Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs abuse allegations: A timeline of key events

Published

2 months ago

September 17, 2024

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Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been arrested in New York – after 10 months of facing civil allegations including rape, sexual assault, and forced drugging.

The 54-year-old rapper, formerly known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, was detained by officers at the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan on Monday, although it is unclear on what charges.

Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), said the arrest was “based on a sealed indictment” – a formal charging document that is not available to the public – and he is expecting to say more when the document is unsealed.

Combs, one of the most influential producers and executives in the history of hip-hop, has faced a wave of civil lawsuits since November last year accusing him of offences including sex trafficking and raping a 17-year-old girl.

Here we take a look at some of the key developments since the allegations against Combs first surfaced.

16 November 2023

The rapper’s ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, says in a lawsuit that she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs, and viciously beaten by Combs on many occasions over the course of 10 years.

Cassie, whose real name is Cassandra Ventura, signed to Combs’ label in 2005 and the two were on-and-off romantic partners for more than a decade, starting in 2007.

She filed her case under the state of New York’s Adult Survivors Act.

The act gave victims of sexual violence a one-year window from November 2022 to November 2023 to file civil claims regardless of the statute of limitations – a time window in which a person has to bring a legal claim following an alleged incident.

Combs, through his lawyer, “vehemently denies” all the accusations in the lawsuit.

17 November 2023

Combs settles the lawsuit with Cassie the day after it is filed, with the terms of the agreement kept confidential.

“We have decided to resolve this matter amicably,” Combs says in a statement.

23 November 2023

Two more women accuse Combs of sexual abuse in lawsuits filed on the eve of the expiration of the Adult Survivors Act.

The lawsuits, filed by Joi Dickerson and another woman who is not named, allege acts of sexual assault, beatings, and forced drugging in the early 1990s by Combs – then a talent director and rising figure in the New York hip-hop scene.

The rapper’s lawyers call the allegations false.

6 December 2023

A woman alleges in another lawsuit that Combs and two other men raped her in 2003 when she was 17.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan says she was living in a Detroit suburb and was flown to a New York studio, where she was given drugs and alcohol that made her incapable of consenting to sex, and the men took turns raping her.

The same day, Combs posts a statement on Instagram broadly denying all the allegations in the mounting series of lawsuits.

“I did not do any of the awful things being alleged,” the post says. “I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”

26 February 2024

Music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, claims in a lawsuit that Combs pressured him to procure and engage in sexual acts with sex workers between September 2022 and November 2023.

He also claims he is a victim of unsolicited groping and sexual touching by Combs, and that he witnessed the music mogul giving out drinks laced with drugs to people at parties.

A lawyer for Combs calls the allegations in Jones’ lawsuit “pure fiction”.

25 March 2024

Two properties owned by Combs are searched by federal agents in what officials tell the Associated Press (AP) is part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation.

Officials do not say whether the raids, at Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles, are prompted by the civil lawsuits, but the music mogul’s attorneys say they believe they are.

The next day, Combs’ lawyer calls the raids “a gross use of military-level force” and says his client is “innocent and will continue to fight” to clear his name.

23 May 2024

April Lampros, now 51, accuses Combs of sexually assaulting her more than 20 years ago when she was a fashion student in New York City, Sky News US partner network NBC News reports at the time.

She claims the musician sexually assaulted her on four occasions between 1995 and the early 2000s, including once when she was forced to take ecstasy and have sex with Combs’ former girlfriend Kim Porter.

Combs denies the allegations and also files a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

4 April 2024

A lawsuit alleges that Combs’ son Christian “King” Combs sexually assaulted a woman working on a yacht chartered by his father.

Combs is named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit, which claims he created the circumstances that led to the assault and paid to cover it up afterwards.

An attorney for the two men calls the allegations “outrageous”.

26 April 2024

Combs and his legal team file a motion to dismiss several elements of Dickerson’s November 2023 lawsuit on the grounds they were not illegal in 1991 when the alleged incidents occurred.

While the legal objections are procedural, the filing also slams the “numerous false, offensive, and salacious accusations” in the lawsuit.

