Night Watch: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Part 1

Summary

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Crime House Daily

Night Watch: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Part 1

Release Date: December 15, 2025
Host: Katie Ring

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Episode Overview

This intense, detail-rich episode marks the first in a five-part deep-dive into the criminal allegations and downfall of Sean “Diddy” Combs, one of the most powerful figures in the music industry. Host Katie Ring provides a chronological account, tracing the origins of Diddy’s career, his entanglement in scandal and violence, years of allegations, and the mounting evidence that led to his recent conviction and explosive trial. This episode lays the historical groundwork, puts a magnifying glass on the early warning signs and chronicles pivotal, disturbing events—most notably the abuse and court case involving Cassie Ventura, whose bravery was a catalyst for a flood of additional victims to come forward.

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Key Themes and Discussion Points

1. Diddy’s Rise: Early Life, Career, and Initial Controversies

• Background: Sean Combs, known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, or Brother Love, was born in Harlem in 1969.
• Career Beginnings: He started as an intern at Uptown Records (1990), quickly gaining influence due to his relationship with founder Andre Harrell.
• Early Scandal: In 1991, Diddy oversold tickets to a celebrity basketball event, resulting in a deadly crowd crush (00:48–02:48). Despite nine fatalities, he kept his job for another year before being fired—though he later described the firing as a power struggle at Uptown.

  “Fired because there can’t be two kings in one castle.” — Diddy to Oprah [00:48–02:48]

2. Bad Boy Records and Major Feuds

• Formation of Bad Boy Records (1994): With Clive Davis, Diddy forms the label, which dominates hip hop.
• Violence and Rivalry:
  • Tupac’s Shooting (1994): Tupac was shot at Quad Studios, triggering suspicions and accusations that Diddy and Biggie Smalls were involved or complicit.
  • Tupac and Biggie’s Deaths: The murders fueled conspiracy theories and widespread mistrust (04:12–06:22).

  “Diddy put a $1 million hit on Tupac and that he would do anything for those two guys.” — Testimony referencing Dwayne "Keefe D" Davis [05:40]

3. The Cassie Ventura Relationship: Grooming, Abuse, and Key Evidence

Background:

• Cassie met Diddy in 2005 at 19. He was her label boss and aged 37—a significant power imbalance.
• He started as a mentor, gradually grooming and isolating her, leading to a a pattern of severe emotional, psychological and sexual abuse (08:06–12:37).
• Distinctive Allegations:
  • Diddy pressured Cassie into drugs and sexual acts, especially voyeuristic scenarios with escorts.
  • He threw notorious “freak offs”—sex parties that lasted for days.

The 2016 Intercontinental Hotel Incident

• Incident Recap: Diddy assaulted Cassie at the hotel, caught by security cameras. Staff tried to intervene; Diddy attempted to bribe the head of security to destroy the footage.
• Bribery Operation: Diddy ultimately paid $100,000 in hush money. NDAs were signed. The security footage was presumed destroyed, but, crucially, one copy survived (12:37–13:52, 16:52–20:50).

  "Combs called Eddie his angel. All four men were more than satisfied. But none of them realized that wasn't the only copy of the footage." — Katie Ring [13:49]

4. Escalating Allegations, The Adult Survivors Act, and Legal Onslaught

• New York Adult Survivors Act (2022): Opened a window for previously time-barred civil sexual abuse lawsuits (20:50–23:00).
• Cassie's Lawsuit (Nov 2023): Cassie files suit; Diddy settles for $20 million, but the wave of accusations had started.
  • New allegations:
    • Joy Dickerson Neal (#1991 incident)
    • Lisa Gardner (1990, when she was 16)
    • Unnamed woman (2003, age 17)
• Rodney Jones Lawsuit (2022–2023): Recent collaborator accuses Diddy of groping, sex trafficking, racketeering (23:00–24:45).

  "For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character...Let me be absolutely clear. I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and the truth." — Sean Combs (Instagram statement) [24:03]

5. Law Enforcement Raids & Evidence

• Federal Raids (Mar 25, 2024): Homeland Security raids Combs’ LA and Miami homes, uncovering an arsenal of drugs, guns, ammunition, and staggering amounts of baby oil and lubricant—alongside evidence indicative of sex trafficking operations (“freak offs”).
• Discovery of AR-15 rifles with serial numbers filed off, large cache of drugs, sex paraphernalia, and cash (24:45–27:04).

