A witness who claims to have footage of celebrities being abused by the rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs will appear before a grand jury, a new report reveals.
Ariel Mitchell, an attorney representing the witness, said her client was summoned to testify before a grand jury on Thursday, CNN reports. Mitchell, who represented two other women who brought allegations of abuse against Combs, told the outlet the witness has evidence related to accusations of sexual abuse and other crimes by the rapper. Another source revealed to the outlet the witness claims to have footage of the abuse. The witness is not an alleged victim.
Some of the people who faced the alleged abuse include fellow celebrities, CNN reports. Mitchell revealed the witness’s identity, but CNN did not report his name.
Combs, a rapper and music mogul credited with helping launch the careers of some of the biggest stars in recent years, was arrested in September on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. Federal prosecutors allege that Combs and his associates threatened, abused and coerced women and others around him “to fulfill his sexual desires.”
This allegedly includes forcing victims into engaging in recorded sexual activity which he referred to as “Freak Offs.”
Prosecutors told CNN that, since his arrest, the government’s investigation against the rapper has been ongoing. One source even revealed to the outlet people with new accusations and witnesses have been meeting with federal prosecutors since September.
“The grand jury is always meeting,” a source familiar with the matter told CNN. “This is an ongoing investigation.”
“The grand jury has never stopped,” another source told the outlet.
Combs could be facing more than 100 new lawsuits just two weeks after he was arrested by federal agents in New York.
The latest wave of legal filings was announced on October 1,The Los Angeles Times reported, with more than 100 people alleging that Combs sexually abused and exploited them.
The music mogul was also recently hit with a $100 million default judgment on September 9 over an alleged sexual assault from a 1997 party against Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith.
Then, on Monday, Combs was hit with two new lawsuits accusing him of drugging and sexually assaulting two boys. The lawsuits say they were underage at the time, with one of them just 10 years old.
A lawyer for the hip-hop artist called Combs “an innocent man with nothing to hide.”
“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,” his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, previously told The Independent.
The Independent has contacted Combs’s representative for comment.
