Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is currently in federal custody following multiple charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, has now been accused of raping a 13-year-old girl with the help of two other celebrities at a 2000 MTV Video Music Awards afterparty. According to the New York Post, a 37-year-old woman filed a lawsuit in New York federal court on Sunday in which she claimed that the incident occurred after she went to an empty bedroom to lie down for a moment because she felt “woozy and lightheaded” from a drink she had during the bash on September 7, 2000. She said that at the party she was raped by an unnamed male celebrity, while an unnamed female celebrity watched before Combs raped her. 

“Combs aggressively approached Plaintiff with a crazed look in his eyes, grabbed her and said, ‘You are ready to party!'” the lawsuit states, per the Post. He then allegedly “threw” the girl, identified as Jane Doe in the court documents, toward another male celebrity, referred to as Celebrity A, who proceeded to remove the teen’s clothing as she became “more and more disoriented”. 

“Plaintiff was held down by Celebrity A who vaginally raped her while Combs and Celebrity B, a female, watched,” the lawsuit claims. “After the male celebrity finished, Combs then vaginally raped Plaintiff while Celebrity A and Celebrity B watched,” it added. 

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The lawsuit also alleged that the music mogul attempted to force the victim to perform oral sex on him, but she resisted by hitting him in the neck, so he stopped. She then escaped the room and had her father pick her up from the party. “After the assault, Plaintiff fell into a deep depression which continues to affect every facet of her life,” the lawsuit states. 

The plaintiffs are not named in the court papers, but they are described as two men and three women, including the one who was 13 at the time of the alleged VMAs rape. One of the men and three women also accused Combs of drugging them. While one of the male accusers claimed he was drugged and sexually assaulted by both Combs and an unnamed celebrity, the other male accuser said Combs groped him at a Ciroc Vodka party in Los Angeles.

Notably, Combs has denied all the charges against him. He is currently being held behind bars at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center after being denied bail. 

New York:

Sean “Diddy” Combs — the rap mogul whose star has plunged after a wave of sex trafficking accusations and assault lawsuits — was arrested by federal agents in Manhattan late Monday, a US federal court said.

The attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, said in a statement that the arrest stemmed from a sealed indictment filed by his office.

“We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time,” he said, without providing further details of the charges.

Diddy’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo said in a statement provided to AFP that Combs had voluntarily relocated to New York anticipating the charges.

Combs’s lawyer said their team is “disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the US Attorney’s Office.”

The rapper is the target of several civil lawsuits that characterize him as a violent sexual predator who used alcohol and drugs to subdue his victims.

His homes were raided in March by federal agents, in a heavily publicized bicoastal operation that indicated a federal investigation and potential criminal case was mounting against Combs.

Armed agents entered his sprawling luxury properties in Miami and Los Angeles, marking a rapid downfall for the powerful music industry figure who in recent years has vied to rebrand himself as “Brother Love.”

His legal team said Monday that Combs was being “cooperative with this investigation” and “looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

Bombshell suit 

The artist, who’s gone by various monikers including Puff Daddy and P Diddy, was widely credited as being key to hip hop’s journey from the streets to the bottle-service club. 

Over the decades he’s amassed vast wealth not least due to his ventures in the liquor industry.

But despite his efforts to cultivate an image of a smooth party kingpin and business magnate, a spate of lawsuits describe Combs as a violent man who used his celebrity to prey on women.

The artist has denied all accusations against him.

He has no major convictions but has long been trailed by allegations of physical assault, dating back well into the 1990s.

Late last year the floodgates opened after singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rape.

The pair met when Ventura was 19 and he was 37, after which he signed her to his label and they began a romantic relationship.

The bombshell suit was quickly settled out of court, but a string of similarly lurid sexual assault claims followed — including one in December by a woman who alleged Combs and others gang-raped her when she was 17.

Disturbing surveillance video then emerged in May showing Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Ventura, corroborating allegations she made in the now-settled case.

Global fame with dark shadow

Born Sean John Combs on November 4, 1969 in Harlem, the artist entered the industry as an intern in 1990 at Uptown Records where he eventually became a talent director.

He gained a reputation as a party planner, which would be central to his brand as his fame rose.

In 1991 he promoted a celebrity basketball game and concert at the City College of New York that left nine people dead after a stampede.

The event was over capacity by the thousands and resulted in a string of lawsuits, with Combs blamed for hiring inadequate security.

He was fired from Uptown and founded his own label, Bad Boy Records.

Thus began a quick ascent to the top of East Coast hip hop, along with his disciple, the late The Notorious B.I.G.

Combs boasted a number of major signed acts and production collaborations with the likes of Mary J Blige, Usher, Lil’ Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men.

He was also a Grammy-winning rapper in his own right, debuting with the chart-topping single “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” and his album “No Way Out.”

He built an image as a brash hustler with unapologetic swagger, a major producer who also ventured into Hollywood, reality television and fashion and had high-profile romantic links with the likes of Jennifer Lopez.

But a dark history of violence and serious misconduct has long haunted his fame — and now appears to be eclipsing it.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)