Sean “Diddy” Combs will head to court after being arrested on sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
The rapper, 54, is expected to appear in court in front of U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Carter at 3:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, September 18, to appeal federal Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky’s decision to deny him bail, according to CNN.
In appeal paperwork filed by his attorney Marc Agnifilo on Wednesday, Diddy agreed to undergo weekly drug testing, not allow women outside of his close family and friends to visit his Miami home and provide a log of all visitors to the court, according to Rolling Stone.
A trial date for Diddy’s case has not yet been scheduled, per Deadline, though a conference hearing regarding Judge Tarnofsky’s courtroom has been set for Tuesday, September 24.
Diddy has made headlines for several months in the wake of his ex-girlfriend Cassie’s bombshell November 2023 lawsuit against him. In her docs, Cassie, 38, claimed that Diddy urged her to take drugs and forced her to have sex on camera with male prostitutes. The legal docs referred to her as a “victim of sex trafficking” and claimed that the incidents took place at hotels and Diddy’s properties across the U.S.
Diddy’s lawyer Ben Brafman denied the accusations on his behalf at the time, stating, “Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s reputation and seeking a payday.”
Us Weekly confirmed later that the case was settled one day after Cassie filed her lawsuit. “I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control,” she told Us in a statement through her attorney Douglas Wigdor. “I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support.”
Following the settlement, several more individuals came forward with their own sexual assault and abuse lawsuits against the music mogul. In March, Diddy’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided in connection to a federal sex trafficking investigation by Homeland Security.
His lawyer Aaron Dyer called the raids “a gross overuse of military-level force” in a March 26 statement to Us. “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.”
According to Diddy’s 14-page indictment — which was unsealed shortly after his arrest on Monday, September 16 — “Law enforcement seized various ‘Freak Off’ supplies, including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant” from Diddy’s L.A. and Miami homes. The documents also stated that Homeland Security officials “seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, as well as a drum magazine.”
Among the indictment’s other revelations, Diddy and members of his company, Combs Enterprise, allegedly participated in “Freaks Offs,” which were described as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that took place in hotels. Diddy, who allegedly arranged the interactions, reportedly “masturbated during, and often electronically recorded” them.
Diddy pleaded not guilty to the charges following his arrest and is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn while awaiting to appeal his bail denial.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Diddy’s attorney Agnifilo told Us in a statement on Monday. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children and working to uplift the Black community.”
Agnifilo continued: “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
