Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hip-hop entrepreneur, entered a not guilty plea in a sex-trafficking case, but was later refused bail.
The performer was placed into arrest by a federal judge in New York after the prosecution said he posed a “serious flight risk”.
Prosecutors claim that Mr. Combs, 54, was involved in a drug- and violence-fueled criminal operation that began at least in 2008 and used women as leverage to “fulfill his sexual desires” until he was taken into custody on Monday night.
He is accused of racketeering, forced sex trafficking, and transportation for prostitution in a 14-page indictment.
The rapper and record producer may spend up to 15 years in jail if found guilty on all three counts.
He appeared in court in Manhattan on Tuesday wearing gray sweatpants and a black T-shirt.
When US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky asked Mr. Combs to enter a plea, he rose and responded, “Not guilty.”
‘Freak Offs’:
Formal court filings state that Mr. Combs “wielded the power” of his status to “lure female victims… to engage in extended sex acts” known as “Freak Offs”.
“During Freak Offs, Combs distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims obedient and compliant,” the indictment stated.
US prosecutor Damian Williams stated during a press conference that during raids on Mr. Combs’s properties in Miami and Los Angeles around six months ago, authorities discovered guns, ammo, and over a thousand lubricant bottles.
According to Mr. Williams, three semi-automatic rifles with tampered serial numbers and a drum magazine had also been discovered by federal officials.
He said to reporters that further charges may be brought, but he did not provide any information.
Marc Agnifilo, the attorney representing Mr. Combs, stated that an appeal against the judge’s bail ruling has already been filed by the defense team, and a hearing has been scheduled for this Wednesday.
At the Manhattan court, Mr. Agnifilo told reporters, “We believe in him wholeheartedly.”
“These are not the things he did. There isn’t any crime or compulsion. He is unafraid of the accusations.”
According to Mr. Agnifilo, Mr. Combs is the subject of “an unjust prosecution”.
Federal prosecutors claimed that Mr. Combs had “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct” in court filings.
The prosecution accuses Mr. Combs of “creating a criminal enterprise” whose members participated in forced labor, abduction, arson, bribery, and sex trafficking under his supervision.
The records stated that Mr. Combs had abused women “on numerous occasions” by “striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them”.
The number of accused victims who were women was not specified in the indictment. Furthermore, it makes no direct accusations against Mr. Combs for having sex with women.
The founder of Bad Boy Records, who was also known as P. Diddy and Puff Daddy during his career, has already been accused of many of these things.
His ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, filed a civil case against him in November of last year, containing detailed allegations of severe abuse. A day after the lawsuit was filed, he resolved it, though he rejected the charges.
After video evidence from a Los Angeles hotel seemed to show him hitting Ms. Ventura in a corridor, Mr. Combs issued a public apology in May.
In Tuesday’s indictment, Mr. Combs is charged with comparable acts of violence.
Douglas Wigdor, Ms. Ventura’s attorney, declined to comment on Mr. Combs’s detention.
The charge comes after a number of accusations of sexual assault against Mr. Combs, one of the biggest recording moguls in rap history.
Ms. Ventura is one of four women who have filed lawsuits accusing him of abusing both sexually and physically.
Mr. Combs defended himself against what he called “sickening allegations” made by “individuals looking for a quick payday” in a statement released in December of last year.
He gave back an official “Key to the City of New York” in June at the request of Mayor Eric Adams, who had awarded him the title just nine months before.
A few days later, Mr. Combs’s 2014 honorary degree was revoked by Howard University.
In the 1990s and 2000s, the musician is recognized for having a hand in catapulting R&B singers and rappers like Mary J Blige, Notorious B.I.G., and Usher into stardom.
