A screenshot of a CNN broadcast saying that underground tunnels were found in the home of hip-hop star Sean “Diddy” Combs, which was raided by law enforcement this week following a sex trafficking lawsuit, is fabricated.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on Monday that they had begun an investigation
of Combs and searched his Los Angeles and Miami properties in relation to a lawsuit accusing him of engaging in sex trafficking that was filed in federal court by a former girlfriend in November 2023.
An Instagram post
says, “Another conspiracy ‘theory’ turned FACT! It’s just the beginning y’all! The dominos are falling.”
Reuters Image
The post shares an image of a fabricated CNN broadcast report where the chyron says, “Underground tunnels found at Diddy’s LA home.”
The screenshot includes a still from a Sky News video
of the raid (around 0:06 in), a photo of Combs and a photo of a tunnel.
“That is a manipulated image and not something CNN reported,” CNN representative Emily Kuhn said in an email.
None of the reports on the CNN website
about the raids on Combs’ properties talk about the discovery of underground tunnels. This is not mentioned on CNN’s social
The home does have a pool with “a grotto connected by an underwater swimming tunnel,” the Los Angeles Times
reported in 2014.
There are no credible reports about other “underground tunnels” in his home, however.
Representatives for Combs and U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
VERDICT
False. A CNN broadcast saying that underground tunnels were found in the home of hip-hop star Sean “Diddy” Combs is fabricated.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.