Hip-hop artist Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing trial, defending criminal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation for prostitution.
Opening arguments in the “Diddy trial” begin on Monday, May 12 (US time). Like the trials of Ted Bundy in 1979, the Menendez brothers in 1993 and O.J. Simpson in 1995, which turned into television spectacles, the Diddy trial will be a major media event.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing trial on multiple criminal charges.Credit: Invision/AP
When and where is the Diddy trial?
Following a jury selection process that began on May 5, opening arguments in the trial start on Monday at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in New York City, which houses the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. It is expected to last at least eight weeks.
How can I watch the Diddy trial?
Under court rules, no photos or video of the trial will be allowed. This means there’ll be no livestream and the public will need to rely on reporting from those in the room. Courtroom sketches are permitted.
Who is Diddy?
Sean “Diddy” Combs, 55, is a New York-born recording artist, record producer and record company executive. As a rapper, he was also known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy.
Combs is one of the world’s most successful music artists, topping the Forbes annual hip-hop rich list in 2014 and 2017, and winning three Grammy Awards, three BET Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards.
What is Diddy charged with?
Combs was indicted by a federal grand jury on criminal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation for prostitution. He was arrested in September 2024 and has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He has been held in jail without bail since his arrest. If convicted, he could face 15 years to life in prison.
A court sketch of Combs at the start of jury selection on May 5.Credit: AP
Combs is charged with operating his businesses like a racketeering enterprise, using employees and other associates to help facilitate multiple crimes, including kidnapping, arson, bribery and sex trafficking. Prosecutors say he used his fame and fortune as a powerbroker in the hip-hop world to force young women into sexually abusive situations, including “freak-offs”, drug-fuelled orgies in which women were forced to have sex with male sex workers while Combs filmed them.
Combs’ lawyers contend prosecutors are trying to police consensual sexual activity.
What about the civil lawsuits?
Accounts vary, but there are at least 70 civil lawsuits, alleging various forms of misconduct, dating back to the 1990s. These are being dealt with separately to the criminal charges.
When did these accusations surface?
In November 2023, Combs’ former girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit accusing him of a decade-long “cycle of abuse, violence and sex trafficking”. Combs and Ventura had been in a relationship between 2007 and 2018.
That suit was filed under the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law that allows lawsuits to be filed after the statute of limitations has expired. The case was settled a day after it was filed. The terms of the out-of-court settlement were not disclosed.
In March 2024, the Department of Homeland Security raided several properties owned by Combs, and six months later the charges of sex trafficking and racketeering were laid.
Video of Diddy assaulting Cassie Ventura
On May 17, 2024, the US news channel CNN released surveillance footage of Combs assaulting Ventura at the InterContinental hotel in Century City, Los Angeles.
The incident occurred on March 5, 2016, and the surveillance footage, compiled from multiple camera angles, shows Combs grabbing Ventura by the hair and by her neck, throwing her to the floor, kicking her, shoving her and throwing an object at her.
Combs had previously denied assaulting Ventura, but when the clip was circulated publicly, he took full responsibility for the behaviour in it.
“My behaviour on that video is inexcusable,” he wrote on social media when the video surfaced. “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”
Combs with then-partner Cassie Ventura in 2017.Credit: Invision/AP
Who is Cassie Ventura?
Born in Connecticut in 1986, Casandra Ventura is an American R&B singer, dancer, actor and model who moved to New York in 2004, where she became a rising star in the hip-hop scene.
Her first single, Me & U, became her breakout hit. Combs’ Bad Boy Records released her 2006 album, Cassie, through a partnership with the NextSelection record label. In 2007, Ventura began working predominantly with Bad Boy Records. That same year, Combs and Ventura began secretly dating. Their relationship ended in 2018.
Ventura has accused Combs of rape over the course of their relationship and is expected to testify in court that he abused her and derailed her career.
Ventura married personal trainer Alex Fine in September 2019 and they have two daughters. She is pregnant with a third child.
Will Diddy wear prison clothing to court?
Combs’ legal team asked permission for him to be allowed to appear in court without a tan prison jumpsuit and the judge said yes. Combs is allowed to “receive non-prison clothing” for his trial: up to five button-down shirts, up to five pairs of pants, up to five sweaters, up to five pairs of socks, and up to two pairs of shoes without laces.
Where is Diddy now?
Combs is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn. His lawyers have attempted several times to have him released on bail, and offered a number of concessions, including surrendering his passport and selling his private jet. In October, the court denied Combs bail for a third time.
Did Diddy take a plea deal?
Last week, Combs appeared in court and was offered an opportunity to take a plea deal from prosecutors, essentially bartering an admission of guilt in exchange for lesser charges, which would come with a potentially smaller sentence. He rejected the offer, which means the trial will proceed, with no deal in place to cap any potential sentence should he be found guilty.
With Reuters, AP
Must-see movies, interviews and all the latest from the world of film delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our Screening Room newsletter.