  "The weapons next to the lubricant and drugs could be interpreted as an implied threat of violence to anyone who chose not to cooperate." — Reporting on agent Gannon’s findings [26:32]

6. The Intercontinental Hotel Video Surfaces

• CNN Leak (May 2024): Security footage of the 2016 Cassie beating goes public, vindicating Cassie's allegations. The public is forced to confront Diddy’s abuse, shattering remaining doubts and prompting renewed awareness about the patterns of victim-blaming in abuse cases (27:34–30:16).

  "The thing that makes me so sad is that Cassie wrote out an extremely explicit lawsuit...yet so many people didn't believe her until they saw that video." — Katie Ring [27:34]

7. Arrest, Indictment, and the Avalanche of Victims

• Arrest (Sept 16, 2024): Combs arrested in Manhattan, facing sex trafficking, transportation for purposes of prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy, plus related charges (31:30–32:45).

• New Revelations: Indictment details the scale of the abuse, blackmail, and violence at Combs’ events.

• Civil Lawsuits Mount: Dawn Richard, Thalia Graves, and numerous others file claims, implicating Diddy's staff and associates; attorney Tony Busby announces he represents over 120 clients, including minors (33:03–34:13).

  “The biggest secret in the entertainment industry that wasn’t really a secret at all has finally been revealed...” — Tony Busby, attorney [34:13]

8. Defense Arguments and Trial Developments

• Defense: Claims Diddy led a “swinger lifestyle,” but the judge allows damning video evidence to be admitted, including freak off tapes (34:14–34:30).
• Ongoing Lawsuits and the Coming Trial: New Jane Doe civil case emerges; Cassie prepares to take the stand as the federal trial opens (34:44–35:13).

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Noteworthy Quotes & Moments

• Diddy’s Sobering Admission (after video release):

  “It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life...I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I am disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I am disgusted now.”
  — Sean Combs, Apology Video [30:25]

• Re: The flood of victims:

  “The wall of silence has been broken and victims are coming forward.”
  — Tony Busby, attorney [34:13]

• Host’s commentary on victim-blaming:

  “They don’t think men who are rich and powerful are capable of such horrendous things until they see the evidence themselves. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
  — Katie Ring [27:40]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Diddy’s Early Career and First Scandal: 00:48–02:48
• Tupac and Biggie Murders, Bad Boy Rise: 04:12–06:22
• Cassie’s Background and Abuse Allegations: 08:06–12:37
• Intercontinental Hotel Incident and Bribery: 12:37–13:52, 16:52–20:50
• Adult Survivors Act and Cassie’s Lawsuit: 20:50–23:00
• Federal Raids and Discovery of Evidence: 24:45–27:04
• Intercontinental Hotel Video Release, Public Reaction: 27:34–30:16
• Diddy’s Arrest and Indictment: 31:30–32:45
• Wave of Lawsuits, Attorney Busby’s Statement: 33:03–34:13
• Defense and Trial Updates: 34:14–34:44

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Memorable Moments

• Shocking Proof: The accidental preservation—and eventual leak—of security footage capturing physical abuse, turning public sentiment after months of denial and “apology videos” from previous Diddy defenders.
• Legal Floodgates: The Adult Survivors Act and Cassie’s bravery prompt dozens of victims—some now adults, some minors at the time—to file suit, revealing a pattern of systemic abuse.
• Scale of Evidence: The raid on Diddy’s mansions uncovers grotesque quantities of drugs, weaponry, and paraphernalia, seemingly configured for coercion and intimidation.
• Industry Implications: Lawsuits implicate not just Diddy, but other musicians, celebrity associates, and members of his management inner circle.

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Episode Tone

Katie Ring delivers the episode with empathy for survivors, measured skepticism regarding celebrity spin and denials, and a sharp sense for the “patterns hiding in plain sight.” The tone is informative, deeply researched, occasionally chilling, and determined to keep the focus on the voices of the survivors and the pursuit of justice.

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[End of Part 1. Part 2 will continue with Cassie’s testimony and the unfolding trial.]

