A source confirmed to AFP that Coombs was the target of the attack.
Angels:
Federal agents on Monday searched the home of Sean “Diddy” Combs, the American hip-hop mogul who is the focus of sex trafficking charges and a sexual assault lawsuit.
Armed agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security entered luxury homes on the east and west coasts of the U.S., and video showed helicopters hovering overhead and a heavy law enforcement presence on the ground.
“Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles, Homeland Security Investigations Miami and our local law enforcement partners, conducted enforcement operations as part of an ongoing investigation,” the agency said.
A source confirmed to AFP that Coombs was the target of the attack.
Aerial media footage from Los Angeles showed a large crowd at a luxury home in Holmby Hills for Combs, an artist and producer also known as “Diddy.”
Heavily armed agents were seen around the sprawling building, and video showed unidentified people being detained at the scene.
Entertainment headline TMZ said the photos showed the rapper’s sons Justin and Kim Combs in handcuffs.
The outlet said it also had footage of a raid on a luxury waterfront property in Miami linked to Combs.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the cause of the attacks, but the involvement of the Department of Homeland Security in large-scale, coordinated attacks at two locations suggested serious accusations.
The development comes amid growing legal pressure on the rapper, who already faces at least four lawsuits from people who say he sexually abused him, with allegations dating back decades.
Combs was sued last year by his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, who performed under the stage name Cassie and was signed to his Bad Boy label.
The lawsuit alleges that he forced her to perform sex acts with multiple men over the years in cities across the United States.
Because the stops at these various locations required crossing state lines, Ventura became a victim of sex trafficking, a federal crime, the lawsuit alleges.
That lawsuit was settled, but was followed by others, including last December when a woman accused Combs of sexual assault, accusing him and others of gang-raping her when she was 17.
Combs and other men supplied her with drugs and alcohol before violently raping her multiple times, the lawsuit said.
Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer representing two women who have accused Coombs of abuse, told AFP on Monday: “We will always support law enforcement when they seek to prosecute those who violate the law.
“Hopefully this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Coombs accountable for his depraved actions.”
Combs vehemently denies all accusations against him.
Combs, 54, founded Bad Boy Records in 1993 and became a key figure in the commercialization of hip-hop music in the decades that followed. His protégés include the late Notorious BIG and Mary J. Blige.
He is one of the billionaires in the industry, especially for his investments in the liquor industry.
But contrary to his public image as a mild-mannered businessman, the lawsuit paints Coombs as a violent man who used his fame to prey on and intimidate women.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
