Did court documents reveal that thousands of baby oil bottles seized from Sean "Diddy" Combs' home were laced with the date rape drug GHB? No, that's not true: Lead Stories could find no court document that confirms this. The federal indictment against Combs for alleged sex crimes did not state that the baby oil bottles taken from his residence contained GHB. Six October 2024 lawsuits cited an undefined "allegation" that Combs had used "lotions or similar body oils" that contained GBH on his supposed sexual-assault victims, but did not mention the baby oil bottles seized by law enforcement.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Instagram on October 17, 2024. It said:
Court Documents Reveal The Thousands Of Baby Oil Bottles Seized From Diddy's Home Were Laced With Popular Date R*pe Dr*g GHB.
This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Fri Oct. 17 16:29:11 2024 UTC)
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (archived here), GHB is a liquid or powder used to treat narcolepsy that, along with its analogues, are "misused for their ability to increase libido, suggestibility, passivity, and to cause amnesia."
The post did not provide any proof or details to substantiate its claim that court documents said baby oil bottles seized from Combs' home contained GHB.
Combs was arrested on September 16, 2024 (archived here), in New York City on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation for purposes of prostitution. He has pled not guilty.
The U.S. Justice Department's September 17, 2024, indictment (archived here) against Combs states that his "Freak Offs" parties had "required supplies" that included baby oil. However, the indictment does not say that the "more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant" seized by law enforcement contained GHB. On Page 6, the indictment says (bolding added by Lead Stories):
Members and associates of the Combs Enterprise, including high-ranking supervisors, security staff, household staff, personal assistants, and other Combs Business employees, facilitated the Freak Offs by, among other things, booking hotel rooms for the Freak Offs; stocking the hotel rooms in advance with the required Freak Off supplies, including controlled substances, baby oil, lubricant, extra linens, and lighting; cleaning the hotel rooms after the Freak Offs to try to mitigate room damage; arranging for travel for victims, commercial sex workers, and COMBS to and from Freak Offs; resupplying COMBS with requested supplies; delivering large sums of cash to COMBS to pay the commercial sex workers; and scheduling the delivery of IV fluids.
Page 7 of the indictment states that "more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant" were seized by law enforcement from Combs' homes in Florida and California, but does not say that the "baby oil and lubricant" were laced with GHB (bolding added by Lead Stories):
In or about March 2024, during searches of COMBS' residences in Miami, Florida and Los Angeles, California, law enforcement seized various Freak Off supplies, including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.
Six lawsuits filed in the United States District Court Southern District of New York on October 14, 2024, against Combs for alleged sexual assault and rape all mentioned GHB, but did not "reveal" or offer any evidence that the baby oil bottles seized from his homes contained the substance. Lead Stories obtained the lawsuits from the attorney who filed the lawsuits, Tony Buzbee (archived here). The text of one complaint (archived here) can be found on Courthouse News Service, a website that reports on legal cases.
On page 5, the complaint cited "allegations" about GHB in "lotions or similar body oils," but did not elaborate about these supposed allegations or substantiate them. It said nothing about the baby oil bottles seized by law enforcement from Combs' residences:
9. Combs particularly fancied the use of the popular date-rape drug Rohypnol, or GHB, to commit heinous non-consensual acts of sexual violence and rape onto countless victims. Combs often would secretly use the drug in an alcoholic beverage served at his parties, typically champagne or 'lemon drops.' Partygoers were forced to consume the alcoholic beverage, containing GHB, either prior to entering or while at Combs' party. There are also allegations of Combs dousing victims in lotions or similar body oils, also laced with GBH, so that the drug would be absorbed through the victim's skin and make it easier to assault him or her.
Here is a screenshot of page 5 of the lawsuit:
(Source: Courthousenews website screenshot taken on Fri Oct. 17 16:31:21 2024 UTC)
Page 14 of the lawsuit claimed Combs and his agents/employees were "drugging unsuspecting victims." Page 15 showed a "photograph of an exemplary container used by Combs and/or his agents/employees to insert GHB into alcoholic drinks," but the photograph is not of a baby oil bottle seized by law enforcement.
Here is a screenshot of page 15 showing the "exemplary container," but the documents do not say this is an actual container used by Combs or his agents or employees:
(Source: Courthousenews website screenshot taken on Fri Oct. 17 16:34:43 2024 UTC)
A search for court documents on Google ("sean diddy combs AND baby oil bottles AND laced ghb AND ("court" OR "complaint" OR "indictment" OR "appeal" OR "lawsuit") yielded only news stories about Combs, but no court documents that mention seized baby oil bottles with GHB.
In a video posted on the entertainment news website TMZ (archived here) on September 25, 2024, Combs' attorney, Marc Agnifilo, questioned whether law enforcement had found "thousands" of baby oil bottles in Combs' homes, adding "I'm not really sure what the baby oil has to do with anything."
Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims regarding Sean Combs can be found here.
