Earlier this month, the world was shocked by the arrest of one of the most successful music moguls in the history of rap, Sean “Diddy” Combs, at a Manhattan hotel on charges ranging from sex trafficking and aiding in the transportation for prostitution to racketeering.

The 55-year-old rapper’s arrest and subsequent indictment were the result of a ten-month investigation that began after several women publicly accused him of sexual misconduct and other forms of abuse.

In November 2023, American singer Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit against Combs claiming he had repeatedly raped her, subjected her to physical and psychological abuse, completely controlled her life and demanded she carry a firearm for him in her purse during their over-a-decade-long relationship. She also alleged that he forced her to take drugs and engage in sexual relations with a series of male sex workers in what she described as “freak-offs” – staged, drug-fuelled sexual encounters involving a large number of people that at times lasted several days and were recorded by Combs.

Combs denied the astounding allegations but settled the charge just one day later. Additional lawsuits against him soon followed, however, including one from a woman who accused him of “sex trafficking” and “gang raping” her, back in 2003, when she was just 17 years old.

Four months before his arrest, CNN broadcast a surveillance video recorded at a California hotel in 2016, which showed him violently grab, shove, drag and kick his then-girlfriend Ventura during an altercation.

Combs immediately published an apology, but as the lawsuits continued to mount, accompanied by increasingly troubling and horrific allegations, he underwent a dramatic fall, echoing the fate of another well-known figure in the entertainment sector, disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein.

Forbes Magazine has estimated Combs’s net worth at $740m, a testament to his successful pursuits in music, fashion, television, and the alcohol industry. Yet, despite his varied successes, his name is permanently linked to one specific area: hip-hop.

Diddy undoubtedly exemplifies the archetype of a hip-hop impresario. In 1993, he launched Bad Boy Records, a music imprint that came to represent many industry legends and popular music........

© Al Jazeera