The federal indictment comes after Combs, more commonly known as Diddy, was hit by a series of lawsuits alleging sexual assault, sexual misconduct, and sex trafficking.
The lawsuits, one of which was filed by his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, provide detailed allegations of rape, abuse, and drugging.
Combs has denied all the allegations against him.
"We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the US Attorney's Office," Marc Agnifilo, Combs' lawyer, said in a statement to Business Insider on Monday following the federal charges. "These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court."
While the federal indictment only lists Combs as a defendant, it acknowledges that his employees and associates were members of the criminal enterprise he led and "engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice."
The series of civil suits that have hit him over the past year, though, list a number of specific powerful and wealthy people in Combs' orbit. Some are outright accused by plaintiffs of wrongdoing — whether that be witnessing the abuse and not stopping it or providing drugs to Combs. Others — like Prince Harry, Nicki Minaj, or Usher — are simply mentioned in passing and not accused of any wrongdoing.
For decades, the hip-hop mogul has been surrounded by accusations of violence — sometimes involving other very famous names.
Here are the well-known people linked to the accusations against Combs.
R&B singer Aaron Hall
Aaron Hall is an R&B singer and defendant in a lawsuit brought against Combs.
Paras Griffin/Getty Images
Aaron Hall, an R&B singer who was part of the group Guy, was named as a defendant in a complaint filed against Combs last November in the New York Supreme Court ahead of the expiration date for New York's Adult Survivors Act, which provided a one-year window in which people could bring cases of sexual assault outside the typical statute of limitations.
The plaintiff, who is named Liza Gardner, accuses Combs and Hall of sexually assaulting her and a friend in Hall's apartment after a music industry event hosted by MCA Records in 1990 when she was 16 years old. She says Combs "coerced" her into having sex with him and that afterward, "Hall barged into the room, pinned her down, and forced" her to have sex with him too.
The plaintiff also alleges that Combs found her at her home and choked her until she passed out; he was worried his girlfriend would find out about the incident, the complaint says.
In one YouTube video cited in the complaint, Hall says in an interview that "Puffy" — what Combs was known as in the 1990s — had seen him have sex.
Hall could not be reached for comment. His lawyer was not yet identified in court documents as of April 8.
Music producer Harve Pierre
Harve Pierre and Sean Combs worked together at Bad Boy Records.
Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images
Music producer Harve Pierre was named as a defendant in two lawsuits filed against Combs ahead of the Adult Survivors Act's expiration date. Both lawsuits were filed anonymously, one in the New York Supreme Court and the other filed in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York, with the plaintiff listed as Jane Doe on both documents. He was also listed as a defendant in Richard's lawsuit.
Pierre was Combs' first employee at Bad Boy Records, the former president of his Bad Boy Entertainment, and worked with artists like The Notorious B.I.G. and Faith Evans.
In the first complaint, filed in November 2023, a former employee of Bad Boy who worked as Pierre's assistant accuses Pierre of using his position of power "to groom, exploit, and sexually assault her." Combs and his companies enabled the abuse, the complaint says.
In a second lawsuit filed in December 2023, the plaintiff alleges that when she was 17 in 2003, Combs, Pierre, and an unnamed third defendant gang raped and sex trafficked her. Specifically, she alleges that Pierre smoked crack cocaine and then forced her to give him oral sex before bringing her from Detroit to New York City on a private jet.
In New York, at a studio owned by Combs, the defendants provided the plaintiff with drugs and alcohol before raping her, the complaint alleges.
Pierre's lawyer did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. He has denied the accusations made in the second complaint.
"This is a tale of fiction. I have never participated in, witnessed, nor heard of anything like this, ever. These disgusting allegations are false and a desperate attempt for financial gain," he said in a statement obtained by TMZ.
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr.
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is named as a defendant and accused of sexual assault.
Shareif Ziyadat
An amended complaint filed in March in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York by Rodney Jones Jr. — a music producer who goes by Lil Rod — lists Cuba Gooding Jr. as a defendant. Jones accuses Gooding of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Specifically, Jones accuses Combs of grooming him to "pass him off" to Gooding. The two were left alone in a makeshift studio on a yacht rented by Combs, according to the complaint.
There, Gooding began "touching, groping, and fondling Mr. Jones' legs, his upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks, and his shoulders," the complaint alleges.
Gooding's attorney did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge
Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge has denied all wrongdoing.
Cindy Ord/VF23
The CEO of Universal Music Group and father-in-law to Sofia Richie, Lucian Grainge is also listed as a defendant in Jones' amended complaint filed in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York.
He is accused of aiding and abetting Combs, specifically in racketeering and sex trafficking. Universal's Motown Records had a licensing agreement with Combs' Love Records.
The complaint says that as CEO, Grainge "had a duty to ensure that the financial support they provided to Sean Combs and Love Records was not being used for sex workers, drugs, and laced alcohol."
Attorneys for Grainge have filed a motion to dismiss, in which they called the accusations "offensively false." In a sworn statement to the court, Grainge called the accusations "completely untrue and absurd" and said he plans to "pursue both plaintiffs and his counsel for having made such false accusations."
Grainge also points to the fact that he is the CEO of a "multi-national public company" — and is not involved in the "day-to-day operations" of the company's "thousands of agreements."
In a statement to Business Insider, Grainge's attorney, Donald S. Zakarin, called the complaint "offensively reckless."
