This week, federal agents in New York arrested rapper and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs on charges of, among other things, alleged arson, bribery, kidnapping, forced labor, and sex trafficking. The federal indictment comes after Combs has faced months of civil lawsuits alleging sexual crimes, including trafficking, abuse, and rape.
Raids by federal agents on Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami uncovered drugs, high-powered firearms, ammunition, and evidence supporting the claims made in civil lawsuits that Combs oversaw “Freak Offs,” prolonged, allegedly coerced sexual exploits at his properties. Among other findings, the raids reportedly uncovered “more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.”
According to The Independent, Combs’s lawyer described him as “an innocent man with nothing to hide.” Attorney Marc Agnifilo told The Independent in an email, “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
Combs, 54, rose to fame in the 1990s as a rapper and music producer. Formerly known as “Puff Daddy” or “P. Diddy,” among other names, he is credited with launching the careers of some of the biggest names in music through his recording label, “Bad Boy Entertainment.” He also launched a successful apparel line, Sean John.
The charges against Combs are the latest revelations to tarnish his public image. Earlier this year, news outlets obtained shocking footage from 2016 hotel video surveillance purportedly showing Combs hitting, kicking, and dragging his then-girlfriend Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura.
In a lawsuit, Ventura claimed that Combs brought her into his “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle” and perpetuated a pattern of abuse that appears to match many of the other allegations made in other civil suits and the recent federal charges.
Another Music Mogul in Hot Water
If the news of the accusations against Combs has you scratching your head and wondering if you already heard about this, you may be thinking of Robert Sylvester Kelly, a rapper known as R. Kelly, who is currently serving 30 years in prison for sexual crimes, at least some involving minors. While the charges against Kelly involved underage girls, there are otherwise marked similarities between the cases against the two hip-hop stars.
An article at CNN explains how prosecutors have used Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), “to indict them [Kelly and Combs] on allegations of using that power and fame to wield the resources, businesses and people who answered to them to commit crimes — and attempt to cover them up.” In other words, celebrities are now being treating as an “enterprise” rather than an individual.
The novel use of RICO to prosecute alleged crimes of coercion and manipulation undermines the defense offered by celebrities embroiled in #MeToo accusations. When actor Kevin Spacey faced a criminal trial for allegedly sexually assaulting people, his lawyer’s defense was that having sex as a celebrity is not illegal and promiscuity is not against the law. Indeed, in a culture that glorifies hedonistic sexual exploits, if everyone is technically of legal age, how do the courts parse who is a victim? The tactic in Combs’s case appears to be alleging that he operated not as an individual but as the head of a criminal enterprise.
When Rap Lyrics Become Reality
Three years ago, in a now infamous magazine cover story, Combs praised the #MeToo movement and publicly professed his commitment to positive change in celebrity culture. As the music industry does a retrospective assessment of how alleged crimes of such inhumanity went on for decades unchecked, it seems fitting that the record label he started is called “Bad Boy Entertainment.”
It is hard to understand how the same culture that enriched a “bad” man for decades while he rapped and produced music about sexual fantasies, often of a coercive, drug-fueled and pornographic nature, now wants to charge him for the crime of living a lifestyle that matched his bravado.
The indictment of one of music entertainment’s biggest names is also an indictment of our popular culture. If we don’t like women to be degraded and abused, perhaps it’s time we stop paying for the simulation in our music and visual entertainment. Until then, little girls and barely legal 19-year-olds will continue to pay the price.
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