ByMICHAEL BALSAMO and COLLEEN LONG
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NEW YORK CITY (AP)– Two homes coming from music magnate Sean “Diddy” Combs in Los Angeles and Miami were browsed Monday by federal Homeland Security Investigations representatives and other police as part of a continuous sex trafficking examination by federal authorities in New York, 2 police authorities informed The Associated Press.
It’s unclear whether Combs was the target of the examination. The authorities were not licensed to openly go over information of the examination and talked to the AP on condition of privacy.
In a declaration, Homeland Security Investigations stated it “carried out police actions as part of a continuous examination, with support from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our regional police partners.”
A representative for the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Manhattan decreased to comment.
Messages to Combs’ attorneys and other agents looking for remark were not instantly returned.
An authorities line was established around the Los Angeles home in the rich Holmby Hills area near Beverly Hills. Helicopter video from KABC-TV revealed a group of representatives with vests that suggested they were from Homeland Security Investigations collected in the home’s yard near the swimming pool. A command post was established outside your home and representatives were still getting in and leaving hours after the search started.
There have actually been numerous sexual attack suits submitted versus Combs in current months.
In February a music manufacturer submitted a suit declaring Combs persuaded him to obtain woman of the streets and pressed him to make love with them. Combs’ lawyer Shawn Holley has actually stated of those accusations that “we have frustrating, unassailable evidence that his claims are total lies.”
Combs’ previous protege and sweetheart, the R&B vocalist Cassiesued him in November declaring years of sexual assault, consisting of rape. The claim stated he required her to make love with male woman of the streets while he shot them. The fit was settled the day after it was submitted.
Another of Combs’ accusers was a lady who stated the rap manufacturer raped her twenty years back when she was 17.
The Associated Press does not generally call individuals who state they have actually been sexually mistreated unless they step forward openly as Cassie did.
Combs had actually stated in a December declaration, “I did refrain from doing any of the horrible things being declared.”
Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer who represents Cassie and another female who took legal action against Combs, stated in a declaration Monday, “Hopefully, this is the start of a procedure that will hold Mr. Combs accountable for his base conduct.”
It is unclear whether the search is connected to any of the claims raised in the suits.
Combs is amongst the most prominent hip-hop manufacturers and executives of the previous 3 years. Previously referred to as Puff Daddy, he developed among hip-hop’s greatest empires, blazing a path with a number of entities connected to his well-known name. He is the creator of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy winner who has actually dealt with a variety of top-tier artists consisting of Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.
Combs developed the style clothes line Sean John, introduced the Revolt television channel with a concentrate on music, and produced the truth program “Making the Band” for MTV.
His newest album, “The Love Album – Off the Grid,” was launched in 2015 days after Combs was honored at the MTV VMAs. It was chosen for finest progressive R&B album at February’s Grammy Awards, which the rapper-mogul did not go to.
The show business has actually been besieged with a consistent stream of career-ending sexual misbehavior accusations in the years considering that stories about motion picture magnate Harvey Weinstein generated the #MeToo motion in 2017. Weinstein and “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson are each serving jail sentences after rape convictions. Lots of civil claims have actually been submitted versus popular figures.
The music market has actually not dealt with a numeration to the very same degree, however vocalist and manufacturer R. Kelly is serving a jail sentence for sexually abusing young fans, 7 females have actually taken legal action against hip-hop magnate Russell Simmons declaring he raped them and 2 ladies have actually taken legal action against Aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler declaring sexual attack.
WeinsteinMasterson and Kelly are appealing their convictions, and Simmons has actually rejected all of the claims versus him. One claim versus Tyler has actually been dismissed and he is objecting to the other.
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This story has actually been upgraded to fix the month Sean “Diddy” Combs rejected the accusations versus him. The declaration was provided on Instagram in December 2023, not November.
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AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.