LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyer stated Tuesday that the searches of the rapper’s Los Angeles and Miami properties by federal authorities in a sex trafficking investigation have been ”a gross use of military-level drive” and that Combs is “harmless and can proceed to battle” to clear his identify.
It’s the primary public assertion from the music mogul’s group since Monday’s raids of his homes by Homeland Safety Investigations brokers.
“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level drive as search warrants have been executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” stated the assertion from legal professional Aaron Dyer. “There is no such thing as a excuse for the extreme present of drive and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way in which his kids and workers have been handled.”
The searches have been a part of an ongoing intercourse trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, two regulation enforcement officers instructed The Related Press. The officers weren’t approved to publicly focus on particulars of the investigation and spoke to the AP on situation of anonymity.
Combs was not detained and spoke to authorities, and neither he nor any relations have been arrested, nor has their journey been restricted, in accordance with Dyer’s assertion.
Dyer stated the “unprecedented ambush” has led to a “untimely rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing greater than a witch hunt based mostly on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”
“There was no discovering of prison or civil legal responsibility with any of those allegations,” Dyer stated. “Mr. Combs is harmless and can proceed to battle each single day to clear his identify.”
Combs’ sons, Justin and Christian “King” Combs, have been handcuffed through the raid at their father’s residence in Los Angeles. King, 25, is a music artist whose track “Can’t Cease Gained’t Cease” with Kodak Black topped Billboard’s Mainstream R&B Hip-Hop charts in 2022.
Legislation enforcement carried out the raid Monday at Combs’ multimillion-dollar mansion within the prosperous Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles and his Miami waterfront residence. Together with a heavy presence of officers, command vans have been parked outdoors each properties.
The prison investigation is a serious escalation within the scrutiny of Combs, who has been the defendant in a number of sexual abuse lawsuits in current months.
In a lawsuit Combs settled the day after it was filed in November, his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, sued him alleging years of sexual abuse, together with rape. The lawsuit stated he compelled her to have intercourse with male prostitutes whereas he filmed them.
In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have intercourse with them.
One other of Combs’ accusers was a lady who stated the rap producer raped her 20 years in the past when she was 17.
Combs and his attorneys have denied the entire lawsuits’ allegations.
The AP doesn’t sometimes identify individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused except they arrive ahead publicly as Cassie did.
Combs is among the many most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the previous three a long time. Previously referred to as Puff Daddy, he constructed considered one of hip-hop’s largest empires, blazing a path with a number of entities hooked up to his well-known identify. He’s the founding father of Dangerous Boy Information and a three-time Grammy winner who has labored with a slew of top-tier artists together with Infamous B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Religion Evans and 112.
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This story has been up to date to right that Christian “King” Combs’ track “Can’t Cease Gained’t Cease” topped Billboard’s Mainstream R&B Hip-Hop charts in 2022, not final yr.
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AP Leisure Author Andrew Dalton contributed.
