For greater than 20 years, Sean “Diddy” Combs was generally known as one in every of hip-hop’s largest entrepreneurs, making hits for high expertise like Infamous B.I.G. and making a enterprise empire that included Unhealthy Boy Data, a vogue model, a TV community, offers with liquor firms and a key position in actuality TV present Making The Band.
However now, U.S. prosecutors allege that for 20 years, behind the scenes, Diddy was coercing and abusing ladies with assist from a community of associates who helped silence victims by way of blackmail and violence.
Diddy has pleaded not responsible and denied the entire allegations. Jury choice for his trial begins on Monday, Could 5 at a federal courthouse in Manhattan with testimony set to observe the week of Could 12.
Right here’s every little thing you must know forward of the trial.
What he’s on trial for
Diddy faces an indictment that features descriptions of “Freak Offs,” that are outlined within the courtroom doc as “elaborate and produced intercourse performances that Combs organized, directed, masturbated throughout, and sometimes electronically recorded.”
Quite a few witnesses have come ahead to accuse Diddy of terrorizing individuals into silence by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, in accordance with prosecutors. One indictment alleges that Diddy dangled somebody from a balcony.
Though dozens of women and men have alleged in lawsuits that Diddy abused them, this trial will spotlight the claims of 4 ladies.
One among them is Diddy’s former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura, whom the rapper was caught on digital camera beating and dragging down a Los Angeles lodge hallway in 2016.
After CNN aired the video final 12 months, Diddy apologized, saying, “I take full duty for my actions in that video. I used to be disgusted then after I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
Ventura filed a lawsuit in late 2023 saying Diddy had subjected her to years of abuse, together with beatings and rape after they met in 2005.
Her lawsuit, which provided the primary public account of the “Freak Offs” described within the indictment, was settled in a day. 4 months later, federal investigators raided Diddy’s houses in Los Angeles and Miami and confronted him at a personal airport in Florida, seizing 96 digital units. Additionally they discovered three AR-15-style rifles with defaced serial numbers.
Diddy was indicted final September. He has been held in a federal jail in Brooklyn after judges dominated that he could be a risk to intimidate witnesses and victims if launched.
The 17-page indictment towards Diddy accuses him of utilizing workers to facilitate his crimes by way of acts that included kidnapping, arson and bribery.
Prosecutors will present jurors journey information, textual content messages and emails, lodge information and movies to complement testimony and assist their claims about what they discuss with as “Freak Off exercise.”
They declare that ladies had been manipulated into taking part within the drug-fuelled sexual performances and to maintain the ladies in line, prosecutors say Diddy used a mixture of affect and violence. He provided to spice up their leisure careers in the event that they did what he requested — or lower them off in the event that they didn’t.
The indictment said that Diddy “abused, threatened, and coerced ladies and others round him to satisfy his sexual wishes, shield his popularity, and conceal his conduct.”
It stated he subjected his victims to violence, threats of violence, threats of monetary and reputational hurt and verbal abuse. The allegations additionally declare that he “manipulated ladies to take part in extremely orchestrated performances of sexual exercise with male industrial intercourse employees.”
“On a number of events, Combs threw each objects and folks, in addition to hit, dragged, choked and shoved others,” it stated. “On one event, Combs dangled a sufferer over an residence balcony.”
“Just like the Freak Offs, these industrial intercourse acts involving Combs and a feminine sufferer had been prearranged, generally lasted a number of days, had been generally electronically recorded by Combs and sometimes concerned Combs distributing a wide range of managed substances to the sufferer, partly to maintain the sufferer obedient and compliant,” the courtroom paperwork alleged.
“In reference to the industrial intercourse acts, Combs supplied the victims with, amongst different issues, financial funds, profession alternatives, and cost of lease and housing bills.”
The grievance towards Diddy stated he paid lodge safety employees US$100,000 (practically C$145,166.32) for surveillance footage of his alleged assault of a lady, later revealed as Ventura, in March 2016.
The indictment states that “when Combs’ authority or popularity was threatened by the opportunity of destructive publicity or authorized or legislation enforcement motion towards him,” he and his associates “pressured witnesses and victims, together with by way of tried bribery, to remain silent and never report what they skilled or knew to legislation enforcement.”
What are the fees?
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Diddy is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two expenses of intercourse trafficking and two expenses of transportation to interact in prostitution. If he’s convicted on all counts, he has the potential to stay behind bars for all times.
Diddy has continued to disclaim the entire expenses the federal government has introduced towards him after his September 2024 arrest and stays incarcerated with out bail.
He rejected a plea deal from federal prosecutors on Thursday, Could 1.