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Transcript

[Katie Ring]

Hi Crime House community. It's Katie looking for another Crime House original podcast to add to your rotation. You will love Clues with Morgan Abshur and Kaylin Moore.

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Every Wednesday, Morgan and Kaylin dig into.

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The world's most notorious crimes, clue by clue, from serial killers to shocking murders.

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They follow the trail of clues, break.

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Down the evidence and debate the theories. It's like hanging out with your smart and true crime obsessed friends. Listen to clues on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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This is Crime House.

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Tonight we begin a story bigger than fame, bigger than music, and bigger than one man. It's the story of how one of the most powerful figures in entertainment went from industry golden boy to the center of one of the darkest criminal cases in modern pop culture history. For decades, whispers followed him. Scandals, violence, coverups and power plays. But now those whispers have become evidence, lawsuits, raids and an explosive trial the entire world watched. This is part one of our five episode deep dive into the rise, reign and reckoning of Sean Diddy Combs. To understand how we got here, we have to go back to the beginning because these signs were there long before the world was ready to see them.

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John Diddy Combs hit with more than 100 new sexual assault allegations, including allegations he abused a boy who was as young as nine years old. Disturbing new video appears to support some of the accusations of abuse against music mogul Sean Diddy Combs. Music mogul Sha Diddy Combs accused of sex trafficking and sexual assault in a lawsuit filed in federal court here in New York.

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I'm your host Katie Ring. Here we follow the cases making headlines now where justice is still unfolding. Follow us wherever you're listening and if you want ad free episodes, so subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts.

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This episode discusses active criminal cases and breaking news.

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The information we share is based on.

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What'S publicly available at the time of.

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Recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence. So everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Foreign.

[Katie Ring]

