Last year, his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, whom his record label Bad Boy signed under the stage name Cassie, accused him of forcing her to have sexual relations with several men over the years in different American cities, something that in the United States can be considered sex trafficking.
Ventura reached a quick agreement with Combs to drop the lawsuit, but it was followed by other lawsuits with allegations stretching back several decades.
The HSI, which has among its responsibilities to investigate human trafficking among other federal crimes, was also hermetic about the investigations into the rapper’s properties.
“This unprecedented ambush, paired with a coordinated media presence, leads to a premature and rushed judgment of Mr. Combs, and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations turned into civil lawsuits,” Dyer said.
“There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these charges,” the attorney added. Combs “is innocent and will continue to fight every day to clear his name,” he added.
Known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, the rapper founded the Bad Boy record label in 1993 and was an important figure in the commercialization of hip-hop in the following decades. Among his protégés are the late Notorious BIG and Mary J. Blige.
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