After asking Diddy to verify if he was of sound thoughts and never on any medicine, U.S. District Choose Arun Subramanian, who’s overseeing his trial in New York, requested the rapper concerning the plea deal.
“Have you ever rejected the federal government’s provide?” Subramanian requested him.
“Sure, your honour,” Diddy replied.
Maurene Comey, a prosecutor with the Manhattan U.S. Legal professional’s workplace, stated the rejected deal would have allowed for decreased jail time, however different particulars of the deal weren’t shared.
What does Diddy’s authorized staff say?
Diddy and his attorneys say he’s harmless. His authorized staff claims that Diddy “has by no means sexually assaulted anybody — grownup or minor, man or lady.”
Additionally they declare that any group intercourse was consensual. In line with his authorized staff, there was no effort to coerce individuals into issues they didn’t wish to do, and nothing that occurred amounted to a legal racket.
Diddy’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, beforehand stated at a bail listening to that Diddy wrote “a really giant examine” to Ventura after she filed her lawsuit. Agnifilo claimed that the payout motivated others to return ahead with “false claims.”
Agnifilo stated that Diddy was “not an ideal particular person” and that there had been drug use and poisonous relationships, however he underwent remedy earlier than his arrest.
He stated that Ventura and Diddy had been in a 10-year relationship that was “very loving at instances” and so they generally selected to carry a 3rd particular person into their intimacy.
“That was their factor,” he alleged, on April 25. “It was a sought-after, particular a part of their relationship.”
“There’s a way of life, name it swingers or no matter you’ll, that he thought was applicable as a result of it was frequent,” Agnifilo advised the courtroom.
When prosecutors added new particulars to their indictment towards Diddy in January, including 4 years to the size of his alleged racketeering conspiracy, Agnifilio stated the submitting had “no new offenses” and claimed that the prosecutions’ principle “stays flawed.”
“The federal government has added the ridiculous principle that two of Mr. Combs’ former girlfriends weren’t girlfriends in any respect however had been prostitutes. Mr. Combs is as dedicated as ever to combating these expenses and profitable at trial,” Agnifilo added.
Who’re Diddy’s attorneys?
Diddy’s authorized staff consists of Marc Anthony Agnifilo, a legal defence lawyer, who beforehand represented NXIVM cult chief Keith Raniere and “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli.
Marc Agnifilo, lawyer for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, speaks to members of media outdoors courtroom in New York, US, on Tuesday, Sep. 17, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures
His authorized staff additionally consists of Teny Geragos, the daughter of defence lawyer Mark Geragos, whose shoppers have included celebrities like Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder, Nicole Richie, Chris Brown and extra.
Court docket docs additionally record 5 different attorneys for Diddy, together with Alexandra Shapiro, Jason Driscoll, Anna Estevao and Brian Metal, who lately represented rapper Younger Thug in his racketeering case in Georgia.
In February, a defence lawyer representing Diddy filed a movement to step down because the rapper’s lawyer, in accordance with authorized paperwork.
Within the movement filed in New York Federal Court docket, Anthony Ricco notified the decide of his intent to withdraw and stated there are “adequate causes” protected by lawyer/shopper privilege.
“Though I’ve supplied Sean Combs with the excessive degree of authorized illustration anticipated by the courtroom, in no way can I proceed to successfully function counsel for Sean Combs,” he wrote.
He declined to enter the particular particulars as to why he was leaving Diddy’s authorized staff, however he did be aware it adopted discussions with Agnifilo.
Ricco stated that his movement for withdrawal of counsel “is not going to end in a delay of the current schedule for the graduation of jury choice and trial, or the current schedules for briefing of pretrial authorized points.”
Who’re the prosecutors?
There’s a staff of eight U.S. attorneys arguing the case for the federal government, together with Emily Johnson, Madison Smyser, Mary Slavik, Meredith Foster and Mitzi Steiner.
The prosecution staff additionally consists of Maurene Ryan Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey.
Who’s the decide?
The decide overseeing Diddy’s trial is Choose Arun Subramanian, who grew to become the primary South Asian decide within the Southern District of New York and was nominated by former U.S. President Joe Biden in 2022 and confirmed by the Senate in 2023.
Subramanian is a Columbia Regulation College graduate, who clerked for the late Supreme Court docket Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He was a associate on the Manhattan legislation agency Susman Godfrey, the place he beforehand specialised in industrial and chapter legislation.