You may know him as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy or now Brother Love. He's a music legend with an illustrious career. But for over a hundred accusers, Sean Combs is an alleged abuser and sex trafficker. In his federal trial, he was recently sentenced to 50 months, about four years and two weeks in federal prison. But his legal troubles are far from over. This is just part one of a deep dive. We'll be doing all week, we'll start with the mountain of scandal that led up to Combs initial arrest and how close some of the key evidence came to being destroyed. But first, let's talk about the man behind the music label, Sean Combs. Born on November 4th of 1969, Combs is originally from Harlem, New York. His eventual stage name, Puff Daddy came from a childhood nickname, Puff, that his friends gave him because he had an incredibly short temper. They said he'd huff and puff at the smallest things. When he grew up, his career was marred by a roller coaster of success and pitfalls. Combs started off as an intern at uptown Records in 1990 and he quickly rose up the ranks, which many credit to his close relationship with the founder of Uptown, Andre Harrell, who he would later credit as one of his mentors. Just a year in, he was tasked with promoting a celebrity basketball game, which was a huge responsibility. But Diddy oversold the event and everything turned to chaos. People who had bought tickets were denied entrance and people started pushing to get through. This resulted in a crowd crush that took the lives of nine people and injured dozens of others. It was a major stain on what was supposed to be the launch of his career. But in the end, the consequences weren't all that dire for Combs. He remained at the company for about a year longer before he was fired, reportedly due to his erratic behavior and internal conflicts. However, in an interview with Oprah, Diddy said he was, quote, fired because there can't be two kings in one castle. Although Harrell fired Diddy, they remained friends and Harrell introduced Diddy to one of the most well known names in the music industry, Clive Davis. In 1994, Diddy and Clive entered a 5050 joint venture that resulted in the creation of Bad Boy Records. The company quickly became one of the most successful hip hop labels and amassed sales of more than 12 million albums in its first three years. But Diddy and the label were once again connected to a serious scandal. In 1994, Tupac arrived at Quad Studios in New York to record a verse for Junior Mafia. Biggie was upstairs, but Pac didn't know he would be there. Outside of the studio, Pac was robbed, pistol whipped and shot five times. But the attackers were not publicly identified. Tupac miraculously survived, but afterwards he accused Diddy and Biggie of setting him up, or at least knowing it was coming and not warning him, sparking one of the most famous feuds in rap history. Tupac was murdered in 1996 in Las Vegas and the man suspected of his murder, dwayne Keefe D. Davis was arrested in September of 2023 and indicted for the first degree murder of Tupac. 27 years after the crime and although these allegations have not been proven, Davis told authorities that Diddy put a $1 million hit on Tupac and that he would do anything for those two guys. Heads referring to Tupac and Suge Knight. Just one year later, on March 9, 1997, Diddy's most famous artist, the Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie, was shot and killed in LA. When it comes to the death of Biggie, almost every law enforcement investigation, documentary and court case points to LAPD corruption and or gang related motives. But this still didn't stop conspiracy theories after multiple sources came forward saying that Biggie was about to leave Diddy and his label, Bad Boy Records. This cycle of high highs and low lows would continue throughout Combs career. It happened again in 1998 when he won a Grammy for his first album and then a year later was involved in a nightclub shooting. He was eventually acquitted in relation to the shooting, but after that his frequent brushes with scandal seemed to die down. In reality though, he just found ways to keep things more quiet. During the 2000s and 2010s, Diddy only got more and more famous as a rapper and record producer. He got his star on the Walk of Fame, performed in the super bowl halftime show and and did his fair share of charity work giving him the outward appearance of a successful, talented and generous man. But trouble was brewing behind the scenes and one person who witnessed it all firsthand was Combs long term girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. We're going to talk about Cassie's story in more detail in our next episode, but for now we'll give you the necessary background. Cassie met Diddy in 2005 when she was just 19 and starting out her career as a singer. Diddy