aaron Dyer said there had been a “gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed”.
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“There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated,” he added.
Mr Dyer said Combs had not been arrested or had his ability to travel restricted, and neither had any of his family members.
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“This unprecedented ambush – paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence – leads to a premature rush to judgement of Mr Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.
“There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”
Multiple lawsuits
Combs has also recently faced several lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct and other wrongdoing.
In February, a music producer alleged Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.
Combs’s lawyer responded by saying: “We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies”.
The rapper’s former protege and girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, also sued him in November alleging she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs and beaten by Combs over a 10-year period.
Combs rejected the accusations, calling them offensive and outrageous.
Since then, three other women have filed lawsuits in the Southern District of New York alleging that Combs sexually assaulted them. Two said they were teenagers at the time.
Combs has denied all the allegations, calling them “sickening” and “awful”.
Combs is among the most influential hip hop producers of the past three decades, building one of hip hop’s biggest empires and founding record label Bad Boy Records in 1993 working with artists including Notorious BIG, Mary J Blige, Usher and Lil Kim.
A three-time Grammy winner, his latest album, The Love Album – Off the Grid, was nominated for best progressive R&B album at February’s Grammy Awards. He neither won nor attended.
Sky News has contacted representatives for Combs for comment.
“The Oscar gave me the ability of being able to choose good parts in movies like Enemy Mine, Sadat and Iron Eagle,” Gossett said in film expert, Dave Karger’s, 2024 book “50 Oscar Nights”.
He said at the time that his statue was in storage.
Born on 27 May 1936, in Brooklyn, New York, Gossett later added Junior to his name to honour his father.
He first started acting in school productions and at the age of 16 made his Broadway debut in the play Take A Giant Step.
Having studied at New York University on a basketball and drama scholarship, the actor became friends with Hollywood great James Dean and studied acting alongside Marilyn Monroe, Martin Landau and Steve McQueen.
In 1959 he gained critical acclaim for his role in the Broadway production of A Raisin In The Sun, and in 1961 appeared in the film version of the same production.
Gossett’s big break on the small screen was as Fiddler in the 1977 TV miniseries Roots, which depicted the atrocities of slavery.
He also appeared in TV movies including The Story of Satchel Paige, Backstairs at the White House, The Josephine Baker Story – for which he won another Golden Globe – and Roots Revisited.
In 2023, he played patriarch, Ol’ Mister Johnson, in the musical remake of The Colour Purple, alongside Halle Bailey, Danielle Brooks and Colman Dolmingo.
Throughout his career Gossett was subject to racism, including an incident in the late 1990s, when he said he was pulled over by police while driving his restored 1986 Rolls Royce Corniche II.
An officer told him he looked like someone they were searching for, but the officer recognised Gossett and left.
He later founded the Eracism Foundation to “help create a world where racism does not exist”, according to the foundation’s website.
In the years after his Academy win, Gossett struggled with alcohol and cocaine addiction. He went to rehab, where he was diagnosed with toxic mould syndrome – associated with prolonged exposure to mould which he attributed to his house in Malibu.
In 2010, Gossett announced he had prostate cancer, which he said was caught in the early stages and in 2020, he went into hospital after contracting COVID-19.
The actor married three times, the third to actor Cyndi James-Reese. The pair divorced in 1992.
He is survived by his two sons – Satie, a producer and director from his second marriage, and Sharron, a chef whom he adopted after seeing the seven-year-old in a TV segment on children in desperate situations.
The 40-year-old star reportedly died following an accident at work on Wednesday.
Essex Police said: “As part of our ongoing investigation into the death of a man in Campfield Road, Shoebury, on Wednesday 27 March, a man aged in his 40s from the Witham area was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
“He has now been released under investigation.
“This is a joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive and our enquiries are ongoing.”
Police previously said they were called to an incident in Shoebury at around 10am on Wednesday after “a man who was working at height had fallen and sustained an injury”.
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Gilbey was best known for appearing on the Channel 4 show alongside his mother Linda McGarry and stepfather Pete McGarry, who died in 2021 aged 71.
The family first appeared on the second series of Gogglebox in 2013 but were dropped the following year when the reality star signed up for the 14th series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2014, reaching the final.
Gilbey appeared on the Channel 5 version of the show alongside other famous faces including The Hills star Stephanie Pratt and American actor Gary Busey, who won the series.
The family later returned to Gogglebox and a spokesperson for the award-winning programme said: “George was part of the Gogglebox family for eight series alongside his mum Linda and stepdad Pete.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Linda and George’s family and friends at this very sad time. The family has asked for privacy.”