Since late last year, the rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has waged a slow public-relations war against a spate of former associates who have come forward alleging abuse. It could soon become a legal battle. Federal investigators are preparing to bring Combs’s accusers before a federal grand jury, according to a report from CNN on Wednesday, with potential witnesses told they could soon be testifying in a New York federal court.
The feds have been on the case since at least March when agents with the Department of Homeland Security raided Combs’s mansions in Los Angeles and Miami. Reports of grand-jury interviews suggest that investigators are moving toward a potential indictment. Combs has denied all wrongdoing and filed motions to dismiss some of the claims. But after a video emerged on May 17 of Combs assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, an act that matched an allegation in her lawsuit, he said in a statement that he was “truly sorry.” Combs settled with Ventura the day after she filed her lawsuit last October. Since then, Combs has been named in seven more civil suits.
According to CNN, a majority of the plaintiffs have been interviewed by federal investigators. “It’s much bigger than just these lawsuits,” a source familiar with the investigation told CNN. Accusers have reportedly handed over evidence as investigators speak with people who can corroborate the claims in the lawsuits.
On Tuesday, a report in Rolling Stone detailed new allegations against Diddy. The accusers include former classmates of Combs at Howard University, who recalled him beating a woman outside a dorm.
