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.
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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.
“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.”
Image: Sean “Diddy” Combs performs during the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2023. Pic: AP
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”.
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.
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From March 2024: Diddy’s homes raided
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.
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”.
Image: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and his son Christian ‘King’ Combs. Pic: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
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”.
Image: A still from a video that showed a man appearing to be Combs attacking Cassie. Pic: CNN via AP
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.
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.
Image: A still from a video that showed a man appearing to be Combs attacking Cassie. Pic: CNN via AP
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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”.
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‘Diddy’ apologises after assault video
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”.
Despite The Who’s Quadrophenia being set over 60 years ago, Pete Townshend’s themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
The album is having a renaissance as Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia A Mod ballet is being brought to life via dance at Sadler’s Wells East, and Sky News has an exclusive first look.
As Townshend puts it, the album he wrote is “perfect” for the stage.
Image: Pete Townshend
“My wife Rachel did the orchestration for me, and as soon as I heard it I said to her it would make a fabulous ballet and we never really let that go,” he tells Sky News.
“Heavy percussion, concussive sequences. They’re explosive moments. They’re also romantic movement moments.”
If you identify with the demographics of Millennial, Gen Y or Gen Z, you might not be familiar with The Who and Mod culture.
But in post-war Britain the Mods were a cultural phenomenon characterised by fashion, music, and of course, scooters. The young rebels were seen as a counter-culture to the establishment and The Who, with Roger Daltry’s lead vocals and Pete Townshend’s writing, were the soundtrack.
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Quadrophenia the album is widely regarded as an essay on the British adolescent experience at the time, focusing on the life of fictional protagonist Jimmy – a young Mod struggling with his sanity, self-doubt, and alienation.
Townshend sets the rock opera in 1965 but thinks its themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
He says: “The phobias and the restrictions and the unwritten laws about how young men should behave. The ground that they broke, that we broke because I was a part of it.
“Men were letting go of [the] wartime-related, uniform-related stance that if I wear this kind of outfit it makes me look like a man.”
Image: Paris Fitzpatrick and Pete Townshend. Pic: Johan Persson
This struggle of modern masculinity and identity appears to be echoing today as manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate, incel culture, and Netflix’s Adolescence make headlines.
For dancer Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy, the story resonates.
Image: Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy in the ballet
“I think there’s a connection massively and I think there may even be a little more revival in some way,” he tells Sky News.
“I love that myself. I love non-conforming to gender norms and typical masculinity; I think it’s great to challenge things.”
Despite the album being written before he was born, the dancer says he was familiar with the genre already.
“I actually did an art GCSE project about Mods and rockers and Quadrophenia,” he says.
“I think we’ll be able to bring it to new audiences and hopefully, maybe people will be inspired to to learn more about their music and the whole cultural movement of the early 60s.”
In 1979, the album was adapted into a film directed by Franc Roddam starring Ray Winstone and Sting but Townshend admits because the film missed key points he is “not a big fan”.
“What it turned out to be in the movie was a story about culture, about social scenario and less about really the specifics of mental illness and how that affects young people,” he adds, also complimenting Roddam’s writing for the film.
Perhaps a testament to Pete Townshend’s creativity, Quadrophenia started as an album, was successfully adapted to film and now it will hit the stage as a contemporary ballet.
It appears that over six decades later Mod culture is still cool and their issues still relatable.
Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet will tour to Plymouth Theatre Royal from 28 May to 1 June 2025, Edinburgh Festival Theatre from 10 to 14 June 2025 and the Mayflower, Southampton from 18 to 21 June 2025 before having its official opening at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London on 24 June running to 13 July 2025 and then visiting The Lowry, Salford from 15 to 19 July 2025.
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
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Ashna Hurynag discusses Russell Brand’s charges
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Image: Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Image: Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Image: Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.