P Diddy: Everything you need to know about the Sean Combs trial
Rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs has been held in jail in New York since his high-profile arrest in September 2024, having been refused bail. Now, the rapper and producer is on trial over charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
Wednesday 28 May 2025 20:24, UK
Seven months after his high-profile arrest, the trial of hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has begun.
A three-time Grammy winner and one of the most influential hip-hop producers of the past 30 years - also known variously as Puff Daddy, P Diddy and "Love" in the years since he rose to fame in the 1990s - the rapper and founder of Bad Boy Records is now facing serious criminal charges in the US, as well as several civil lawsuits.
He has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, said his sexual relationships were consensual, and strenuously denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial: Live updates
Combs, 55, was arrested and charged in September 2024, six months after raids by federal agents on two of his properties in Los Angeles and Miami. He has been held in detention in New York since his arrest, having been refused bail.
His trial is now under way. Here is everything you need to know.
What is Combs on trial for?
Combs is facing five felony charges:
• Racketeering conspiracy
• Two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion
• Two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution
The rapper was initially charged with three offences - racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Two extra counts - one each of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution - were added earlier in April.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Racketeering broadly means engaging in an illegal scheme or enterprise, and the charge falls under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act (RICO) in the US.
According to the US justice department's definition of RICO statute, it is also illegal to "conspire to violate" the laws.
The indictment against Combs alleges that between 2008 and 2024, he "led a racketeering conspiracy that engaged in sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice, among other crimes", the US attorney's office for the Southern District of New York said following his arrest in September.
Who are the accusers?
Prosecutors expect four accusers to testify against Combs during the criminal trial.
Three have requested their identities not be revealed to the press or the public and that they instead be referred to using only pseudonyms.
One accuser, who was referred to as Victim 1 in court documents, was prepared to testify under her own name, prosecutors said before the trial.
During the first week of the trial, Combs's former girlfriend, R'n'B star Cassie - full name Casandra Ventura - was confirmed to be Victim 1. She gave evidence over four days and was named in court.
When did allegations begin?
In November 2023, Cassie filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs and viciously beaten by the rapper on many occasions over the course of 10 years.
The lawsuit was settled the following day. Terms of the agreement were not made public but there was no admission of wrongdoing from Combs, and he issued a statement saying he "vehemently" denied the "offensive and outrageous" allegations.
Six months later, footage recorded at a hotel in Los Angeles in 2016 emerged, allegedly showing Combs hitting and kicking Cassie in a hallway.
Shortly afterwards, he released a video apology, saying his behaviour in the video was at a time when he had "hit rock bottom" but nonetheless was "inexcusable" and that he was "disgusted" with himself.
The rapper's lawyers argue the footage was nothing more than a "glimpse into a complex but decade-long consensual relationship".
Details of 'freak offs'
The charges include details of alleged "freak offs" - described as "elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded".
He allegedly induced female victims and male sex workers into drug-fuelled sexual performances, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors allege victims were given controlled substances during the sometimes days-long events to keep them "obedient and compliant" and Combs subjected them to "physical, emotional, and verbal abuse" to get them to engage.
The indictment also alleges Combs "engaged in acts of violence, threats of violence, threats of financial and reputational harm, and verbal abuse" including kidnapping and arson when witnesses of his alleged abuse threatened his authority or reputation.
Delay request before the trial - and jury selection
After the two additional charges were added in April, Combs' legal team requested a delay of two months, saying they needed more time to prepare his defence. However, Judge Arun Subramanian, who is presiding over the trial, denied the request, saying it had been made too close to the start date.
So, the hearing at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, in Lower Manhattan, began as planned with the start of jury selection on Monday 5 May.
Potential jurors were questioned on their views regarding sex, drugs, alcohol, and violence, as well as their thoughts on Combs and whether they can remain fair and impartial, in a questionnaire.
In a letter submitted to the judge, the rapper's legal team said: "Because this trial involves content that is sensitive and private in nature, many individuals are uncomfortable speaking about these issues in front of others and would be more candid writing about them in a questionnaire."
Read more:
The rise and fall of Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Diddy - a timeline of allegations
Examples of areas "requiring inquiry" were potential connections to "drug or alcohol abuse... domestic violence, their willingness to watch videos with physical assault and videos that are sexually explicit, and their views towards people with multiple sexual partners", they said.
They also wanted potential jurors to say if they have watched documentaries released about Combs since the charges were announced.
Hundreds of prospective jurors filled out questionnaires designed to elicit any bias they may have about the case. Combs' defence lawyers and prosecutors agreed on about 150 who could proceed to in-person questioning by the judge, known as voir dire.
During the first day of jury selection, they were also presented with a list of names, including celebrities, that may come up during the trial. These included actors Michael B Jordan and Mike Myers, rapper Kanye West, Aubrey O'Day and Dawn Richard - former members of girl group Danity Kane, who were signed to Bad Boy - and singer Michelle Williams.
Opening statements
The evidence began on Monday 12 May. Prosecutors in their opening statement told the court that while Combs's public persona was that of a "charismatic" hip-hop mogul, behind the scenes he was violent and abusive.
"To the public, he was Puff Daddy or Diddy," prosecutor Emily Johnson told the court, describing Combs as a "business icon" and "larger than life".
However, there was another side to the rapper, she says - a side that "ran a criminal enterprise". He sometimes "called himself the king", Ms Johnson said, and expected to be treated like one.
"This is Sean Combs," Ms Johnson told jurors as she pointed at him in court. "During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant's crimes."
But Teny Geragos, who is on Combs's defence team, painted a very different picture.
