Open in full screen mode Sean “P. Diddy” Combs is the subject of several accusations of a sexual nature.(Archive photo) Agence France-Presse Residences belonging to American rapper Sean Combs, aka “P. Diddy”, were raided by federal agents in the United States on Monday, according to a source familiar with the matter, as the hip-hop star is at the center of prosecution for rape and sexual assault. Armed police entered the rap star's luxury properties both on the coast west and east coast of the United States. The Department of Security Investigation Bureau interior of New York announced in a press release that it had carried out actions alongside the branches of Los Angeles and Miami, as well as local law enforcement. A source close to the matter confirmed to AFP that Sean Combs was the target of these searches. Several Los Angeles media outlets had previously identified a raided residence in an affluent area of the city as being associated with the rapper and producer.
P. Diddy properties in L.A. and Miami were raided on Monday.
< p class="StyledBodyHtmlParagraph-sc-48221190-4 hnvfyV">And celebrity media TMZ said it had obtained footage of a search of a waterfront property in Miami, Florida, also associated with P. Diddy.
Investigators did not immediately indicate the reasons for these searches.
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But they come at a time when the rapper is in the midst of legal turmoil, facing several complaints in connection with facts dating back several decades, some of them.
< p class="StyledBodyHtmlParagraph-sc-48221190-4 hnvfyV">In mid-November, Diddy's former partner, R&B singer Cassie, was the first to file a civil complaint for rape and physical violence against the rapper. Two days later, they announced an amicable agreement, the details of which were not disclosed.
P. Diddy and Cassie, during a gala evening in New York, in 2018.
The singer's complaint accused the rap star of having engaged in violent behavior and deviant demands for more than a decade. She explained that she had been beaten repeatedly and forced to have filmed sex with male prostitutes.
Since then, two other women have filed complaints, including one, openly, accusing him of having drugged her and sexually assaulted her in 1992, at the time when the rapper called himself Puff Daddy.
This complainant assures that he filmed the scene and broadcast the video as revenge porn, a practice aimed at publicly revealing generally non-consensual sexual images to take revenge on a person.
In December, the rapper was also the subject of a civil complaint in New York accusing him of gang rape of a 17-year-old minor in 2003.
In this case, Diddy is suspected of forcing the teenager to drink and drugging her , before forcing her to have sexual relations, in the company of the president of her production company Bad Boy Records, Harve Pierre, and a third individual.
Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer who represents two of the women accusing Sean Combs, told AFP on Monday that he hoped this was the start of a process who will hold Mr. Combs accountable for his depraved conduct.
The 54-year-old rapper vigorously denies the accusations against him .
P. Diddy founded the record company Bad Boy Records in 1993, a decade of glory for this major figure in the marketing and media coverage of the hip-hop scene. With this production house, he notably produced Notorious B.I.G., who died in 1997, and Mary J. Blige.
The rapper has risen to the rank of billionaire, investing beyond music in fashion and alcoholic beverages. According to the complaints against him, he used this celebrity and his status to intimidate and subjugate women.