“I am the American dream” ran the slogan on rapper Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs’s T-shirt at a film premiere in 2003. And for a while, Combs was. The Grammy-winning mogul – who also went by the names of “P. Diddy” and “Diddy” – was a multi-million dollar brand in himself. His song I’ll Be Missing You was number one in over 15 countries in 1997, including the UK, and Combs successfully “leveraged himself across music, film, television and fashion”, wrote hip-hop historian Jeff Chang in his book Can’t Stop Won’t Stop. With status and riches came power and an astonishingly wide network of celebrity friends and protégés.

But that was then. Earlier this month Combs was arrested in New York and indicted on charges of sex trafficking, transporting for prostitution and racketeering. The charges, which stretch back years, include allegations that Combs intimidated women into days-long orgies – events he called “freak offs” – with male prostitutes. Combs allegedly handed out drugs to keep the participants compliant.

Denied bail, Combs is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn as he awaits trial. Prior to his arrest, Combs was accused of multiple incidents of sexual assault. The 54-year-old denies all the charges. The scandal has rocked the worlds of music and entertainment. It matters because Combs’s alleged actions, if true, would constitute one of the most egregious and vile abuses of power in showbusiness history. So who was who in Diddy’s universe – past and present – and what has their reaction been?

Usher

Connection to Diddy
In 1994, young teenage R&B singer Usher Raymond IV was sent to live with Combs in Scarsdale, New York, by the music producer L. A. Reid, who had signed Usher to his record label and wanted Combs to help with his debut album. In a 2004 Rolling Stone interview Usher said that Combs “introduced me to a totally different set of sh-t – sex, specifically”. In 2016 Howard Stern asked the singer whether he’d send his own children to “Puffy camp”. The answer was emphatic. “Hell, no,” Usher replied.

What’s the latest?
Following Combs’s arrest, all Usher’s posts on social media site X vanished, leading to speculation that the disappearance was connected to Combs in some way. Soon after, though, Usher told his 11.6 million followers: “Account got hacked and damn y’all ran with it!” The posts reappeared. Usher is a massive star in his own right. Next spring he’s playing a 10-night residency at London’s flagship O2 venue. He’ll want no connection with anything Diddy-related. Usher has yet to comment on Diddy’s arrest. His team were approached for comment.

Justin Bieber

Connection to Diddy
In 2008 teenage Canadian singer Bieber signed a record deal with an organisation co-owned by Usher and talent manager Scooter Braun. Combs, who knew Usher (see above), become something of a mentor to Bieber. Video footage from 2009 shows Combs, then aged around 40, hanging out with 15-year-old Bieber: “He’s having 48 hours with Diddy… What we’re doing we can’t really disclose, but it’s definitely a 15-year-old’s dream.” Bieber replies: “We’re going crazy. Let’s go get some girls.” Combs then calls him a “man after my heart” and pulls the cover off a Lamborghini, telling Bieber the keys are his once he’s 16. Years later, the pair were filmed partying in an Atlanta nightclub.

What’s the latest?
Bieber has said nothing since Combs’s arrest, and is said to be focusing on bringing up his five-week-old son Jack. Bieber’s team was approached for comment.

Casandra “Cassie” Ventura

Connection to Diddy
Cassie is a singer, model and actress who was signed to Combs’s record label, Bad Boy Records. Between 2007 and 2018 the couple dated. But in November 2023, Ventura filed a lawsuit against Combs alleging years of assault. He was accused of physical and sexual abuse, intimidation, and making Ventura have sex with male escorts while he watched. When Ventura had a relationship with rapper Kid Cudi, Combs allegedly blew up Cudi’s car to prevent him from seeing Ventura. Combs denied Ventura’s assault allegations and the pair settled for an undisclosed amount, with Combs maintaining his innocence.

What’s the latest?
In May this year, CCTV footage emerged showing Combs assaulting Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. He is shown pushing her to the floor, kicking her and attempting to drag her by the shirt. Combs apologised and said he took “full responsibility” for his actions. He was, he said, “disgusted”.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Connection to Diddy
DiCaprio and Combs were party pals. Combs once described the Hollywood actor as the “number one” guest on the invitation list to his so-called white parties – shindigs where all attendees wore white. The Wolf of Wall Street star was filmed dancing at Combs’s 50^th birthday party in 2019. There’s no suggestion that any criminal activity took place at these parties.

