Sean 'Diddy' Combs accused of 'trafficking at least three women' in New York indictment

Sean “Diddy” Combs trafficked at least three women in a 20-year long sexual abuse scheme, prosecutors have said while bringing a new criminal indictment against the incarcerated hip-hop mogul.

The three-count indictment on Thursday contains no additional charges, but alleges he transported three female victims along with commercial sex workers across state lines and internationally. The first indictment, brought in September, referenced one female victim.

Combs, 55, is due to go on trial starting May 5. He pleaded not guilty to the first indictment in 2024. His lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

The indictment charges Combs with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. The prosecutors said Combs used his business empire, including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment, to sexually abuse women.

Prosecutors said the abuse included having women take part in recorded sexual performances called “freak offs” with male sex workers who were sometimes transported across state lines.

One of the victims is Combs’ former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, known as Cassie. Combs apologised in May 2024 after CNN broadcast a video showing him kicking, shoving and dragging Cassie in a hotel hallway.

Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, has said he had never denied the incident, but that the video was not evidence of sex trafficking.

Agnifilo has also argued that the “freak offs” described by prosecutors were consensual sexual activity.

Combs has been detained at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest in September.