was 37, so not only was he almost 20 years her senior, but he owned the label she signed with. Which means there was a serious power imbalance at play as Combs began pursuing Cassie romantically. At first, Diddy played the role of a mentor. But he slowly groomed her, pushing her boundaries further and further, saying each time that they had to go somewhere for the advancement of her career. But that's not what Diddy actually was interested in. He wanted Cassie. He started aggressively pursuing her and in 2007 she finally agreed to date him. Unsurprisingly, it was far from happily ever after. Diddy was allegedly physically and sexually abusive throughout their entire relationship. He reportedly pressured Cassie to take party drugs and appeal to his sexual fetishes. The main one being voyeurism. Apparently Sean would hire male escorts and force Cassie to have sex with them while he watched and masturbated. Sometimes he'd even force her to hire the escorts. And these encounters were just the tip of the iceberg. Diddy also threw elaborate drug fueled sex parties that he dubbed freak offs, which lasted hours or even days at a time. And it was one of these parties that led to perhaps the single most crucial piece of evidence in Combs eventual trial. It was March 5th of 2016 and Diddy had taken Cassie to the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles for a freak off where he wanted her to have sex with a hired escort. But Cassie didn't want to participate. When she refused though, Combs got so enraged, he punched her in the face. Cassie quickly grabbed a few other things and darted from the room. She stopped in front of the hallway elevator where she pushed the button before starting to put on her shoes. As she did this, Combs stormed out of the room straight towards her, wearing nothing but a towel. He proceeded to knock Cassie to the ground, stomp on her and kick her repeatedly. At one point, he even grabbed a vase and threw it at her. Then he grabbed Cassie and physically dragged her back to the room. At the time, neither of them had any idea that the whole thing was caught on the hotel security cameras. People in the nearby hotel rooms also heard everything and someone called security. Israel Flores was the responding security guard. When he found Combs and Cassie in the hallway, she had a black eye and Combs was glaring at him, still clearly heated. However, Combs also seemed to understand that he was in serious trouble because he offered Flores a stack of money, but Flores turned him down. Cassie left the hotel after this, but she came back shortly afterward. The hotel staff tried to tell her she couldn't go back up to the room, but she did anyways. No one knows what went on behind closed doors after that, but we do know that Combs was already in damage control mode, working to get his hands on the security footage before it got leaked. The hotel's head of security, who also worked at the front desk, Eddie Garcia, would later testify under immunity about what happened next. In the days following the incident, Combs chief of staff Christina Coram got him on the phone with Eddie Garcia. He told Eddie he'd been drinking heavily that night and he said something along the lines of, you know how it is with women. He said that if the video got out, it could ruin him. And then he offered to pay him $100,000 to make the video disappear. Eddie called his boss, Bill Medrano to tell him about Combs offer. Bill not only agreed, but said he wanted $50,000 for himself. In other words, Eddie and Bill had seen proof that Cassie was violently abused and they readily accepted hush money to destroy the evidence. After that, Bill downloaded what he thought was the only copy of the video onto a thumb drive and cleared everything else. Soon he met up with Diddy, who was carrying stacks of cash. When Diddy saw the thumb drive and realized that his abuse would be successfully covered up, he was smiling ear to ear and visibly excited. But there was one more thing he wanted to add. On top of their deal, he wanted all of the hotel employees involved in the COVID up to sign NDAs. Eddie and his boss Bill gladly agreed, but Eddy didn't think Israel, the guard who responded to the incident, would go along with it. So without telling Diddy, Eddie roped in a different security guard, a man named Henry Elias, and pretended that he was the one who had responded to the call. Diddy scanned each of their IDs before having them sign the NDAs, but not before facetiming Cassie, who said she had wanted the video gone as well. Then Combs handed over the $100,000 bribe. Eddie took $30,000 and gave Henry $20,000 for for going along with things. Then they sent bill the $50,000 he wanted. When it was all said and done, Combs called Eddie his angel. All four men were more than satisfied. But none of them realized that wasn't the only copy of the footage.

