Sean “Diddy” Combs is expected to plead not guilty Tuesday to racketeering and sex trafficking charges, his lawyer said ahead of the superstar rapper's court appearance.
Combs, 54, was arrested Monday by federal agents on an unsealed indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
He is scheduled to be arraigned in Manhattan court and the indictment will be unsealed.
Combs' lawyer, Mark Anifilo, told reporters he already knows what charges he will face.
“This will be extortion charges. This will be sex trafficking,” he said. “And he's innocent. He's innocent of those charges.”
Agnifilo added that the music mogul's “mental state is good.”
“He's going to fight this with all his energy and all his might,” he said.
Combs is the subject of multiple civil lawsuits alleging he is a violent sex offender who used alcohol and drugs to subjugate his victims.
In March, agents searched the rapper's luxury homes in Miami and Los Angeles in a highly publicized bicoastal operation that signaled a federal investigation and possible criminal charges against Combs.
Bomb Suit
Variously known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, the music industry mogul is credited with playing a key role in moving hip hop from the streets to high-end clubs.
Over the decades, he has amassed vast wealth, including through investments in the liquor industry.
Combs has tried to carve out an image of himself as a slick party leader and business mogul, but a series of lawsuits have portrayed him as a violent man who used his celebrity status to prey on women.
Combs has no felony convictions, but he faces a long-running string of physical assault allegations dating back to the 1990s.
The allegations were launched last year when singer Cassie (real name Cassandra Ventura) came forward to say that Combs had physically assaulted and drugged her for more than a decade, as well as raping her in 2018.
The two met when Ventura was 19 and Combs was 37, after which Ventura signed her to his record label and they began dating.
That shocking lawsuit was settled out of court, but it followed a wave of equally sensational sexual assault allegations, including one in December by a woman who said she was gang-raped by Combs and others when she was 17.
Then in May, shocking surveillance footage surfaced showing Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend, Ventura, corroborating allegations made by Ventura in a now-settled case.
Global fame and dark shadows
Born Sean John Combs on November 4, 1969 in Harlem, the artist started in the industry as an intern at Uptown Records in 1990, eventually becoming a talent director.
He gained a reputation as a party planner, which became central to his brand as his fame grew.
In 1991, he was promoting a celebrity basketball game and concert at the City University of New York when a stampede left nine people dead.
The event was over capacity by thousands and led to a series of lawsuits, with Combs accused of hiring inadequate security guards.
He was fired from Uptown and started his own label, Bad Boy Records.
From there, he quickly rose to the top of East Coast hip-hop alongside his protégé, the late The Notorious BIG.
Combs has worked on numerous signings and producing collaborations with big name artists, including Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil' Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men.
He was also a Grammy-winning rapper, whose debut album, No Way Out, and chart-topping single “Can't Nobody Hold Me Down” were both huge successes.
His bold attitude took him into Hollywood, reality TV and the fashion industry, and he was romantically linked to celebrities like Jennifer Lopez.
