Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been placed on suicide watch as he awaits his trial for his ongoing sex trafficking and racketeering case.
On Monday (September 16), the rapper and music mogul was arrested in Manhattan, New York following a string of sexual misconduct allegations filed against him over the past year. He was then charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution, according to legal documents on Tuesday (September 17).
The indictment also revealed some of the items that were said to have been seized from Combs’ house raids which occurred back in March. According to The Independent, authorities recovered narcotics, three AR-15s with “defaced serial numbers”, ammunition and a drum magazine, as well as “more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant” and evidence that aligned with the “freak offs” which were alleged in the rapper’s ex Cassie Ventura’s lawsuit.
The indictment alleged that Combs “maintained control over his victims through, among other things, physical violence, promises of career opportunities, granting and threatening to withhold financial support, and by other coercive means, including tracking their whereabouts, dictating the victims’ appearance, monitoring their medical records, controlling their housing, and supplying them with controlled substances.”
If convicted, the rapper could face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life. Combs pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
While appearing in court on Tuesday, federal judge Robyn Tarnofsky declared that Combs was to remain in federal custody while awaiting his trial, denying his lawyers’ request for bail.
Combs is currently being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) after being denied bail twice. Now, according to People, the mogul has been placed on suicide watch. His attorney Marc Agnifilo told TMZ that the suicide watch directive was issued by MDC officials as a routine measure for “new, high-profile inmates.”
He added that he had spent six hours with Combs at the detention centre and shared that he was “not at all suicidal” but rather “strong, healthy, confident and focused on his defense.”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Corrections, suicide watch is “supervisory precautions taken for suicidal inmates that require frequent observation.”
MDC is known for being dangerous and understaffed with a high death and suicide rate. The centre currently houses about 1,600 inmates, many of which are awaiting trial.
During their motion for Combs to be granted bail, the mogul’s attorneys noted that “several courts in this District have recognized that the conditions at Metropolitan Detention Center are not fit for pre-trial detention,” and added: “Just earlier this summer, an inmate was murdered. At least four inmates have died by suicide there in the past three years” (per The Daily Beast).
Agnifilo recently asked the court to transfer Combs to the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, New Jersey. The matter is currently under review.
In a statement to Rolling Stone and other members of the press following Tuesday’s heading (September 17), Agnifilo announced his intentions to appeal the decision against Diddy’s bail denial in court later today (September 18): “Mr. Combs is a fighter. He’s going to fight this until the end. He is innocent. We’re going to fight this case with everything we have.”
Combs’ charges follow a wave of accusations and lawsuits against Combs, beginning in November 2023 when R&B singer and Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie filed a lawsuit against him on allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Diddy denied the claims before the pair settled the lawsuit “to mutual satisfaction” a day after it was filed. Footage of Combs’ attack on Cassie was later released to the public in May, and Diddy issued an apology for his actions at the time.
A week after Ventura’s original lawsuit filed in November last year, two new allegations were made against Diddy; one woman claimed Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her and the other alleged that Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping the plaintiff and her friend in 1990 or 1991 – adding that Diddy turned violent days later. Diddy went online to deny all allegations against him, but Hall hasn’t replied to the accusations.
Earlier this year, producer Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones sued Combs alleging he sexually assaulted him, had parties where sex workers and underage girls were present, and coerced him to sleep with prostitutes. Diddy replied, saying Jones’ claims were “pure fiction”.
Diddy continues to deny any wrongdoing.
On May 22, he was accused of drugging and assaulting Crystal McKinney, a former model. McKinney accused him of assaulting her at a Men’s Fashion Week event in 2003 by giving her a “powerful” joint and then assaulting her in a bathroom. Diddy did not respond for comment.
A former porn actress also came forward on July 4 to accuse the rapper of sex trafficking. Diddy’s lawyer has denied the claims, maintaining that “Mr Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone.”