"The plaintiff has now attempted to amend his claims against Sir Lucian, removing the original set of outrageous falsehoods related to Sir Lucian, replacing them with wholly contradictory new falsehoods that are equally absurd," he said. "Not only will we demonstrate the offensive falsity of these claims, but we will seek recovery of every penny of cost and damage caused by their assertion."
Justin Dior Combs
Justin Dior Combs, Diddy's son, is a defendant in one of the lawsuits against his father.
Prince Williams/Getty Images
While not necessarily a celebrity in his own right, Justin Dior Combs — Diddy's 30-year-old son — is a defendant in Jones' amended complaint in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York.
In a wide-ranging list of allegations, Jones accuses Justin Combes of soliciting sex workers and underaged girls, as well as engaging in "freak offs."
He also says the younger and older Combs were the only other two people present in the room when "G," a friend of his, was shot at a recording studio — implying one of them shot G.
Justin Combs was at Combs' Los Angeles home when it was raided by feds and was seen handcuffed on the lawn outside, though he was not arrested.
Justin Combs' lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, said that the complaint was "utterly bonkers" on his radio show "Beyond the Legal Limit."
"It's clearly written in an effort to get as much publicity as possible, not only for the case but for the lawyer whose name I don't even remember, literally some maniac," he said.
Lichtman did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Rapper Yung Miami
Rapper Yung Miami is not listed as a defendant in any of the complaints.
Terence Rushin/Getty Images
Yung Miami, a member of City Girls, is mentioned in Jones' amended complaint, filed in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York. She is not a defendant, nor is she accused of sexual misconduct.
She is listed as being a part of Combs' sex trafficking operation and accused of bringing Combs tuci, a drug sometimes called "pink cocaine," on a private jet.
The complaint says she was retained on a monthly stipend as one of Combs' sex workers. It also alleges that her cousin, named as Jane Doe 1, assaulted Jones, forcibly giving him oral sex without consent.
A representative for Yung Miami did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
DJ and producer Stevie J
Stevie J and Sean Combs have been longtime collaborators.
Johnny Nunez/Getty Images
Jones alleges that Grammy winner Stevie J, Combs' longtime collaborator, recruited sex workers and participated in Combs' "freak offs" in his amended complaint filed in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York, though he does not name Stevie J as a defendant.
Jones accuses Combs of instructing Stevie J to teach him "the type of sex workers to solicit, and way to solicit them."
Jones also accuses Stevie J of sending threatening messages when Jones publicly asked Combs to pay him for his work on Combs' "The Love Album."
The complaint also says that Combs used his connection to Stevie J — Jones' "idol" — to pressure Jones into sex.
"I've never seen my man do anything foul like they talking about… I've never seen it, I've known him for 29 years," Stevie J told TMZ earlier this month.
His attorney did not reply to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Singer Kalenna Harper
Dawn Richard, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, and Kalenna Harper, the three members of Diddy Dirty Money, in 2011.
Jason LaVeris/Getty Images
Kalenna Harper was a member of the group Diddy – Dirty Money, along with Richard and Combs.
In Richard's complaint, she says that she and Harper were at Combs' home, where they witnessed him yell at and choke Ventura before throwing a "scalding hot pan of eggs" at her and dragging her up the stairs.
Richard's complaint says Harper led her out of the house but that the two of them later spoke to Ventura and encouraged her to leave the relationship. Combs responded by threatening them, the complaint says.
The complaint also says Combs forced Richard and Harper to work for days on end without breaks to sleep or eat, and that the two weren't properly compensated for appearances.
In response to the lawsuit, Harper posted on Instagram.
"While I fully respect Dawn's right to recount her experiences, l want to emphasize that her account reflects her personal perspective and should not be interpreted as a universal truth applicable to everyone involved," she wrote in a Story, People reported.
"It's important to understand that while I was present in some of the same professional settings mentioned, many of the allegations and incidents described in this suit are not representative of my experiences, and some do not align with my own truth."
Harper was also mentioned by federal prosecutors during Tuesday's bond hearing, during which prosecutors argued that Combs should not be released ahead of trial.
The prosecutor, discussing Combs' contact with witnesses, said that between September 10, the day Richard filed the lawsuit, and September 14, the day Harper made her statement on Instagram, Combs called or texted Harper 58 times.
Interscope Records cofounder Jimmy Iovine
Jimmy Iovine witnessed Combs assault Ventura, one complaint says.
JOCE/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images
Richard's complaint also includes mention of Jimmy Iovine, the cofounder of Interscope Records and Beats Electronics.
The complaint recounts a dinner party held by Combs in the months leading up to a deal between his Bad Boy Entertainment and Iovine's Interscope Geffen A&M Records.
At the dinner, in front of Iovine, as well as dinner guests Ne-Yo and Usher, Ventura and Combs had an argument that resulted in Combs punching her in the stomach, "causing her to double over in visible pain, crying," the complaint says.
"Even after Mr. Iovine watched Mr. Combs commit a violent assault in front of numerous high-profile witnesses, the Bad Boy-Interscope deal took place and remained in effect, providing Mr. Combs with immense financial rewards and enabling him to commit further acts of violence without fear of repercussions," the complaint says.
Usher, Ne-Yo, and Iovine did not reply to a request for comment from Business Insider about the allegations in Richard's complaint.
