Much like every other home in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Holmby Hills, extravagance and extreme wealth conforms it to the surrounding area.
But the $40million mansion owned by rapper, producer and entrepreneur Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs is currently the focus of rather more than an episode of MTV Cribs.
On Monday, federal Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement descended on the property as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation.
Combs, 54, who is facing mounting sexual harassment and rape lawsuits, was nowhere to be seen as agents combed through his homes in Los Angeles and Miami, removing boxes and bags of evidence.
Fans may well have already seen the property’s vast interiors and exteriors, with the father-of-seven previously sharing regular Instagram posts from the Holmby Hills residence he bought in 2014.
Homeland Security makes arrests after raiding Diddy’s home in LA
The European-style villa has about 17,000 square feet of living space, and there’s an accompanying 3,000 square-foot guesthouse.
The sprawling grounds cover one acre and boast a ‘lagoon-style swimming pool with a grotto connected by an underwater swimming tunnel’, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Inside, the home includes eight bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, a 35-seat theatre and its very own fitness studio, the subject of many posts shared by Combs.
Elsewhere there’s a separate spa house with an accompanying steam room, and – according to TMZ – a massage room and beauty salon.
Diddy has also shared posts from the property’s enormous kitchen, complete with gleaming metallic surfaces and glass fronted cupboards.
A police line was set up around the Los Angeles house, where at least two men were put in handcuffs, following the arrival of Homeland Security on Monday.
Armed agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered luxury properties on both East and West Coasts of the United States, with video footage showing helicopters circling overhead.
The agents, who were wearing vests, gathered in the home’s backyard near the pool. Multiple officers were seen carrying bags and boxes of evidence to a van with assistance from police dogs.
Possible evidence taken from Diddy home by HSI during Miami raid
The inquiry was being directed by Homeland Security Investigations agents in New York, where he was accused by a former girlfriend in a lawsuit filed in federal court in November of engaging
Los Angeles-based television stations carried aerial video footage showing HSI agents and other law enforcement authorities entering an L.A. mansion on Monday in what those news outlets reported was a raid on Combs’ Holmby Hills estate.
TV stations KNBC, KTTV and others reported that federal authorities were also executing a search warrant at the rap mogul’s Miami home.
An HSI spokesperson, responding to a Reuters query seeking comment on the reports, said: ‘Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners.’
The statement did not elaborate on the nature of the investigation.
Diddy serves lunch on an immaculately set dining table, beyond which the open terrace and its row of sun-loungers is visible
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The father-of-seven keeps himself in shape on a rowing machine as he works out inside the sprawling Los Angeles mansion
An infinity pool looks out on the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, an upscale neighborhood where property costs millions of dollars
R&B vocalist Cassandra Ventura sued Combs in federal court in Manhattan in mid-November, accusing the rapper and hip-hop executive she once dated and whose music label she signed with of subjecting her to serial physical abuse, slavery and rape.
The lawsuit also accused Combs of regularly beating Ventura over the course of a 10-year professional and romantic relationship in which he controlled her through intimidation and by plying her with drugs and alcohol.
The lawsuit cited violations of trafficking and human trafficking statutes under federal, New York and California laws.
Combs, through his lawyer, flatly denied the allegations. The next day, Combs and Ventura jointly announced they had settled the case out of court. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The American star, founder of the landmark label Bad Boy Records, is one of the most influential producers and executives in hip-hop and a hugely successful performer in his own right, as well as the impresario of his own Sean John clothing line.
The lawsuit by Ventura was one of at least four civil complaints brought in recent months leveling l assault allegations against Combs, who has formerly gone by monikers including P.Diddy, Puff Daddy and Diddy.
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The rapper poses with his young daughter on the neatly manicured grass outside his home
