P Diddy: Raids on Sean Combs’s homes were ‘unprecedented ambush’, lawyer says
Police raids on two properties owned by rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs were an “unprecedented ambush” and a “gross use of military-level force”, his lawyer has said.
Combs’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami were searched by Homeland Security Investigations agents on Monday.
The searches were connected to a sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, US news outlets reported on Tuesday.
In the first statement released on behalf of the rapper and music mogul since Monday’s raids, his lawyer Aaron Dyer said: “Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr Combs’ residences.
“There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.
“Mr Combs was never detained but spoke to and cooperated with authorities.
“Despite media speculation, neither Mr Combs nor any of his family members have been arrested nor has their ability to travel been restricted in any way. This unprecedented ambush – paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence – leads to a premature rush to judgment 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.”
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Diddy’s homes raided
Sean Combs’s home in Los Angeles is raided by federal law enforcement.
Sky’s US partner network NBC News understands that several phones were seized from Combs in Miami on Monday before he was scheduled to depart on a trip to the Bahamas.
According to NBC News, three women and a man have been interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in relation to the sex-trafficking investigation and further allegations of sexual assault, solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms.
Representatives for Combs did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
The American music mogul, 54, has been the subject of several lawsuits, including for sexual assault, in recent months.
Sean Combs’s Los Angeles home is raided by federal law enforcement.
In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit sex workers and pressured him to have sex with them.
Combs’s lawyer said that for those allegations, “we have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies”.
The rapper’s former protege and girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, sued him in November alleging she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs and beaten by Combs over a 10-year period.
The lawsuit said he forced her to have sex with male sex workers while he filmed them. The suit was settled the day after it was filed.
Also in November, Combs was sued by Joie Dickerson-Neal who claimed he drugged and sexually assaulted her when she was a psychology student at Syracuse University in January 1991 and filmed the attack.
But rejecting the claims as “made up and not credible”, a spokesperson for the star branded them “purely a money grab and nothing more”.
Another of Combs’s accusers is a woman who claims he “gang raped” her two decades ago after she was plied with drugs and alcohol when she was 17 years old.
Combs has denied all the allegations.
In a statement in December, he described the claims as “sickening” and said his accusers were “looking for a quick payday”.
“Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth,” he said.
Combs is among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades.
Also known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, he built one of hip-hop’s biggest empires, blazing a trail with several entities attached to his name.
He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy winner who has worked with several top-tier artists including Notorious B.I.G., Mary J Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.
His latest album, The Love Album – Off the Grid, was released last year days after Combs was honoured at the MTV VMAs. It was nominated for best progressive R&B album at February’s Grammy Awards, which he did not attend.
Entertainment
Garth Brooks: Country music star accused of rape by former hair and make-up artist in lawsuit
Country music star Garth Brooks has been accused of rape and sexual assault in a lawsuit filed by his former hair and make-up artist.
The woman, who does not use her name in the lawsuit and goes by Jane Roe, claims the assault occurred when she travelled from Nashville to Los Angeles with the singer, who was performing at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
The lawsuit – filed on Thursday in the Los Angeles Superior Court – alleges that despite Brooks normally travelling with an entourage, she and Brooks flew alone to the event on his private jet, and that he had booked just one hotel suite for both of them.
The woman claims that in the suite, he appeared naked in the doorway to the bedroom and raped her.
Representatives for Brooks have so far refused to comment.
Garth Brooks with his wife and fellow country singer Trisha Yearwood. Pic: AP
The suit goes on to say Books proceeded as though nothing had happened and expected her to do his hair and make-up immediately after.
The woman further alleges that earlier in that same year, when she was at Brooks’ home, he had appeared naked in front of her, grabbed her hands, and put them on his genitals.
Pre-empting the allegations, Brooks allegedly filed a separate lawsuit in federal court in Mississippi last month in which both him and the woman were anonymous, Thursday’s lawsuit claims.
In court filings in that case, the plaintiff, named as John Doe, said the allegations were “wholly untrue”, and he first learned of them in July when she threatened to publicly sue him unless he gave her millions of dollars.
He asked a judge to stop the woman from “intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation and false light invasion of privacy”.
The lawsuit by Jane Roe claims that on top of the two described incidents, Brooks exposed himself to her on many other occasions, talked about sexual fantasies with her and sent her explicit text messages.
She says she was forced to keep working for him because of financial hardship, which he knew about and took advantage of.
The unnamed claimant is believed to have also worked for Brooks’ wife, fellow country singer Trisha Yearwood, since 1999.
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Oklahoma-born Brooks, 62, was the biggest star in country music of the 1990s, with hits including Friends In Low Places and The Thunder Rolls.