"Sean Combs is a complicated man," she told the court. "But this is not a complicated case. This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money."
Ms Geragos conceded that Combs could be violent and said she understood some jurors might not condone this, nor his "kinky sex". But the rapper is "not charged with being mean", she said, and his lifestyle may have been indulgent, but it was not illegal.
She also claimed Combs's accusers were motivated by money.
Cassie's evidence
During the second day of the trial, Cassie was named in court and called to give evidence. She told jurors that sex with male escorts - the freak offs - became like a job, and that she was abused physically and psychologically throughout their on-off 10-year relationship.
She is the key witness in the prosecution's case.
"Freak-offs became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again," she said. Each time, she added, she had to recuperate from lack of sleep, alcohol, drugs "and other substances", and "having sex with a stranger for days".
Throughout her four days on the stand, she gave graphic details of these drug and drink-fuelled encounters with male escorts, saying Combs would watch and masturbate, and often record the encounters and watch the videos back.
Cassie was heavily pregnant when she gave her evidence. During the third week of the trial, it was reported she had given birth to a son, her third child with husband Alex Fine.
Who else has given evidence?
The court has heard from a number of witnesses, from former sex workers to former employees of Combs. Defence witnesses will be called once the prosecution has rested its case.
Here are some of prosecution witnesses who have testified so far:
• Former hotel security officer Israel Florez, who in 2016 worked at the LA hotel where Combs was filmed on CCTV seemingly attacking Cassie. He told the court that when he arrived at the scene, Combs had "a blank stare, like a devilish stare, just looking at me";
• Singer Dawn Richard, a former member of Diddy-backed groups Danity Kane and Dirty Money, told the court Combs was "frequently" violent with Cassie and threatened her life if she spoke out about it;
• Cassie's former best friend Kerry Morgan said Combs was prone to "mood swings" and once choked her - and described two occasions she allegedly saw him beat Cassie;
• In her testimony, Cassie's mother Regina Ventura described feeling "physically sick" when her daughter told her Combs had threatened to "release two explicit sex tapes";
• A male exotic dancer nicknamed "The Punisher" told jurors of between eight and 12 sexual encounters with Combs and Cassie. He described them as "a fetish type thing" and said while he believed Cassie was consensual, he "did occasionally see her sigh or wince" and said she would frequently look at Combs "for cues". Another sex worker also told of encounters with the former couple, and said he was present when Combs was violent;
• Rapper Kid Cudi, who briefly dated Cassie towards the end of 2011, during a difficult period in her on-off relationship with Combs, toid the court that Combs broke into his home, "messed with" his dog and opened some of his Christmas presents during a break-in;
• George Kaplan, a former assistant to Combs, described seeing "regular" physical violence between Combs and Cassie and recalled carrying large amounts of cash for the hip-hop mogul. He said he also saw Combs hurling "decorative apples" at another of his girlfriends and handed in his notice shortly after this;
• Capricorn Clark, another former assistant to Combs, alleged she was "kidnapped" at gunpoint by Combs to join him as he attempted to confront Kid Cudi;
• Stylist Deonte Nash told the court Combs was controlling and that he often heard him being verbally abusive to Cassie. The hip-hop mogul also made threats about her parents, he said.
• Former employee Mia*, not her real name, the second alleged victim in this case, told the court of several alleged incidents of sexual assault - and cried on the stand as she said she had never spoken about them until the investigation for this case.
What has Combs said?
The rapper has strongly denied all the allegations against him. It is not known yet whether or not he will take the stand during the trial.
Following his initial court appearance in September, one of his lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, said the rapper would "fight this to the end," that he was "not afraid" of the charges, and was "looking forward to clearing his name".
"Eventually he's going to be shown to be innocent," Mr Agnifilo said.
In a document submitted in February, Combs' legal team argued for the transportation charge to be dismissed, saying he had been subject to a "racist" prosecution "for conduct that regularly goes unpunished", and that he was being "singled out" as "a powerful black man" over the use of escorts.
They argued that "no white person" had ever "been the target of a remotely similar prosecution" and said that while the rapper had "complicated relationships with significant others as well as with alcohol and drugs... that doesn't make him a racketeer, or a sex trafficker".
During the defence's opening statement, Teny Geragos, another of his lawyers, described Combs as "a complicated man". However, she told jurors, that "this is not a complicated case - this case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money".
Ms Geragos conceded Combs could be violent and said she understood some jurors might not condone this, nor his "kinky sex". But the rapper is "not charged with being mean", she said, and his lifestyle may have been indulgent, but it was not illegal.
She also claimed Combs's accusers were motivated by money.
Are the criminal charges separate to the lawsuits?
Yes. Combs has also been hit with dozens of civil claims - a few filed before the criminal charges were announced, but the majority afterwards.
These include accusations of sexual abuse by men and women, from alleged victims who were as young as 10 at the time of the alleged incidents.
Many of these have been filed by Texas lawyer Tony Buzbee, whom Combs' team have accused of seeking publicity.
One particularly high-profile lawsuit, involving rapper Jay-Z as well as Combs, was voluntarily dropped with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again, by the accuser in February.
Another lawsuit accuses Combs of raping a woman as alleged payback for her saying she believed he was involved in the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. Combs is suing the lawyer involved in this case for defamation, over other allegations that have been made against him.
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What sentence does Combs face?
The US attorney's office for the Southern District of New York announced details of potential sentences when Combs was charged, but said the decision would ultimately be determined by the judge.
Racketeering conspiracy carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, the attorney's office said, as does sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion - which also carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
The charge of transportation for purposes of prostitution carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.