Sean “Diddy” Combs’ children shared a video of their phone call wishing the embattled and jailed music mogul a happy 55th birthday on Monday.
Combs, who was arrested in September, is charged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was denied bond after federal prosecutors argued in court that he was a flight risk and “posed a significant danger to the community.”
Combs has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers have described the case as “unjust.”
His seven children – Christian, Quincy, Chance, Justin, Love and twins Jessie and D’Lila – posted an Instagram video of the call from the detention center where he is being held. Chance, who shares Combs with Sarah Chapman, was not with her siblings but was on another phone as they spoke on speakerphone.
The Combs children gathered around a cake singing “Happy Birthday.”
Combs thanked his family for their love and support.
“I can’t wait to see you all,” he said. “And I just want to say that I’m proud of all of you… just because you’re strong. Thank you for your strength. Thank you for being by my side.”
Combs has faced serious criminal allegations and a wave of sexual abuse lawsuits since his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, also known as Cassie, sued him last year. In the lawsuit, she alleged that Combs raped and beat her in fits of “uncontrollable rage” and exerted a “tight grip on her life.”
Cassie also alleged that Combs forced her to participate in sex acts he called “freak offs” with other men, often sex workers whom he would pay to travel with them while he watched.
Combs denied all of her allegations and the two settled the lawsuit a day after it was filed.
A hotel security video of Combs appearing to attack Cassie, released this year, appeared to confirm at least one of the abuse allegations in her lawsuit.
Combs apologized on Instagram, describing his behavior in the video as “inexcusable” and saying he had sought therapy. His video apology was later deleted from his Instagram page.
The federal indictment alleged that the “freak offs” Ventura described in her lawsuit were “elaborate and produced sex performances” that Combs “arranged, directed, masturbated, and often electronically recorded.”
It also alleged that Combs and his business partners had lured women into his world, “often under the pretense of a romantic relationship,” and used violence, threats and coercion, including drugs, to keep them “obedient and compliant” and restrict their participation to enforce outrageous practices. off.
Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo said when Combs was arrested that federal prosecutors had no evidence of sex trafficking.
“These were consenting adults,” Agnifilo said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