He remains the number one-selling individual artist in US history with 20 Billboard no 1 singles and 157 million record sales, according to his official website.
In March this year, he finished a residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.
He married fellow country star Yearwood in 2005.
Entertainment
Noel Gallagher surprises ‘dear friend’ Jill Furmanovsky with icon prize at Abbey Road Music Photography Awards
Noel Gallagher has made a surprise appearance at the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards to honour “one of my best friends” Jill Furmanovsky with a special icon award.
The Oasis star described the music photographer, who has captured some of the world’s biggest stars on camera in a career spanning more than 50 years, as the “best ever”.
Furmanovsky’s subjects include everyone from Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd, and Bob Dylan, to Blondie, Kate Bush, and Billie Eilish. She started working with Oasis in the 1990s and continued to photograph the band and Gallagher over the years.
“She’s a very, very dear friend of mine… and it’s been an honour to have been associated with her for 30 years,” Gallagher said on stage at the event at Abbey Road Studios in London. “I can only say that she is as lovely as she seems, she’s one of my best friends, and I adore her.”
Furmanovsky told the audience she was “so overwhelmed” to be honoured as a photography icon, especially as she had not been aware the star would be presenting the prize.
Liam and Noel Gallagher in San Francisco, 1995 – Jill Furmanovsky
‘They were on a comet, hanging on for dear life’
Speaking to Sky News earlier on, she said her body of work with Oasis is the one she is most proud of.
“I was just the right age to be working with them – I was experienced, I wasn’t intimidated,” she said.
“They were so fantastic. It was just a time when they were sort of on a comet, hanging on for dear life, and I felt like I could actually offer something in the way of my experience… they allowed me to be close to them, which was just incredible as a gift.”
Furmanovsky said her first reaction was to feel “bemused” when she heard about the Oasis reunion announcement earlier this year “as there was so much against it… and it just didn’t seem like it was going to happen”.
The big question, then: did she get a ticket?
“I couldn’t get tickets,” she laughs. “I tried to… they’ll let me in, though. They’re going to let me otherwise I’m going to go to [the Gallaghers’ mum] Peggy.”
Joking aside, Furmanovsky said she would “absolutely” be there to photograph what will be history-making shows. “I’ve got to do it, haven’t I?”
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Graham Coxon’s sky-high guitar over Blur’s show at Wembley Stadium picked up the music moment of the year prize for Tom Pallant. Pic: Tom Pallant
Francis Mancini’s image of DJ Darren Styles won the live music prize. Pic: Francis Mancini
On being named an icon and receiving the award at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, Furmanovsky said: “I really don’t have words for it. When I was a teenager, I used to stand outside with my autograph book waiting to see the Beatles…
“I once took a picture of Paul McCartney with a Kodak Instamatic; I once wrote a letter saying, ‘could I come into Abbey Road for my school magazine?’ Which of course, they said no. I finally came here in the 1970s with Pink Floyd, I was allowed in. It was holy ground to me. And since then, I’ve come many, many times. It’s like a second home. It’s an iconic place.”
As well as the icon prize, awards were handed out for live music photography, music portraiture and musical moments. Among the winners were Tom Pallant, for his picture capturing a guitar thrown high into the air over Wembley Stadium by Blur’s Graham Coxon, and Frances Mancini, for a fiery picture of DJ and producer Darren Styles.
Winners were chosen from some 22,000 images entered, with Rankin leading the judges.
US rapper Eminem is to become a grandfather.
The 51-year-old revealed the news in a music video released on Thursday for his song Temporary, which is dedicated to his daughter Hailie Jade.
The video features a montage of clips of the pair during their lives – including a moment when she presents her father with a blue jumper with “Grampa 1” written on the back.
Jade then hands him what appears to be an ultrasound scan – which a visibly surprised Eminem then shows to the camera.
The 28-year-old also later confirmed her pregnancy in an Instagram post on Thursday.
The social media influencer uploaded photos of herself and husband Evan McClintock hugging and looking at the ultrasound image.
She wrote: “Mom & dad est. 2025”.
Temporary, which features singer Skylar Grey, is from the rapper’s latest album The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace), which was released earlier this summer.
Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, explains in the introduction to the emotional track that it is for his daughter to listen to “When I’m no longer here”.
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He adds: “I wrote you this song, To help you cope with life now that I’m gone… Sweetie, be strong, I know I was your rock, And I still am…
“You will get over me and move on, you can play me on repeat on a song. But don’t you dare shed a tear”.
In the chorus, Grey sings: “In time, I’ll be fine. The tears are temporary.”
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Jade, who married her husband in May, is the only biological daughter of Eminem with his ex-wife Kim Scott.
He also adopted two of Scott’s daughters from previous relationships.
The rapper, who shot to fame with his single My Name Is in 1999, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
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