Diddy is under investigation for allegations of trafficking – Kultur

September 2023:

The rapper lifts the gold statuette with his right hand. He leans forward towards the microphone.

– I watched MTV as a child and dreamed of standing here one day. I didn’t know if it would work, he says, clearly moved.

Over the years, he has used various stage names: Puff Daddy, Puffy, P. Diddy, Diddy. Now he calls himself Love.

Love wipes his face. The audience cheers. The award he has just received from his daughter is MTV’s “Global Icon Award”, an honorary award for a long and successful career.

– Love wins, y’all. Love wins, he says.

Two months after the tribute, the news broke. The man who calls himself “Kjærleik” is guilty of sex slavery and rape.

Here are five questions and answers about the debts, rumors and speculations that loom large against the famous rapper.

How did he break through as an artist?

The man behind all the stage names is actually called Sean Combs.

Sean was born in Harlem, New York in 1969. When he was two years old, his father was shot and killed during a drug deal in Central Park. The carefree boy was nicknamed “Puff” because he used to “huff and puff” (breathe and pant) when he got angry.

He broke through with a bang when he released his debut album “No Way Out” in 1997. The album contained the hit single “I’ll Be Missing You” which was about the artist’s late friend Christopher Wallace, better known under the alias The Notorious BIG

The song received enormous attention and became the first rap song in history to go straight to the top of the US Billboard chart. The song was also the one that stayed at the top of the Norwegian VG-list for the longest time in 1997.

Since then, he has released hits in a row. It is nevertheless the role as producer and mastermind that has made the artist the icon he is today.

How did he become one of the music industry’s most powerful?

Ever since his youth, Sean has been known for organizing some of the wildest parties on the American continent.

Several times it has gone completely out of control, such as when, as a 22-year-old, he was one of the organizers behind a celebrity basketball game where 5,000 spectators were allowed into an arena that only had room for 2,730. The result?

Eight people were crushed to death at the bottom of a staircase.

The tragic event put no stop to Sean’s boundless courage. In 1993 he founded the record company Bad Boy Records and created one superstar after another.

Mary J. Blige, The Notorious BIG and Usher can all thank Sean for their adventurous careers.

According to Vanity Fair, Sean Combs is the world’s number one influencer. He lifted hip-hop up from the underground and made the genre and aesthetics become a global lifestyle in the 1990s. He made hip-hop clean.

Since his breakthrough in the 1990s, Sean has been successful in every arena he has tried his hand at. He has his own clothing brand, his own perfume and his own TV channel. He has powerful friends and, according to Forbes magazine, is worth over 1 billion dollars.

He has used some of the money on luxury villas in Miami and Los Angeles. In March 2024, something happened there that shocked the neighbors and the entire United States.

What are the debts against Sean Combs?

It was like a movie scene. When two of Sean Combs’ properties were searched, the police spared nothing.

Heavily armed men in green uniforms rushed in past the pool and across manicured lawns.

To understand why the police went to the dramatic action on 25 March this year, we have to look at the debts the music star is facing.

In November 2023, the first lawsuit came for mistreatment, sexual slavery and rape.

The plaintiff was Cassandra Ventura, known as the artist Cassie. At the age of 19, she fell in love with the 17-year-old Sean Combs, who she claims controlled her life for eleven years.

The case was resolved by settlement the following day. It is not known what amount Cassandra Ventura received.

But the debts did not end there. Before 2023 was over, Sean Combs was the main character in three more lawsuits.

They were about rape, filming of sexual abuse, trafficking and a gang rape. The offenses are said to have occurred in 1990/91 and 2003.

Sean Combs has denied all charges. In December 2023, he posted this on Instagram:

The fifth lawsuit came in February this year. Music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr. owes Combs (and several others in his inner circle) for a long series of crimes, including organized crime and sexual assaults against himself and girls under the age of sexual maturity. (The lawsuit from Lil Rod, which has been submitted to the court in New York, can be read here.)

One of his lawyers, Aaron Dyer, said in March this year that Combs is cooperating with authorities, is innocent and will continue to fight to clear his name.

Sean Combs thus has allegations of gross criminal acts over 30 years directed against him.

How has his reputation been before?

Producer Steve Stout claimed that he was beaten yellow and blue by Sean and his bodyguards with a phone, a chair and a champagne bottle in 1999. The reason for the assault is said to have been that Sean was angry because he had been crucified in the rapper Nas’ music video, write New York Times.

According to the newspaper, Combs risked seven years in prison, but Staut asked the police to drop the charges after Combs publicly apologized for the incident.

In 2009, the rapper Mark Curry published the book “Dancing with the Devil”. There he comes with a series of debts against Sean Combs. According to the book, Sean must have broken his ex-boyfriend’s nose on a yacht. The artist is said to have also attacked one of his producers with a chair and put mysterious pills in the drinks of various women.

Over many years, Sean organized his infamous “White Parties”. The parties were filled with famous athletes, musicians and international celebrities.

According to the lawsuit from music producer Lil Rod, Sean Combs must have installed hidden cameras on his properties. According to the lawsuit, they should have been used to secure an incriminating image of the guests.

The debts have been many.

Several mediums point to the similarities between the music mogul Sean Comb and the film industry’s Harvey Weinstein. Both have had enormous power. Both have adorned themselves with famous friends. Both have had stories of questionable behavior and abuse of power hanging over them throughout their careers.

Harvey Weinstein was eventually sentenced to 39 years in prison for his crimes. Will Sean Combs follow the same fate or will he be able to refute the charges against him?

What happens now?

According to NBC News, the Ministry of Security must have found weapons in both villas during the search on 25 March. The fact that they were involved in the search indicates that the case is serious.

The rapper 50 cent (Curtis Jackson) has said on X that he is producing a documentary film that will follow up on the debts to Diddy.

Several also point to similarities with the case against the artist R. Kelly. He was convicted in 2022 for, among other things, human trafficking and sexual assault and is serving a prison sentence of 30 years.

Sean Combs has so far not been charged with anything and is not in prison. He is under federal investigation for sex-trafficking, several American mediums report.

All the attention surrounding the lawsuit has already gone beyond the business empire. The TV channel Hulu has dropped plans for a reality show with the Combs family, the large clothing chain Macy’s has stopped selling his clothing brand.

Even Sean Combs claims that he is completely innocent and a victim of false accusations.

On April 5, his LOVE profile posted a clip from the music video “Victory” on Instagram.

The caption was “Bad Boy For Life ✊

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