Sean “Diddy” Combs has been ordered to be held without bail on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
US magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky made the decision on Tuesday after hearing lengthy arguments from prosecutors and Combs’ lawyers.
Prosecutors wanted the music mogul, who earlier pleaded not guilty, held in jail.
His attorneys proposed that he be released on a $50 million (£37.9m) bond to home detention with electronic monitoring.
Combs was arrested late on Monday in New York, roughly six months after authorities conducting an investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
Detailing allegations dating to 2009, the unsealed indictment accuses Combs of abusing, threatening and coercing women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.
The indictment describes Combs as the head of a criminal enterprise engaged in or attempting to engage in activities including sex trafficking, forced labour, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, drug offences, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.
His lawyer Marc Agnifilo said outside the Manhattan federal courthouse earlier Tuesday that his client is innocent. Combs later pleaded not guilty in court.
“Obviously, he’s going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers,” said Mr Agnifilo. “And I expect a long battle with a good result for Mr. Combs.”
Mr Agnifilo added that Combs had come to New York City two weeks ago “because we knew this day was going to come. And it’s here.”
The indictment says Combs gave victims drugs to keep them “obedient and compliant” and wielded his “power and prestige” to “intimidate, threaten, and lure” women into his orbit, “often under the pretense of a romantic relationship.”
He exerted control over victims by promising career opportunities, providing and threatening to withhold financial support, dictating how they looked, monitoring their health records and controlling where they lived, according to prosecutors.
Details of the charges were not immediately announced by prosecutors earlier, but the hip-hop mogul has faced a stream of allegations by women in recent months who accused him of sexual assault.
“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Mr Agnifilo said.
Combs was arrested in a Manhattan hotel lobby and is in federal custody, said a person familiar with the arrest who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
The criminal charges are a major but not unexpected takedown of one of the most prominent producers and most famous names in the history of hip-hop.
The federal investigation of the 58-year-old Combs was revealed when Homeland Security Investigations agents served simultaneous search warrants and raided Combs' mansions on March 25.
His defence attorney Aaron Dyer the day after the raids called them “a gross use of military-level force”, said the allegations were “meritless”, and that Combs was “innocent and will continue to fight” to clear his name.
Combs, then known as Puff Daddy, was at the centre of the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop battles of the 1990’s as the partner and producer of the Notorious BIG, who was shot and killed in 1997.
But like many of those who survived the era, his public image had softened with age into a genteel host of parties in Hollywood and the Hamptons, a fashion-forward businessman, and a doting father who spoiled his kids, some of whom lost their mother in 2018.
However, a different image began emerging in November, when his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, became the first of several people to sue him for sexual abuse with stories of a steady stream of sex workers in drug-fuelled settings where some of those involved were coerced or cajoled into sex.
In her November lawsuit, Cassie alleged years of abuse, including beatings and rape.
Her suit also alleged Combs engaged in sex trafficking by "requiring her to engage in forced sexual acts in multiple jurisdictions" and by engaging in "harboring and transportation of Plaintiff for purposes of sex induced by force, fraud, or coercion".
It also said he compelled her to help him traffic male sex workers Combs would force Cassie to have sex with while he filmed.
The suit was settled the following day, but its reverberations would last far longer. Combs lost lingering allies, supporters and those reserving judgment when CNN in May aired a leaked video of him punching Cassie, kicking her and throwing her on the floor in a hotel hallway.
The following day, in his first real acknowledgement of wrongdoing since the stream of allegations began, Combs posted a social media video apologising, saying “I was disgusted when I did it” and “I’m disgusted now”.
Cassie’s lawsuit was followed by at least a half-dozen others in the ensuing months.
In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.
Another of Combs' accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.
Another woman who filed a lawsuit, April Lampros, said she was a college student in 1994 when she met Combs and a series of “terrifying sexual encounters” with Combs and those around him began that lasted for years.
Combs and his attorneys denied nearly all of the lawsuits' allegations.
While authorities did not publicly say that the lawsuits set off the criminal investigation, Mr Dyer said when the warrants were served that the case was based on "meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits".
The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Cassie and Ms Lampros did.
As the founder of Bad Boy Records, Combs became one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades Along with the Notorious BIG he worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Mary J Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.
Combs' roles in his businesses beyond music - including lucrative private-label spirits, a media company and the Sean John Fashion line - took major hits when the allegations arose.
The consequences were even greater when the leaked beating video emerged. Howard University cut ties with him, and he returned his key to the city of New York at the request of the mayor.
