Shocking evidence that saw Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ fortune cut in half
Sean Combs’ trial exposed a series of deeply humiliating revelations about the rapper’s sexual preferences and his sickening treatment of women and employees of his vast business empire.
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It was clear as Sean Diddy Combs’ trial began that he was a guilty man.
He was guilty of domestic violence. He was guilty of assault. He was guilty of buying, using and sharing illicit drugs.
He was guilty of being a dreadful boyfriend who was manipulative and violent to the women in his life.
And he was also guilty of being a horrible boss, a nightmarish slave driver who threatened to kill employees when they did not live up to his impossible standards.
But after eight weeks, a jury of 12 men and women found he was not guilty of many of the crimes he was actually on trial for – racketeering and sex trafficking.
Combs has only been found guilty of two prostitution charges.
While he could theoretically face a maximum of 20 years behind bars, US legal experts are suggesting in reality it will likely be mere months.
And while he has avoided a conviction on the most serious charges that could have seen him spend the rest of his life in prison, the process has caused irreparable damage to his reputation, relationships, career and businesses – and could still result in a jail term.
The eight-week trial exposed a series of deeply humiliating revelations about the rapper’s sexual preferences and his sickening treatment of women and the employees of his vast business empire.
Forbes has estimated the scandal has halved the wealthy mogul’s net worth from about $A1.1 billion to $600 million.
It’s been a shattering fall from grace for the former music industry kingmaker whose legendary 2000s-era White Parties were attended by celebrities including Beyonce, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, former girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, Ashton Kutcher, Will Smith and 50 Cent.
These days he’d be lucky to get a call back from many of those big names who have sought to distance themselves from his tarnished reputation.
One celebrity pal who has stuck by Combs is troubled rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye and shocked the occupants of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in lower Manhattan when he rocked up to watch the trial in its final days.
Combs’ family has also steadfastly remained by his side. His mother and his seven children have been regular fixtures in the courtroom, bravely sitting through the excruciating, uncomfortable and unflattering testimony.
More than 30 witnesses were called by prosecutors to give evidence during the two-month trial.
There was his employee Mia, who alleged during her time working for Combs he raped and sexually assaulted her, physically attacked her, kidnapped her and threatened her with death.
There was rapper Kid Cudi who said Combs broke into his house, opened Christmas presents he’d bought for his family, locked his dog in a room and used a molotov cocktail to firebomb his Porsche in an act of revenge for dating Casandra Ventura.
There was an assistant named David James who said he quit his job after a terrifying incident in LA when Combs and his security guard armed with guns took him to confront music industry rival Suge Knight.
There was Ms Ventura’s best friend Kerry Morgan, who saw Combs beat Cassie more times than she could count and who ended their friendship when Diddy eventually turned on her too, hitting her with a coathanger and choking her.
But the most harrowing evidence came from Combs’ two former girlfriends – R&B singer Casandra Ventura and a single mum and influencer identified by the pseudonym of Jane.
Ms Ventura dated Combs in a volatile on-and-off relationship over more than a decade until 2018 while Jane dated the rapper from 2021 until his arrest in 2024.
Both women gave remarkably similar evidence about their relationships with Combs that were marked by severe violence and his obsession with weekly sex parties that sometimes lasted for days on end.
These parties weren’t the public, star-studded glamorous White Parties he was known for throwing in the backyard of his various mansions.
They were called “freak offs”. And they took place in the secret privacy of darkened hotel rooms that had to be set up to his exacting specifications and lit only by scented candles.
The key ingredient was a male escort, sometimes several men, who would have sex with Cassie or Jane while Combs sat in the corner masturbating, directing and filming them.
The rooms had to be stocked with ketamine, ecstasy and marijuana and Combs would tell the women what drugs to take and when.
There needed to be a dozen large bottles of baby oil – specifically the brand Johnsons – that the women and escorts had to rub on their skin to constantly be glistening.
And the women had to have their long fingernails painted white, they needed to wear netted lingerie and towering “stripper heels” that they could not take off, sometimes for days while they were directed into different sex acts and positions by Combs.
Prosecutors argued the women were coerced into taking part in the freak offs, terrified of the violence Combs would inflict on them if they refused and in fear of him releasing the intimate videos of them having sex with escorts to humiliate them.
In his closing argument to the jury, Combs’ defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo offered a differing view, describing Diddy’s relationship with Cassie as a “great modern love story” between two people who “loved out loud”.
He painted both women as willing participants in Diddy’s “swingers lifestyle”.
Mr Agnifilo said the freak offs were merely romantic date nights in beautiful hotels and said Combs was “not the only man in America making homemade porn” but was on the only one on trial for it.
“I’m under the impression this is a pretty popular thing these days,” he said.
In his final words to the jury, Mr Agnifilo urged the 12 men and women to send Combs home to his family.
“He’s not a racketeer … he’s none of these things,” the lawyer said.
“He sits here innocent.”
After hours of deliberating, the jury agreed – Sean Combs was innocent of many, but not all, of the charges he faced.
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Originally published as Shocking evidence that saw Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ fortune cut in half
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