What’s the latest?
Distancing. A source close to DiCaprio last week told MailOnline that the actor hasn’t had anything to do with the rap mogul for years. “Leonardo DiCaprio has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. He attended a few of his parties back in the early 2000s – but literally everyone did. They were not freak offs,” this source said.

Kim Porter and the children

Connection to Diddy
Kim Porter, an actress and model, had three children with Combs: Christian, born in 1998, and twin daughters Jessie James and D’lila Star, born in 2006. Combs also helped raise Porter’s son from another relationship, Quincy Brown. Porter died in 2018 aged 47 due to complications from pneumonia. Diddy recorded a tribute to Porter on his 2023 album The Love Album: Off the Grid.

What’s the latest?
Things have turned dark. This month a 59-page biography purporting to have been written by Porter before she died was released. Kim’s Lost Words: A Journey for Justice, From the Other Side is published under Porter’s name and that of a Jamal T Millwood, and is said to contain disturbing allegations regarding Combs. In a statement this week the children said it’s “simply untrue” that Porter had written a book. “We have seen so many hurtful and false rumours circulating about our parents, Kim Porter and Sean Combs’s relationship, as well as our own mom’s tragic passing,” they said. The children are reportedly seeking legal advice about the so-called memoir.

Khloe Kardashian

Connection to Diddy
A clip from a 2014 episode of reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians has recently resurfaced showing Khloe Kardashian talking about her attendance at one of Diddy’s parties. In it, she talks about attending a party with “a bunch of [her] friends. Diddy, Quincy [the rapper’s adopted son], Justin Bieber”. Khloe tells her sister Kourtney: “Well this party… I think half the people there were butt naked… You would have loved it.” There is no suggestion that this was a “freak off” party – Diddy always threw copious parties.

What’s the latest?
Kardashian’s fans are upset. Earlier this week she posted Instagram pictures of the school run. The comments below were perhaps not what she was expecting. “What about Diddy?” was one of the more printable ones. “Diddy do it?” said another.

Ashton Kutcher

Connection to Diddy
The rapper was a fan of actor Kutcher’s TV show Punk’d, in which celebrities were “pranked”. Speaking to American YouTuber Sean Evans in 2019, Kutcher said: “We became fast friends and we just used to hang out, watch football together.” The That 70’s Show actor was asked for Diddy party anecdotes. “I’ve got a lot [of anecdotes] I can’t tell,” he said.

What’s the latest?
Sources close to Kutcher are distancing him from Combs. “Ashton has no involvement in any of this. He doesn’t belong in this conversation about Diddy,” one source told People in the US.

Jennifer Lopez

Connection to Diddy 
Actress and singer Lopez was one of Combs’s highest profile girlfriends – they dated between 1999 and 2001. In December 1999 the pair were arrested for criminal possession of a weapon after leaving the scene of a shooting at a New York nightclub. Charges against Lopez were almost immediately dropped while Combs was acquitted in a 2001 trial. Lopez has described their relationship as “crazy, tumultuous” and said, in 2003, that Combs had been unfaithful.

What’s the latest?
Lopez has not commented on Combs’s arrest or the allegations.

Kristina Khorram and Nathalie Moar

Connection to Diddy
Khorram and Moar were Comb’s chief of staff and long-term PR executive respectively. Last year Billboard reported that Khorram “works side by side with Diddy and spearheads many of his projects and events”. Meanwhile in 2019 Diddy said that Moar was “involved in all aspects of my business, and her leadership, passion and hard work continue to exemplify the level of excellence I demand from my team”.

What’s the latest?
Moar is widely reported to have stepped down since Combs’s arrest. Khorram was approached for comment.

50 Cent

Connection to Diddy
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is a rival rapper who’s had a long-running beef with Diddy. It started back in 2006 when 50 Cent’s diss track The Bomb suggested that Diddy may have had knowledge about the 1997 murder of fellow hip-hop artist Notorious B.I.G., something that Diddy has always denied. The rivalry continued, with both men becoming representatives of rival vodka brands.

What’s the latest?
50 Cent is producing a Netflix documentary about the charges brought against Combs. It is a story with “significant human impact” and a “complex narrative spanning decades”, 50 Cent says. He has promised “authentic and nuanced perspectives”.