10 May 2024

Combs asks a federal judge to dismiss the 6 December 2023 lawsuit alleging he and two co-defendants raped a 17-year-old girl from Michigan in a New York recording studio.

Again, the objections are procedural – alleging the lawsuit was filed too late under the law – but the court document calls the claims “false and hideous”.

17 May 2024

CNN publishes video showing Combs attacking Cassie in a hotel hallway in 2016.

The video closely mirrors an assault described in her lawsuit, which claimed Combs had already punched her that night, and she was trying to leave the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles when he woke and came after her.

Combs’ representatives give no immediate comment.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office says it cannot prosecute Combs for the attack shown in the video due to the statute of limitation, noting that no case had been presented to prosecutors.

19 May 2024

Combs posts a video on Instagram and Facebook apologising for the assault on Cassie.

He describes it as “inexcusable” and says he is “disgusted”.

“I was f***** up – I mean I hit rock bottom – but l make no excuses. My behaviour on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now,” he says.

26 August 2024

As part of a multi-faceted pushback against the lawsuits filed against him, Combs asks a federal judge to throw out
the February 2024 lawsuit from music producer Jones.

Combs’ lawyers say the suit is overrun with “tall tales,” “lurid theatrics,” “legally meaningless allegations” and “blatant falsehoods” with the only intent to “generate media hype and exploit it to extract a settlement”.

11 September 2024

Combs is sued by singer Dawn Richard in a case describing years of psychological and physical abuse, including groping, that she says she suffered as he helped launch her career.

Combs’ representatives accuse Richard of making “an attempt to rewrite history” by manufacturing “a series of false claims, all in the hopes of trying to get a pay day – conveniently timed to coincide with her album release and press tour”.

16 September 2024

Combs is arrested in New York after a grand jury indictment.

No details on the charges are made public, but federal officials say they will ask a judge to unseal the indictment the next day.

Combs’ attorney calls it an unjust prosecution of an “imperfect person” who is “not a criminal”.

Entertainment

Voice behind top Simpsons character quits after 35 years on hit show

Published

16 hours ago

November 21, 2024

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Voice behind top Simpsons character quits after 35 years on hit show

The voice actor behind Milhouse Van Houten – Bart Simpson’s very uncool friend – is stepping away after 35 years on the show.

Pamela Hayden, who also voiced Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Janey and Malibu Stacy, will sign off from The Simpsons on 24 November in a Treehouse of Horror episode.

“It’s been an honour and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show,” the 70-year-old said in a statement.

Show creator Matt Groening said: “Pamela gave us tons of laughs with Milhouse, the hapless kid with the biggest nose in Springfield.

“She made Milhouse hilarious and real, and we will miss her.”

Milhouse first appeared in a Butterfinger commercial in 1989 and was named after former US president Richard Milhous Nixon.

Groening said he adopted it “because that was the most unfortunate name a kid could have”.

The nearsighted character was often the butt of most jokes and bullied mercilessly by Nelson.

In one episode, Bart got Milhouse placed on the America’s Most Wanted list.

Entertainment

Tulisa Contostavlos: ‘My life fell apart’ after fake sheikh set up drugs bust

Published

17 hours ago

November 21, 2024

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Tulisa Contostavlos: 'My life fell apart' after fake sheikh set up drugs bust

Tulisa Contostavlos has opened up about the moment she says her life “fell apart” after being “set up by a British newspaper” and charged with supplying drugs.

The N-Dubz star has been speaking about her experiences in 2013 on the reality show, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!

The charges against the singer were later dismissed after prosecution witness “fake sheikh” journalist Mazher Mahmood was found to have tampered with evidence during her 2014 trial.

“2013 was the year I was set up by a British newspaper, for concern in the selling of class A drugs,” she told fellow campmate Oti Mabuse.

“The guy’s name was Mahmood and basically, I was approached by a big movie company and they sent me a tweet or a DM from their official account to audition me for a movie role… I’d dabbled in acting, so this opportunity for me was huge.”

Contostavlos, 36, said the role was offering £3.5m and she was flown out for meetings with producers in Las Vegas but told former Strictly Come Dancing star Mabuse “it was a lie”.

