A day after Sean “Diddy” Combs was detained pending trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges in New York, a new docuseries about his fall from grace has been announced.
Investigation Discovery, the network behind Emmy-nominated Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV and an upcoming Sherri Papini documentary, has set its sights on an untitled, multipart series centered on “the allegations of violent behavior and illegal activity” against Combs, including “accounts of sexual assault” and “a pattern of depravity” that will debut in 2025 on ID and Max.
The project from Maxine Productions and IPC, in association with Rolling Stone Films, will “feature the voices of many who have alleged acts of violence and brutality” alongside “harrowing testimony from survivors as well as friends and colleagues who knew and worked with Combs before his stardom.” Both archival footage and reporting from Rolling Stone will accompany the testimony, according to a press release.
On Monday, federal agents arrested Combs on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. The 14-page indictment described Combs’s “freak offs”—the term that he allegedly used for days-long sex performances facilitated by various drugs. Prosecutors also claimed that Combs used his many business ventures in order to aid his sexual abuse from at least 2008. After pleading not guilty to the charges on Tuesday, Combs was denied bail. “My concern,” said Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky, as reported by The New York Times, “is that this is a crime that happens behind closed doors.” Meaning, apparently, that it could easily happen again.
“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,” Combs’s attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a previous statement to Vanity Fair,” adding, “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Combs is also being sued by multiple other women who allege he abused them, all of which he has denied. In March, federal agents raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami. Two months later, a disturbing 2016 video of Combs assaulting his then girlfriend Casandra Ventura resurfaced. Last year, Combs settled with Ventura only a day after she made multiple shocking allegations of abuse against him in a federal lawsuit, including domestic violence, sex trafficking, and rape. Combs denied the allegations. But two days after CNN published a video that shows him striking, kicking, and dragging Ventura in a hotel, he publicly apologized. “My behavior on that video is inexcusable,” Combs said in a video statement posted to Instagram. “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.” He concluded, “I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”
