‘Frustrated’ Ridley Scott blocked from home as agents raid neighbour Diddy’s property
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Gladiator filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott was pictured speaking to police officers behind yellow tape after reportedly being unable to access his Los Angeles home on Monday (25 March).
The Oscar-nominated director, 86, lives in the same neighbourhood as Sean “Diddy” Combs, 54, whose homes were raided yesterday “in connection with a federal sex trafficking investigation”.
A statement from Homeland Security said law enforcement actions had been “executed as part of an ongoing investigation with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners”.
Combs’s Los Angeles mansion is in the upmarket Holmby Hills area, near Bel Air and Beverly Hills, where previous residents include Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Michael Jackson.
In paparazzi photos published by TMZ, the outlet said Sir Ridley “appeared seriously frustrated” as police taped off the street near Combs’s home.
The images show the Napoleon director winding down his car window to speak to someone and then standing on the street speaking to an officer.
Sir Ridley’s representatives did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
Another of Combs’s properties in Miami Beach, Florida, was also raided on Monday. Lawyers for the rapper and music mogul responded on Tuesday saying there was “no excuse” for the “hostility” shown by authorities towards Combs’s children and staff members at the two properties.
His lawyer Aaron Dyer said: “Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr Combs’ residences.
“There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.”
The criminal investigation is a major escalation in the scrutiny of Combs, who has been the defendant in several sexual abuse lawsuits in recent months. Speculation as to his whereabouts has circulated since the raids.
In February, Combs – who is credited with helping launch the careers of artists including Biggie Smalls, Mary J Blige and Usher – was accused of sexual assault by a male music producer who claimed the rapper forced him to sleep with sex workers.
In November of last year, Combs’s former partner, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a lawsuit in which she claimed she was trafficked, raped and beaten by the rapper on numerous occasions over the course of 10 years.
Ventura’s lawsuit was settled a day after she filed it for an undisclosed amount of money.
Another of Diddy’s accusers is a woman who alleges that he raped her two decades ago, when she was 17 years old.
Combs vehemently denied the allegations. In a statement in December, he called the claims “sickening” and said his accusers were “looking for a quick payday”.
“Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged,” he said in a statement. “I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