She claimed the team behind the movie encouraged her to take on a real-life role of a “bad girl from London who was constantly up to naughtiness, rolling with gangs, up to all kinds of naughty stuff”.

Contostavlos said “they had me dangling on the end of a string”, claiming every time she met with the team they would tell her “we need some drugs”.

“After months and months, eventually they got a number and it was of someone that wasn’t even a drug dealer, it was an aspiring movie producer and I wanted to make a hook up as well for that person, but I didn’t know anyone that could do that,” she said.

“The long story short is they ended up ordering £800 worth of cocaine from the number that I had given them.

“Then before I knew it, I was being arrested in the concern of the selling of Class A drugs and I was facing four years in prison.”

Contostavlos revealed she lost “all my endorsements” over the incident and “my life fell apart”, she said.

“When it came to the trial, I’d had a conversation with one of their drivers, I was being recorded but I didn’t know, I was saying how anti-drugs I am, so they were very aware of my feelings towards drugs.”

Contostavlos said the driver initially gave a statement confirming she was anti-drugs, however she claimed that as the trial loomed the journalist forced him to change his statement.

In 2016, Mahmood was jailed for 15 months after being found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice relating to his actions in Tulisa Contostavlos’s court case.

Entertainment

Liam Payne’s One Direction bandmates Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson among mourners as funeral takes place

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2024

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Liam Payne's One Direction bandmates Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson among mourners as funeral takes place

Friends and family of Liam Payne, including his One Direction bandmates, have gathered to say goodbye at his funeral.

Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik were among the family and friends attending the private ceremony.

Simon Cowell, who put the band together on The X Factor, Payne‘s girlfriend Kate Cassidy, and former partner Cheryl were also there.

The 31-year-old died after he fell from a third-floor balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 16 October.

Fans from around the world have held their own vigils over the past few weeks, and tributes have been left today in his hometown, Wolverhampton.

Payne’s dark blue coffin, topped with white roses, arrived for the service on a horse-drawn carriage, bearing flowers reading “son” and “daddy” – for his son, Bear, with Cheryl.

Her Girls Aloud bandmates Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh were also among those at the service, along with TV and radio presenters including James Corden, Marvin and Rochelle Humes, Scott Mills, and Adrian Chiles, and former professional footballer Robbie Keane.

US influencer Cassidy, who returned home from Argentina two days before his death, arrived with Damian Hurley, son of Elizabeth Hurley.

As Payne’s mother and father, Geoff and Karen, arrived at the church in the Home Counties, standing next to the carriage, silence fell among mourners outside.

A few locals and fans also gathered nearby, but in the main largely stayed away from the private ceremony.

Payne rose to worldwide fame alongside Styles, Tomlinson, Malik and Horan on The X Factor in 2010, when they were put together to form One Direction. They went on to become one of the most successful UK pop groups of all time.

After the band announced their hiatus, the singer launched his solo career, releasing his debut album LP1 in December 2019.

His solo hits included Strip That Down, Bedroom Floor and For You, a collaboration with singer Rita Ora – who paid tribute to Payne as she hosted the MTV Europe Music Awards in Manchester.

Prosecutors in Argentina have launched an investigation into Payne’s death and announced earlier this month that three people had been charged in connection with the incident.

One Direction tributes

Payne’s One Direction bandmates all publicly paid tribute following his death.

“His greatest joy was making other people happy and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it,” said Styles in his statement. “Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious.

“He was warm, supportive and incredibly loving. The years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life. I will miss him always, my lovely friend.”

Tomlinson said he had “lost a brother” and offered to be an uncle to Payne’s son, Bear, if he “ever needs me”.

Horan, who had been touring in South America and saw Payne at his show in the weeks before his death, said: “I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently. I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking.”

Malik said Payne had supported him “through some of the most difficult times” of his life, and said he always had a “positive outlook and reassuring smile”.

Cowell also paid tribute, saying he was “devastated” and “heartbroken”.

He continued: “I wanted to let you know what I would always say to the thousands of people who would always ask me. What is Liam like? And I would tell them you were kind, funny, sweet, thoughtful, talented, humble, focused. And how much you loved music. And how much love you genuinely had for the fans.”