Front Burner

The empire behind Diddy's sex trafficking and racketeering charges

American prosecutors allege that Diddy, the hip hop mega-mogul, abused women for decades and used his business empire to coerce, control and enable that abuse.
A courtroom sketch of Sean Combs in a dark shirt sitting between defense attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos in a New York courtroom.
In this courtroom sketch, Sean Combs, center, is flanked by his defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, left, and Teny Geragos, in Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams/The Associated Press)

In November of 2023, R&B singer Cassie sent shockwaves through the hip hop world when she filed a lawsuit against her former boyfriend, producer and mega-mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs. She accused him of years of abuse and sexual violence, and since then a further nine lawsuits have been filed along similar lines.

This week, Diddy was arrested in New York City on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, the latter charge carries a potential life sentence. In the indictment, prosecutors accuse him of decades of abuse — sexual, physical and emotional. And they say he used his status as a titan in the industry — and head of the influential Bad Boy Records empire — to commit these crimes, and to cover them up.

Vanity Fair staff writer Dan Adler breaks down what Diddy has been accused of, and how he built the power and connections that allegedly facilitated it.

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