On Monday, federal agents raided Sean Combs’s mansions in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a reported investigation into allegations of sex trafficking raised by associates of the rap mogul better known as Diddy. But he was not there when the officers with assault rifles and armored vehicles tore through his homes searching for electronic devices. As the feds searched his estates, Diddy was waiting at the Miami-Opa-Locka Executive Airport, where he was reportedly questioned near the tarmac by federal agents. He was free to go, but a tall young man in his entourage was arrested. His name is Brendan Paul.
Wearing slides, gray sweatpants, and a sweatshirt by the streetwear brand Warren Lotas, Paul was booked for possession of cocaine and controlled substances. Queries to his attorney have gone unanswered, but so far, it does not appear that Paul has entered a plea, though he was released from jail on Tuesday on a $2,500 bond. If Paul were to cooperate with the reported investigation, civil lawsuits filed against Diddy earlier this year suggest he could have a lot to say.
Until Monday, Paul, an aspiring music producer, had achieved an enviable position as a team member of one of rap’s richest figures. It was an impressive rise for a 25-year-old who, less than two years before, was enrolled in college in a small West Virginia town.
Basketball had brought Paul there. Growing up in a sports-centric family outside of Cleveland, Paul had dreamed of playing college basketball and managed to walk onto the team at Syracuse University. But after just 17 minutes of playing time in two years, the six-four guard transferred from the powerhouse Division I school to Fairmont State, where he came off the bench in Division II games to knock down three-pointers. “Not so much D — more 3,” says a former teammate. “He was a great guy, great teammate.” Paul’s parents came to many home games, driving around three hours from the Cleveland area to see their son play. “We really didn’t party,” says the former teammate. “We were in the middle of nowhere, and it was pretty much basketball, hang out with each other, watch basketball, watch football, all that kind of stuff.” Paul shared his plans with teammates for a life after basketball — making beats.
Somehow, Paul leveraged a business degree from a school in West Virginia into a role in Diddy’s entourage just months after his last college-basketball game. By Christmas 2022, former Diddy associates recall, Paul was traveling abroad with the rapper’s entourage and spending the holiday on a yacht docked in the Caribbean. By September 2023, photos show him getting face time in the studio with Diddy and partying accordingly — opening bottles of Cristal at 6:40 a.m. on a balcony overlooking the ocean. Paul didn’t broadcast his official role on public social-media accounts, but his father described him on Facebook as working as “an assistant to P Diddy.” The lifestyle looked pretty good.
But in November 2023, the perception of what it meant to be on Diddy’s team changed forever. Cassie, the R&B singer who was Diddy’s longtime girlfriend, sued the rapper, alleging she had suffered years of sexual and psychological abuse from him. The lawsuit claims Diddy beat and raped her and recorded her as she was forced to have sex with male sex workers. (It also claimed Diddy blew up the car of the rapper Kid Cudi after Cassie began seeing him romantically; Cudi confirmed to the New York Times that his car had exploded around this time.)
The lawsuit was settled the day after it was filed in federal court, though more were soon to follow. In February, a videographer and producer named Rodney Jones sued Diddy in federal court, alleging the music mogul was running a bizarre, sprawling sex-trafficking ring. Tucked in among the many salacious (and so far unsubstantiated) allegations was Brendan Paul’s name.
According to Jones, Paul’s role was to “acquire and distribute” drugs and guns for Diddy and to carry drugs for him on domestic flights and during international travel. Per the lawsuit, Paul carried drugs including ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, and ketamine on international flights to England and St. Barthélemy during his time working for Diddy. At some of Diddy’s famous soirées — including the Christmas yacht party pictured below — Paul was allegedly advised to put ecstasy into the Champagne served to guests and carry around drugs for partygoers to enjoy. On the back end of the alleged sex-trafficking operation, the lawsuit claims Paul was also responsible for negotiating “the fees the sex workers received” and ensuring they were being paid.
Diddy has denied all the wrongdoing alleged in the several lawsuits, while Paul’s attorney told The Athletic, “We do not plan on trying this case in the media. All issues will be dealt with in court.” Since Monday’s raid, Diddy has appeared in public only once, to go to Topgolf with his teenage daughters. Paul will appear in court in Miami-Dade County on April 24.
