The government’s case against hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs seems to be building ahead of his criminal trial this spring.
On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York submitted a new federal court filing that leveled one new allegation against Combs to add to the racketeering and sex crimes charges he already faces — and pled not guilty to in September.
The second superseding indictment, which updates the amended indictment from January that added three unnamed women who were allegedly victims of his so-called sex trafficking enterprise, claims Combs subjected employees to forced labor under inhumane circumstances.
Combs and his conspirators “maintained control over certain employees of the Combs Business” and “forced” them to “work long hours with little sleep, through use of, among other things, physical force, psychological harm, financial harm, and reputational harm, and/or threats of the same,” per the indictment.
These actions “caused these employees to believe they would be harmed — including by losing their jobs — if they did not comply with his demands,” U.S. attorneys claim.
They allude to allegations from one former employee, who told them Combs “used physical force, psychological harm, financial harm, and reputational harm, and/or threats of the same to cause the employee to engage in sex acts with Combs.”
The rest of the indictment maintains the government’s position that Combs turned his “multi-faceted business empire” into a “criminal enterprise” in which he and his associates engaged in kidnapping, arson and physical violence, sex trafficking and forced labor, among other crimes.
In response to the updated indictment, Combs’ lead attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said his client is not guilty of the charges the government has brought against him.
“Mr. Combs has said it before and will say it again: he vehemently denies the accusations made by the SDNY,” he said in a statement issued Thursday. “(Combs) looks forward to his day in court when it will become clear that he has never forced anyone to engage in sexual acts against their will.
“Many former employees stand by his side, prepared to attest to the dedication, hard work, and inspiration they experienced while helping build groundbreaking, award-winning businesses.”
Since his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed — and quickly settled — a lawsuit with bombshell assault and abuse allegations against the Bad Boy Records founder in November 2023, Combs’ attorneys have maintained his innocence as he faces dozens of sexual assault lawsuits that date back to the 1990s, as well as his criminal sex crimes charges.
Combs is currently in jail after being denied bond multiple times and is scheduled to head to trial for his sex trafficking and racketeering charges on May 5.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
