Right now, rap and media mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing multiple criminal charges and civil lawsuits. Diddy was arrested last week and indicted for crimes including sex trafficking and racketeering. He pleaded innocent and was denied bail, and is reportedly living with famous cryptocurrency billionaire and convicted fraud Sam Bankman-Fried. This week, another woman sued Diddy for sexual assault. Diddy’s indictment also includes a count of kidnapping and arson that appears to be related to the moment Diddy allegedly blew up fellow rap star Kid Cudi’s car.
The flurry of allegations against Diddy began last year, when his ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie, sued Diddy for rape and physical abuse. In her lawsuit, which was quickly settled, Cassie recounted a 2012 incident in which Diddy allegedly told her about a plan to terrorize Cudi: “Mr. Combs told Ms. Ventura that he was going to blow up Kid Cudi's car, and he wanted to make sure Kid Cudi was home with his friends when it all happened.” (Cassie and Cudi were romantically involved at the time.) Soon after, Cudi's car exploded in his driveway, and Cudi's spokesperson confirmed that story the new York Times. Now, Times According to reports, the firebombing appears to be part of a criminal case against Diddy.
In their efforts to establish what crimes Diddy is allegedly capable of, federal prosecutors point to a kidnapping and arson incident surrounding the arson of a convertible car. The indictment does not name Diddy's victim, but the timeline indicates it was Kid Cudi. In a letter filed in court last week, prosecutors wrote that Diddy and an associate kidnapped a man at gunpoint in order to break into and enter their unnamed target's residence, and then they set fire to their target's car “by cutting off the convertible top of the car and putting a Molotov cocktail inside.” Witness testimony and police and firefighters' reports corroborate that story. So far, Kid Cudi has declined to comment.
During Diddy's bail hearing, his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, referred to the incident, saying, “Suffice it to say, there's another side to that story, and one day that other side may be told.”