- 30 years before Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was charged with sex trafficking, he organized a charity event where 9 people were crushed to death. Combs’s long-forgotten past includes three arrests—including for assault and gun possession—two guilty verdicts, and at least 24 lawsuits alleging wrongful death, violence, or property damage. Combs denied wrongdoing in most lawsuits. Fortune’s investigation of Combs’ past included hundreds of document pages and contacted more than 28 individuals.
The minutes ticked by at the “1st Annual Heavy D & Puff Daddy Celebrity Charity Basketball Game.” Attendees who had taken their seats at the City College of New York’s Nat Holman Gymnasium were expecting a jubilant emcee to introduce 50 other celebrities—including some of the biggest names in hip-hop, like Boyz II Men and Run DMC.