Arun Subramanian, nominee to be U.S. District Choose for the Southern District of New York, testifies throughout his Senate Judiciary Committee affirmation listening to in Dirksen Constructing on Tuesday, December 13, 2022.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Name, Inc by way of Getty Pictures
Subramanian has denied the request from Diddy’s counsel to exclude the CNN safety digital camera footage of Diddy attacking Ventura.
The ruling will enable prosecutors to indicate the jury the video, which Diddy’s attorneys beforehand claimed was altered and non-admissible within the trial.
Who’s going to testify on the trial?
The federal case consists of 4 alleged victims, recognized within the indictment as “Sufferer-1,” “Sufferer-2,” Sufferer-3″ and “Sufferer-4,” in accordance with courtroom paperwork considered by World Information. They’re all anticipated to testify towards Diddy in the course of the trial.
Ventura can also be anticipated to testify and he or she might be one of many 4 victims listed above.
Will the trial be televised?
No, in contrast to different latest high-profile movie star trials, Diddy’s courtroom case received’t be broadcast stay as a result of federal courtrooms don’t enable digital recordings inside. Courtroom sketch artists will function the general public’s eyes within the courtroom in the course of the trial, which is anticipated to final not less than eight weeks.
What’s not going to be included within the trial?
Since October 2024, there have been over 120 lawsuits filed towards Diddy, alleging sexual assault, intercourse trafficking, drugging, rape, and battery amongst different expenses.
Just like the others, Diddy has denied all of those accusations towards him. None of those can be included within the federal indictment towards the rapper.
The newest lawsuit, filed on April 1 within the U.S. District Court docket for the Southern District of Florida, accuses Diddy of collaborating within the drugging and sexual assault of a person. Joseph Manzaro is suing the disgraced music mogul for sexually exploiting him in a focused revenge plot in 2015, in accordance with courtroom paperwork.
Diddy’s alleged offences towards Manzaro embrace human trafficking, obstruction of justice and witness tampering racketeering and intentional infliction of emotional misery.
“Diddy orchestrated and facilitated the abuse, coercion and intimidation of (Manzaro), utilizing his affect, wealth and energy to silence and management (Manzaro) and engaged in acts of violence, sexual coercion and psychological manipulation, knowingly inflicting extreme hurt whereas guaranteeing (Manzaro) remained unable to hunt justice,” the lawsuit learn.
In an announcement, Diddy’s authorized staff stated Manzaro’s lawsuit “demonstrates the wicked lengths plaintiffs will journey to garner headlines in pursuit of a payday.”
Diddy’s previous authorized troubles
Diddy has been concerned in earlier authorized instances however that is the primary time he stands accused by the U.S. Division of Justice.
In 1994, Tupac Shakur was shot in New York, and Diddy and Infamous B.I.G. had been accused of getting prior data of the assault, which they denied. Shakur was later killed in a 1996 capturing in Las Vegas.
In 1996, Diddy was convicted of legal mischief after he allegedly threatened a New York Publish photographer with a gun. He paid a $1,000 wonderful.
In 1999, the rapper was booked and charged with two felonies towards report government Steve Stoute, who alleged that Diddy and his bodyguards beat him with their fists, a champagne bottle and a chair. Diddy publicly apologized and Stoute requested for a dismissal of the fees. He ended up pleading responsible to harassment and was sentenced to a day of anger administration courses.
(L-R) Steve Stoute, Nasire ‘Nas’ Jones and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs arrive at Gotha Night time Membership throughout Cannes Lions Worldwide Pageant of Creativity at Gotha Night time Membership on June 21, 2013 in Cannes, France.
Richard Bord/WireImage
The identical 12 months, Diddy was arrested on gun possession expenses after he and his girlfriend on the time, Jennifer Lopez, fled a capturing that wounded three individuals at a New York Metropolis nightclub. Witnesses advised police that he was among the many individuals capturing within the membership.
He was later charged with providing his driver $50,000 to assert possession of the 9 mm handgun present in his automobile, however by 2001 he was acquitted. A rapper in Diddy’s entourage named Jamal “Shyne” Barrows was finally convicted within the capturing and served virtually 9 years in jail.
In March 2008, Diddy settled a lawsuit introduced by a person who claimed the rapper punched him after a post-Oscar celebration outdoors a Hollywood lodge in 2007.
Diddy was arrested in 2015 after a confrontation at UCLA in Los Angeles, the place one in every of his sons performed soccer, after he assaulted somebody with a weight-room kettlebell. Diddy stated he was defending himself and the assault expenses had been later dropped.
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In the event you or somebody you already know is experiencing abuse or is concerned in an abusive scenario, please go to the Canadian Useful resource Centre for Victims of Crime for assist. They’re additionally reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
— With information from The Related Press
