Two weeks after raid on Diddys homes, its quiet on the news front

Two weeks ago, federal agents raided Sean “Diddy” Combs’s mansions in Miami and Los Angeles, searching for evidence tied to a sex-trafficking investigation. The shocking headlines prompted a wave of speculation that Combs, one of the most powerful producers in the music industry, might soon be arrested in connection to any of five recent lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault. He has denied all of the accusations.

But since then, there has been no arrest and few, if any, revelations for tabloids. “Diddy Rides His Bike Around Miami Amid Federal Investigation” was the best TMZ could do for a headline Thursday.

The next day, several news outlets reported on a new lawsuit against Combs — accusing him of abetting his son’s alleged sexual assault of a woman — but its current status is unclear. Meanwhile, tabloid photos show Combs chilling outside with a towel draped over him, smiling, holding up a peace sign and posing for photos in Miami.

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On Friday, Combs posted his “Victory” music video, in which he runs from Los Angeles police, to Instagram with the caption “Bad Boy For Life.”

But Diddy’s lack of apparent concern — and the lack of recent news — doesn’t mean his troubles are necessarily abating.

Michelle Simpson Tuegel, a Dallas attorney who has worked on high-profile sexual assault cases, says it will probably take months for federal investigators to make the next public move. She said they were probably poring through the electronics gathered from the music mogul’s residences, in an attempt to corroborate interviews from witnesses and accusers.

“When you’re dealing with someone like him who may have cellphones, multiple systems, multiple laptops, and who just conducts a lot of business and probably has a lot of communication, there’s going to be a lot of digital information,” Tuegel said.

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With federal criminal cases, it typically takes more than a year to gather and investigate digital evidence, Tuegel said, but the speed of the home raids following Diddy’s lawsuits suggests investigators are moving quicker than usual in the high-profile probe.

A lawsuit reportedly filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court is the sixth suit in five months to name Diddy as a defendant. Specifically, it accuses him of chartering a yacht on which his son Christian Combs allegedly assaulted a woman, Grace O’Marcaigh, while she was working as a yacht steward in December 2022.

But the filing was not visible on the court’s online docket as of Saturday. O’Marcaigh’s attorney Tyrone Blackburn said it had to be removed after an unfiled version of the complaint was published in the news media.

Aaron Dyer, an attorney for Christian and Diddy, said in a statement that the lawsuit was “another lewd and meritless claim” from Blackburn, who’s also the attorney in a sexual misconduct lawsuit that music producer Rodney Jones filed against Diddy in February.

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“This complaint is filled with the same kind of manufactured lies and irrelevant facts we’ve come to expect from Blackburn,” Dyer said. “... We will be filing a motion to dismiss this outrageous claim.”

O’Marcaigh’s attorneys have not yet commented on the contents of the complaint to The Washington Post, but Blackburn told NBC News that “it gives us no joy or pleasure in filing this suit against Christian Combs who has clearly adopted his father’s pattern and practice of depravity.”

Rodney S. Diggs, O’Marcaigh’s other attorney, told NBC, “I am here to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves and I applaud Grace for being so brave to come forward with her truth.”

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