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[Katie Ring]

Paid off three security workers at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles to destroy video evidence of his abuse towards his girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. After that incident, Cassie reportedly tried to leave Combs multiple times, but every time he sent lawyers to threaten her career and livelihood, which meant she could never actually get away from him. It breaks my heart when people blame Cassi for everything Diddy put her through. This man pretended to be her mentor and then slowly groomed her. She respected him and wanted him to be proud of her, but the lines slowly blurred like all abusers do. He love bombed her in the beginning, treated her like a princess and convinced her that he was head over heels in love with her. While he was doing this, all of the other pieces and abuser needs were falling into place. He controlled her entire life. He could make or break her career. She signed a 10 album deal which is unheard of in the music industry. As a 19 year old with no one to protect her, I'm sure she was extremely excited. She thought he truly believed in her and her talents. Was it belief or was it a plan to make sure she could never leave? It's a little more haunting when you realize this was probably his intention. From the beginning. He controlled her medical information, he made sure she was financially reliant on him, he got her hooked on drugs and he threatened her and even other people in her orbit with violence and if she left or simply didn't comply with whatever he wanted, Everyone from the outside saw glitz and glamour, but Cassie was in a gilded cage. Miraculously, Cassie finally found a way out in 2018. But Diddy still wouldn't leave her alone. He'd comment on her social media posts or even thank her in award speeches. During these years, Cassie never went public about the abuse, but other dark clouds were starting to form over Diddy. In 2017, Combs Personal Chef Cindy Rueda sued him for sexual harassment. She said he'd regularly summon her while he was having sex with someone or just while he was naked and he'd ask her what she thought of his body. And she wasn't the only one who said he did things like this. But these stories seemed to fizzle out almost as soon as they were released, and Combs career only seemed to keep growing. In 2022, he was honored with the BET Lifetime Achievement Award. That same year, Forbes estimated his net worth to have hit $1 billion. However, that year also marked yet another roller coaster ride in his life, and it turned out it was just the beginning of the end for him. It all started on November 24, 2022, when the state of New York passed the New York Adult Survivors act, which gave a one year window for adult victims of sex crimes to file lawsuits even if the normal statute of limitations had expired. Cassie was finally looking to get some closure around that time, but she didn't want to go right for a lawsuit. She had been toying with writing a memoir about her experiences, but first she offered Combs an out. She said she'd sell him the rights to her book in exchange for $30 million in other words, she wouldn't publish the details of his abuse for a price. However, Combs team turned down her offer. And that's when Cassie made it clear that she'd seek retribution for herself one way or another. She tried to keep it all out of the legal system, which some people side eye. But if you know anything about abuse and the public's reaction to abuse and what became clear later in this story, when we hear about the public's reaction, it is understandable that a victim doesn't want everything out there because they are shamed, blamed and judged. But if Combs wouldn't meet her halfway, then she was ready to put it all out in the Open. On November 16, 2023, Cassie filed a lawsuit detailing the sexual and physical abuse Combs had inflicted upon her during their almost decade long relationship, including the story of what happened at the Intercontinental hotel back in 2016. The very next day, Combs team publicly denied the allegations on his behalf and they agreed to a $20 million settlement with Cassie. It didn't matter that he tried to kill the story though. The allegations were out there. And Cassie being someone so famous and being unafraid to speak her truth, inspired others to come forward. On November 23, the day before the Survivors act was set to expire, two more women came forward. One of them was an actress named Joy Dickerson Neal, who had been in one of Combs music videos in 1991 when she was just in college. In her lawsuit, Joy said that Combs had filmed himself saing her and showed the footage to other people. Another woman named Lisa Gardner accused Combs and musician Aaron hall of saing her in 1990, when she was just 16 years old. On December 6, a third lawsuit was filed, this one by a woman who chose to remain anonymous. She alleged that in 2003, when she was just 17 years old, Combs flew her out to one of his properties where he and two other men essayed her. Diddy denied all of these allegations, of course, both through a spokesperson and on Instagram, where he wrote enough is Enough. For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear. I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and the truth. But his pleas on social media didn't stop more allegations from trickling in. The next one being especially high profile, it came from a music producer named Rodney Jones, whose accusations were still within the statute of limitations because the alleged incident had happened so recently. Rodney had collaborated with Combs in 2022 and 2023. And in February of 2024, Rodney filed an accusation saying that at the time, Combs had groped him, forced him to solicit sex workers and threatened him with violence. But Rodney's lawsuit brought forth even more shocking allegations. He made detailed claims that Combs would transport sex workers to different places and that he used his employees to recruit and transport them as well. This claim could lead to charges of both sex trafficking and racketeering. With a possible racketeering operation at play and the sheer amount of SA lawsuits only growing, federal law enforcement finally had enough to step in. On March 25th of 2024, Homeland Security organized with law enforcement on both coasts to prepare for a raid of Sean Combs Mansions. One in Los Angeles and two in Miami. At just after 3:00pm Law enforcement on both sides of the country showed up in armored vehicles, wearing tactical gear and by the dozens. They got ready to storm the mansions in Los Angeles. Some of Combs children were home, but police detained them to keep them out of the way. After that, authorities began to uncover a trove of extremely disturbing items. In that house. They seized 200 bottles of baby oil and 900 bottles of lubricant. They also found ketamine and MDMA on top of that, Combs had a lot of guns at his house. There was a shotgun, a pistol, a bolt action rifle, two semi automatic rifles, and last but not least, armor piercing bullets. Meanwhile, back east, Homeland Security agent Gerald Gannon oversaw the search of Sean's Miami properties. And the scenes there were just as disturbing. They also found lube and baby oil, though not nearly as much as there was in la. There was also lingerie, high heels and sex toys, plus a Gucci bag full of assorted drugs. And next to the pile of items clearly intended for Combs, so called freak offs, agents found two AR15 assault rifles that had the serial numbers filed off. The AR15s were disassembled. But Gannon believed that the weapons next to the lubricant and drugs could be interpreted as an implied threat of violence to anyone who chose to not to cooperate during Combs sex parties. In other words, the evidence was making it look more and more like Combs had in fact been running a sex trafficking operation. They also found a loaded handgun in a piece of luggage at the guest house. With all of the evidence piling up, authorities knew they needed to get Combs into custody. Soon he was tracked down at a Miami airport and police questioned him and took his phone as evidence. He wasn't arrested yet, though. Diddy's attorney, Aaron Dyer said the searches were a witch hunt and called them a gross overuse of military level forces. But even though Combs was still a free man, things were only going downhill from there. Because on May 17, about two months after the raids, CNN released the security footage from the Intercontinental Hotel.

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[Katie Ring]

