Rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs denied bail after pleading not guilty to sex trafficking charges

Music mogul Sean “Diddy" Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering, as ITV News' entertainment reporter Rishi Davda reports

American rapper Sean “Diddy" Combs has been denied bail after he pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges at a New York court.

A federal indictment unsealed on Tuesday, September 17 alleges that Combs “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals.”

On Tuesday, a US judge refused to grant 54-year-old Combs bail and ordered him to be sent to jail while awaiting trial.

The defence lawyer for Combs said he will appeal the decision to deny his client bail with a hearing set for Wednesday.

Prosecutors had asked that Combs be detained without bail while his attorneys proposed releasing him on a $50 million (£38m) bond.

Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson said the government sought Combs' detention based on the severity of the charges and argued that Combs is a flight risk and there is a risk of witness intimidation.

“Mr. Combs physically and sexually abused victims for decades,” Johnson said. “He used the vast resources of his company to facilitate his abuse and cover up his crimes. Simply put, he is a serial abuser and a serial obstructor.”

It follows his arrest on Monday in New York roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

The hip-hop mogul has faced a stream of allegations by women in recent months who accused him of sexual assault.

Following his arrest, Combs' lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, issued a statement saying: “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr Combs by the US Attorney’s Office.”

He added that Combs had gone to New York last week in anticipation of the charges being brought.

“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo added.

The federal investigation of the 58-year-old Combs was revealed when investigation agents served simultaneous search warrants and raided Combs' mansions in Los Angeles and Miami on March 25.

His defence attorney Aaron Dyer the day after the raids called them “a gross use of military-level force,” said the allegations were “meritless,” and said Combs was “innocent and will continue to fight" to clear his name.

Combs, then known as Puff Daddy, was at the centre of the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop battles of the 1990s as the partner and producer of the Notorious B.I.G., who was shot and killed in 1997.

But like many of those who survived the era, his public image had softened with age into a genteel host of parties in Hollywood and the Hamptons, a fashion-forward businessman, and a doting father who spoiled his kids, some of whom lost their mother in 2018.

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However, a different image began emerging in November, when his former protégé and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, became the first of several people to sue him for sexual abuse.

Cassie's lawsuit against Combs was settled within days, but its reverberations would last far longer. Combs lost lingering allies, supporters and those reserving judgment when CNN in May aired a leaked video of him punching Cassie, kicking her and throwing her on the floor in a hotel hallway.

The following day, in his first real acknowledgement of wrongdoing since the stream of allegations began, Combs posted a social media video apologising, saying “I was disgusted when I did it” and “I’m disgusted now.”

Cassie’s lawsuit was followed by at least a half-dozen others in the ensuing months.

While authorities did not publicly say that the lawsuits set off the criminal investigation, Dyer said when the warrants were served that the case was based on “meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”

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