Sean “Diddy” Combs, 54, is reportedly on suicide watch in a Brooklyn jail where he is awaiting trial on sex crime charges due to unclear mental health.
The rapper was added to the watch list as a “precautionary measure” days after his arrest on charges of sex trafficking, extortion and transportation to prostitution, sources said. He told People magazine.
Authorities determined the 54-year-old man was in shock and his mental state was unknown, the media reported.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Corrections, being placed on suicide watch is “a monitoring measure that requires frequent supervision of suicidal inmates.”
It was not clear how long Combs had been on suicide watch or whether he would remain on it, or whether he was having suicidal thoughts.
News of Combs' mental state comes days after federal agents arrested him at the Park Hyatt in New York on Monday night.
He was charged with sex trafficking, extortion and transportation for the purpose of prostitution.
Combs is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after being denied bail and home detention by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Tarnowsky in Manhattan.
The notorious prison has long been plagued by rumors of “barbaric” and “reprehensible” conditions for inmates, including those accused of sexual abuse R. Kelly and Ghislaine Maxwell.
The facility, which houses pretrial detainees and inmates serving short-term federal sentences, currently houses approximately 1,700 inmates, with a reported capacity of closer to 3,000.
Combs' lawyers argued that the environment within MDC was unsuitable for a rap mogul.
“Earlier this summer, an inmate was murdered,” they wrote. According to the Daily Beast. “At least four inmates have committed suicide in the past three years.”
The hip-hop superstar was being held without bail on Tuesday after pleading not guilty to three charges.
According to the shocking indictment, Combs is accused of forcing the women into deviant “freak-off” sex sessions with male prostitutes, which were often recorded while the music producer masturbated.
“The Freak Offs were elaborate sexual acts that Combs planned, directed, and often electronically recorded while masturbating,” court documents allege.
According to the indictment, Combs would lure women into his life, often under the guise of romantic relationships, and then give them drugs to “keep the victims compliant and submissive.”
Federal investigators allege that these “periodic” freak-offs could last for several days, and that Combs and his victims would often receive intravenous infusions afterwards “to recover from the physical exertion and drug use.”
His employees allegedly helped organize the “Freak Offs” by making travel arrangements, booking hotel rooms for the events, and stocking the rooms with supplies such as medications, baby oil, lubricants, and extra linens.
During the period Federal agents searched Combs' homes in Miami and Los Angeles in March and found 1,000 bottles of lubricant and three AR-15 guns.