To this day, no one knows exactly how CNN got their hands on the tapes from the Intercontinental, especially since Combs thought he had the only copy. Suddenly, everyone's TV and phone screens flashed with undeniable proof of the utter torment Combs had put Cassie through. Not to mention that she had been telling the truth all along. And everyone who made those long sorry videos defending Diddy and saying Cassie was just a lying gold digger had to make apology videos. The thing that makes me so sad is that Cassie wrote out an extremely explicit lawsuit detailing every aspect of the abuse she endured. Yet so many people didn't believe her until they saw that video. They don't think men who are rich and powerful are capable of such horrendous things until they see the evidence themselves. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Two days after the video came out, Sean posted an apology video. He said, it's so difficult to reflect on the darkest times and in your life, but sometimes you've got to do that, hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I am disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I am disgusted now. But that summer, with way less credibility to his name, the lawsuits kept building. Former girlfriends, models and aspiring musicians accused him of drugging them, harassing them or assaulting them. Adria English, a former adult film actress, specifically mentioned Combs famous white parties as a problem. These were star studded parties he threw with some huge celebrities. And Adria claimed that women were being abused at these events. Then on September 16, 2024, the news broke that Sean Combs had been arrested at the Park HYATT Hotel in Manhattan. When police searched his hotel, they found baby oil, lubricant, ketamine, MDMA and almost $9,000 in cash in his room. The day after they arrested him, the indictment was unsealed. He was facing one count of transportation for the purposes of prostitution, one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and finally one count of racketeering conspiracy, which could carry a life sentence. The indictment mentioned several other charges associated with racketeering, including kidnapping, arson, forced labor and bribery. And it described the freak offs in detail, alleging that Combs had his employees hire the sex workers for events. He'd also allegedly sent his assistants out for drugs and baby oil and had them clean everything up afterward. But like a lot of scandal Combs had been involved in throughout his life, as lurid as those details were, they were just the tip of the iceberg. The indictment also accused him of physically abusing people during his parties, coercing people into participating and then using videos of the coerced encounters to blackmail and silence people. Later on, his employees also allegedly helped hide victims who were visibly hurt and who would help track down people who tried to run away from him. While Combs was awaiting trial, the lawsuits still didn't stop. Dawn Richard, a former member of the band Danity Kane, filed her own lawsuit around this time. Her band had been a part of a reality show Diddy Ran, and she claimed the working conditions there were abusive. She also said they saw him beat Cassie. That same month, a woman named Thalia Graves filed a lawsuit. She accused Sean of drugging her and then he and his bodyguard Joseph Sherman essayed her. This happened in 2001 and they allegedly filmed it. Thalia's accusation was not the first or the last to name someone from Sean's inner circle. People have also accused other musicians at Bad Boy of being involved, as well as his manager Christina Coram. Some of the lawsuits also implicated other celebrities including Cuba Gooding Jr. And Jay Z being among the most well known. One of the people representing a lot of these accusers is Texas attorney Tony Busby. Busby has worked in high profile celebrity cases before and he made it known that he wanted to represent Combs alleged victims in civil court. His firm soon got over 3,000 phone calls. Busby narrowed the potential clients down and on October 1, 2024, he announced that he was representing 120 total clients. He said that the claim spanned from 1991 right up until 2024. Busby said that his clients were a mix of men and women and that 25 of his clients were minors at the time of the assaults. He said that the youngest victim was just nine years old at the time they were assaulted. He said the lawsuits had been a long time coming. And he told the press, quote, the biggest secret in the entertainment industry that wasn't really a secret at all has finally been revealed to the world. The wall of silence has been broken and victims are coming forward. Meanwhile, the federal case was still playing out. And on April 25, 2025, Sean's defense lawyer spoke out at a pretrial hearing to give a glimpse into into what their defense would discuss. They said that Combs merely led a swinger lifestyle and that being non monogamous was not a crime. His defense also fought against having video evidence. But the judge said they would allow both video of the Intercontinental Hotel abuse as well as some of the videos of the freak offs themselves to be played for the jury. And before the trial began, another Jane Doe civil lawsuit was pulled put together. This one concerning a girl who'd been seeing Shawn in a romantic capacity from the start of 2020 all the way up to his arrest in 2024. She filed that he'd SA'd her, drugged her and abused her on multiple occasions. Her lawsuit very closely mirrored the abuse Cassie had suffered a decade prior. But before those claims could be examined, the federal trial finally kicked off. On May 12, Cassie was set to take the stand and she'd be among the first witnesses to testify. But the fight for justice had just begun. What did you think of tonight's case? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments. See you next time. If you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel rimehouse daily and follow us on social media crimehouse24.7 for real time updates. Because the pursuit of justice never stops.

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[Katie Ring]

Listen, don't miss clues with Morgan Abshur and Kaylin Moore. Every Wednesday, Morgan and Kaylin take you deep into the world of the most, most notorious crimes ever. Clue by clue. It's like hanging out with your smart, true crime obsessed friends. Listen to clues on Apple podcasts, Spotify.

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