Sean “Diddy” Combs on Friday proposed a new $50 million bail package backed by his Florida mansion that the music mogul hopes will win his release from the Brooklyn jail where he has been held for eight weeks on criminal sex trafficking charges. 

Combs has been denied bail three times since his arrest, with multiple judges citing a risk that he might tamper with witnesses. The rapper and producer on Sept. 17 pleaded not guilty to charges that he used his business empire including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment to transport women and male sex workers across state lines, to take part in recorded sexual performances called “Freak Offs.” 

In another development on Friday, US District Judge Arun Subramanian, who oversees the criminal case, denied Combs’ request for a gag order barring his accusers from speaking publicly about the matter. His lawyers had argued that the approximately 30 civil cases accusing Combs of misconduct or abuse were interfering with his right to a fair trial.

Combs, 55, has denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers have argued that the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual.

In a court filing on Friday, defense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro asked Subramanian to release Combs on the $50 million bond, which would be backed by his $48 million Miami home and co-signed by several of his family members. 

Shapiro also proposed that Combs be monitored around the clock by security personnel, be subjected to home detention, and have no contact with alleged victims or witnesses. His trial is scheduled for May 5.

In seeking bail, Shapiro said new evidence undermined part of the prosecution’s justification for detaining Combs. She said the evidence shed new light on a 2016 hotel surveillance video of him physically assaulting former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, known as Cassie.

“The video is not evidence of a coerced ‘freak off,’ but rather a minutes-long glimpse into a complex but decade-long consensual relationship,” Shapiro wrote.

Shapiro also said it is impossible for Combs to prepare for trial from behind bars because of the “incredibly voluminous” amount of material to review, especially without a laptop computer. She also said his preparation has been stymied by conditions at the jail, including frequent lockdowns and even officers taking away the pens he uses to take notes.

Detention is stripping Combs of “any real opportunity” to be ready for trial, violating his rights under the US Constitution, Shapiro said.

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

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.