BLK ALERTS has learned from four law enforcement sources that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed search warrants on Monday at Combs’ properties in Los Angeles and Miami. The warrants were issued out of the Southern District of New York.
HSI confirmed in a statement that it “executed law enforcement actions” in New York as part of an ongoing investigation, along with teams in Los Angeles and Miami.
NBC News reports the music mogul is a subject of a federal investigation after three women and a man were interviewed in relation to allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms.
What We Know:
- Early in the afternoon, Homeland Security officials seized phones from Combs in Miami before he was scheduled to depart for a trip to the Bahamas, per three law enforcement officials from the warrant service. Combs was in the Miami area when authorities executed the searches.
- Sean “Diddy” Combs is under federal investigation amidst a series of lawsuits (lawsuit one, lawsuit two) that have been filed against him since November. Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, alleged in a bombshell lawsuit filed against the producer and music mogul in New York federal court that Combs brought her into his “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle” not long after she met him and signed to his label in 2005, when she was 19 and he was 37 in 2005.
- Ventura, now 37, claimed that Combs, now 54, began the pattern of abuse soon after they met. The suit alleges he subjected her to savage beatings, plied her with drugs, and forced her to have sex with other men while he masturbated and filmed them. The suit goes on to say that he forced his way into her home and raped her as the relationship was ending in 2018.
“After years in silence and darkness, I am finally ready to tell my story, and to speak up on behalf of myself and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships,” Ventura said in a statement.
Combs’ attorney Ben Brafman said in an emailed statement to the New York Times, that Combs denies all of the allegations.
- Months later, music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed another lawsuit that alleged that Diddy possessed explicit videos involving prominent celebrities, rappers and music industry executives. Jones is seeking $30 million in punitive damages, claiming the Bad Boy Records founder sexually harassed, drugged, and threatened him for more than a year.
Who is Rod Jones?
- Jones produced tracks on Combs’ Grammy-nominated The Love Album: Off the Grid. He served as Comb’s videographer from September 2022 to November 2023. Throughout this period, he documented extensive video and audio evidence of Combs, his associates, and additional individuals participating in significant unlawful activities.
“While living and traveling with Mr. Combs, Mr. Jones discovered that Mr. Combs has hidden cameras in every room of his homes,” Jones’ lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn wrote.
Jones accused Combs of covertly recording celebrities during Puffy’s “freak off” parties in an updated legal filing.
- In the initial complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Jones also detailed a shooting at a “writers and producers camp” at Chalice Recording Studio in Los Angeles on Sept. 12, 2022. Jones said Combs, Combs’ son Justin and Justin’s friend, identified as “G,” were there.
- The suit also alleges that Combs is part of a “RICO enterprise” and that he and others are involved in a “sex trafficking venture.” This complaint was just another development in legal trouble for Combs, who has been hit with a number of recent lawsuits, including multiple allegations of sexual assault.
- Shawn Holley, an attorney for Combs, denied Jones’ allegations and said that Combs’ team has “overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.” Combs has had a number of legal issues in the past, but has rarely faced criminal charges.
Since Ventura’s lawsuit, many others have come forward accusing Combs of assault and the music mogul remains the center of scrutiny. He has since stepped down from his position as chairman of Revolt TV. Hulu has halted a planned reality series that centered on the mogul’s family.
