What do we know about Diddy’s infamous parties and the celebrities who attended them?

This story contains details that may may upset some readers

US hip hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ arrest on sex trafficking charges and various sexual assault lawsuits has put the spotlight on those he associated with and had ties to, including celebrities who attended his famous ‘White Parties’, most of whom have remained quiet since his scandal.

The 54-year-old rapper was arrested in New York this month, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

What is going on with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs?

The father of seven has continuously denied criminal wrongdoing as a series of civil suits alleging sexual assault and physical violence, some going back to the 1990s, were filed against him. After being denied bail twice, he is now in federal custody awaiting trial on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.

According to a 14-page federal criminal indictment, Diddy is being accused of running a criminal enterprise to facilitate his exploitation of women, dating back at least 16 years.

Prosecutors allege Diddy coordinated days-long sex parties – known to the people involved in them as ‘freak offs’.

In another lawsuit, adult entertainer Adria Sheri English alleges he pressed her to have unwanted sex with his guests at his notorious ‘White Parties’ in the early 2000s.

A range of A-list celebrities have been pictured at the annual parties, however, sources have told The New York Post the sexual component would be something of a party-within-the-party.

What do we know about Diddy’s celebrity-filled ‘White Parties’?

The parties reportedly started in 1998 as a gathering hosted by Diddy for his music industry mates as he marked his presence in the exclusive Hamptons community of New York.

Called White Parties for the strict all-white dress code, it eventually became an annual summer series and moved to St Tropez and Beverly Hills. They went on until 2009, according to a GQ magazine article published in 2016.

“And every year, the party seemed to get bigger and bigger as corporate sponsors hopped on board and Combs used it to launch colognes, vodka, and even philanthropic efforts,” the article noted.

A clip from a 1999 Entertainment Tonight interview with Diddy, where he spoke about his White Parties, has resurfaced online: “They gonna be shutting them down, they gonna probably be arresting me, doing all types of crazy things just because we want to have a good time”.

In 1999, Sean “Diddy” Combs spoke with ET about the sort of parties he likes to throw.

“They going to be shutting them down. They’re going to probably be arresting me, doing all types of crazy things just because we want to have a good time,” he said at the time, while promoting… pic.twitter.com/tmTYYInVCa

— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) September 23, 2024

By 2am, “the parties would essentially thin out,” said Adria Sheri English’s attorney Ariel Mitchell-Kidd in a New York Post article. “And then everybody who was still there was kind of with the shit, if you will. As it got later and later, the people who remained were about the debaucherous activities.”

English alleges that specific bottles of liquor were spiked with illicit narcotics and female workers at the party were encouraged to drink from those bottles. She said she felt that if she did not comply, the music mogul would ruin her music career, which he promised he would help her build.

What is being alleged about the ‘freak offs’?

In the federal criminal indictment papers, authorities allege that from at least 2008 some associates and employees of the ‘Combs Enterprise’, of which Diddy was said to be a leader, would facilitate ‘freak offs’ and stock hotel rooms in advance with drugs, baby oil, lubricant, extra linen, and lighting, as well as clean the hotel rooms after to try and “mitigate room damage”.

It is alleged women were manipulated to participate in “elaborate and produced sex performances” with male sex workers, which Diddy “arranged, directed, masturbated during” and recorded.

“Sometimes unbeknownst to the victims, Combs kept videos he filmed of victims engaging in sex acts with commercial sex workers. After ‘freak offs’, Combs and the victims typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use.”

Diddy’s legal counsel has insisted the “freak off” gatherings were “a lifestyle not a crime” and their activities were consensual. During raids of his Miami and LA mansions in March, authorities found 1000 bottles of lubricant and baby oil, AR-15s and drugs.

Prosecutors allege the “power and prestige” of Diddy was used to intimidate, threaten, and lure women, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship, into the ‘freak offs’.

“Combs ensured participation from the women by, among other things, obtaining and distributing narcotics to them, controlling their careers, leveraging his financial support and threatening to cut off the same, and using intimidation and violence,” the indictment states.

“Combs also used the sensitive, embarrassing, and incriminating recordings that he made during ‘freak offs’ as collateral to ensure the continued obedience and silence of the victims.”

Who attended the ‘White Parties’ and what have they said about them?

Several celebrities have spoken about having attended the White Parties, but none made mention of any ‘freak offs’. Old clips of celebrities talking about their experiences at the party or with Diddy are now resurfacing in light of his arrest.

The guest list for the first White Party reportedly maxed out at 1000 people, according to a 2018 article from The Hollywood Reporter.

Among those pictured at the event over the years include socialite Paris Hilton, singer Jennifer Lopez (who dated Diddy for about two years), actor Leonardo DiCaprio, actor Ashton Kutcher, Martha Stewart, Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter, the Kardashians, comedian Russell Brand, rapper Jay Z, and singer Mariah Carey.

In a clip from a 2014 episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Khloé Kardashian claims that she and Justin Bieber – who would have been about 20 years old at the time – were at a party hosted by Diddy where “half the people there were butt naked”.

Kutcher, in a 2019 Hot Ones interview, said he had a lot he couldn’t talk about in regards to Diddy’s get-togethers.

“Can’t tell that one either. … I’m actually cycling through them … Diddy party stories, man, that was some weird memory lane thing.”

Most celebrities pictured at the parties have so far remained silent since Diddy’s arrest, but tabloids are reporting Khloé Kardashian’s older sister, Kim, unfollowed the rapper shortly before the raids on his house.

Kim’s ex-boyfriend singer Ray J, who considered Diddy a mentor and attended some of his parties, told NewsNation’s CUOMO show he didn’t know about any ‘freak offs’ and was shocked by the claims.

“We’ve never seen the stuff that’s being said and the stuff that people are finding out, like, I’ve never been in rooms that people are talking about, and I never knew they existed,” Ray J said. “And a lot of people in the industry can agree with me on that sense. Like you all wanted to go and have a good time at a Diddy party.”

Why are Justin Bieber and Usher being brought up in this?

US RnB singer-songwriter Usher was sent by his record label to live with Diddy for a year as a teenager while making his first album.

“I went there to see the lifestyle, and I saw it, but I don’t know if I could indulge and understand what I was even looking at. It was pretty wild, it was crazy,” the artist said during a 2016 interview on The Howard Stern Show.

When Stern asked if Usher would ever send his kids to “Puffy camp”, he replied, “hell no”.

Bieber reportedly first met Diddy when he was 15 years old, when the singer signed on to Usher’s record label.

A YouTube video uploaded in 2010 of the pair – titled JUSTIN BIEBER’s 48 HRS with DIDDY!! – is making headlines now as Diddy is seen to tell viewers how they’ll spend the weekend together.

“Where we’re hanging out and what we’re doing, we can’t really disclose, but it’s definitely a 15-year-old’s dream. I have been given custody of him,” Diddy said in the video.

Asking what he wished to do for the weekend, Bieber replied: “Let’s just go get some girls, let’s go hang out with some girls”.

“A man after my heart – that’s what I’m talkin’ bout,” Diddy said.

Bieber, now 30 years old and who recently welcomed his first child, made his first musical collaboration with Diddy on the 2023 track ‘Moments’.