Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial: A timeline of allegations
Sean "Diddy" Combs, one of the most influential producers and executives in the history of hip-hop, is on trial in New York, on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Here is a look back at the allegations against him.
Friday 6 June 2025 09:34, UK
Hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs is on trial accused of serious criminal charges in New York - and he is also facing dozens of separate lawsuits filed by men and women accusing him of sexual abuse.
Combs, who has also been known as Puff Daddy, P Diddy and "Love" over the years, was arrested on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering in September 2024 following a federal investigation.
The trial of the 55-year-old, who is a three-time Grammy winner and one of the most influential producers and executives in the history of hip-hop, is now under way.
Here we take a look at some of the key developments since allegations first surfaced.
November 2023
The rapper's ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, files a lawsuit saying she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs, and viciously beaten by Combs on many occasions over the course of 10 years.
Cassie, whose real name is Cassandra Ventura, signed to Combs' label in 2005 and the two were on-and-off romantic partners for more than a decade, starting around 2007.
She files her case under the state of New York's Adult Survivors Act, which gave victims of sexual violence a one-year window from November 2022 to November 2023 to file civil claims regardless of the statute of limitations - a time window in which a person has to bring a legal claim following an alleged incident.
Combs, through his lawyer, "vehemently denies" all the accusations in the lawsuit. The following day he settles the claim, with the terms of the agreement kept confidential. "We have decided to resolve this matter amicably," he says in a statement.
The following week, two more lawsuits are filed by two women accusing Combs of sexual abuse, alleging acts of sexual assault, beatings, and forced drugging in the early 1990s. The rapper's lawyers call the allegations false.
December 2023
A woman alleges in another lawsuit that Combs and two other men raped her in 2003 when she was 17.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan says the woman was living in a Detroit suburb and was flown to a New York studio, where she was given drugs and alcohol that made her incapable of consenting to sex, and the men took turns raping her.
The same day, Combs posts a statement on Instagram broadly denying all the allegations in the mounting series of lawsuits.
"I did not do any of the awful things being alleged," the post says. "I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth."
February 2024
Music producer Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones claims in a lawsuit that Combs pressured him to procure and engage in sexual acts with sex workers between September 2022 and November 2023.
He also claims he is a victim of unsolicited groping and sexual touching by Combs, and that the music mogul gave out drinks laced with drugs to people at parties.
A lawyer for Combs calls the allegations in Jones' lawsuit "pure fiction".
Jones later amends the filing to include allegations of "fondling" and "groping" against actor Cuba Gooding Jr. He says the alleged incident happened on a yacht rented by Combs in the US Virgin Islands in January 2023. Gooding Jr was not charged with any crime. "That's the craziest thing I ever heard," he reportedly said of the allegations, in a podcast interview later in 2024.
Later in the year, Combs asks a federal judge to throw out the lawsuit, which his lawyers say is overrun with "tall tales", "lurid theatrics", "legally meaningless allegations" and "blatant falsehoods", with the only intent to "generate media hype and exploit it to extract a settlement".
Some of Jones' allegations - including of racketeering and intentional infliction of emotional distress - have since been dismissed by a judge, but his claim of sexual abuse against Combs remains ongoing. In court filings, Combs has denied allegations of sexual abuse and that he attempted to "pass off" Jones to Gooding Jr.
March 2024
Two properties owned by Combs are searched by federal agents. Officials do not say whether the raids, at homes in Miami and Los Angeles, have been prompted by the civil lawsuits, but the music mogul's attorneys say they believe they are.
The next day, Combs' lawyer calls the raids "a gross use of military-level force" and says his client is "innocent and will continue to fight" to clear his name.
April 2024
A lawsuit sexually assaulted a woman working on a yacht chartered by his father.
Combs is named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit, which claims he created the circumstances that led to the assault and paid to cover it up afterwards. Christian Combs was 24 at the time of the alleged incident and the woman was 25.
An attorney for the two men calls the allegations "outrageous".
Later this month, Combs and his legal team file a motion to dismiss several elements of a separate lawsuit filed in November 2023 on the grounds they were not illegal in 1991 when the alleged incidents occurred.
While the legal objections are procedural, the filing also criticises the "numerous false, offensive, and salacious accusations" in the lawsuit.
May 2024
CNN publishes video footage showing Combs attacking Cassie in a hotel hallway in 2016.
The video closely mirrors an assault described in her lawsuit, which claimed Combs had already punched her that night, and she was trying to leave the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles when he woke and came after her.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office says it cannot prosecute Combs for the attack shown in the video due to the statute of limitations, noting that no case had been presented to prosecutors.
Combs' representatives give no immediate comment - but he apologises in a video posted on social media two days later. "I was f up - I mean I hit rock bottom - but l make no excuses," he says. "My behaviour on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I am disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I'm disgusted now."
Another lawsuit is also filed in May, by a woman who accuses Combs of sexually assaulting her more than 20 years prior, when she was a fashion student in New York City.
She claims the musician sexually assaulted her on four occasions between 1995 and the early 2000s, including once when she was allegedly forced to take ecstasy and have sex with Combs' former girlfriend, the late Kim Porter.
Combs denies the allegations and also files a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Earlier in May, he also asks a federal judge to dismiss the December 2023 lawsuit. Again, the objections are procedural - alleging the lawsuit was filed too late under the law - but the court document calls the claims "false and hideous".
September 2024
Combs is arrested in New York after a grand jury indictment. His attorney calls it an unjust prosecution of an "imperfect person" who is "not a criminal".
The following day, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announces three charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Prosecutors accuse Combs of abusing, threatening and coercing women for years "to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct". He is accused of inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes days-long sexual performances dubbed "Freak Offs".
Combs appears in court and pleads not guilty, but is denied bail.
Earlier in September, , a former singer in girl group Danity Kane - who were formed on his Making The Band show and signed to his label, Bad Boy.
She alleges years of psychological and physical abuse, including groping, that she says she suffered as he helped launch her career. Combs' representatives accuse Richard of making "an attempt to rewrite history" by manufacturing "a series of false claims, all in the hopes of trying to get a pay day - conveniently timed to coincide with her album release and press tour".
October 2024
A wave of separate civil lawsuits accusing Combs of sexual abuse are filed. Combs denies all allegations.
The lawsuits include allegations of raping women and sexually assaulting men, as well as allegations involving a girl aged 13, and a boy aged 10.
Tony Buzbee, a lawyer representing several accusers in the civil cases, says he has heard from more than 100 alleged victims.
In another claim, Combs is accused of raping a woman as alleged payback for her saying she believed he was involved in the high-profile murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996.
In Combs' criminal case, a further request for bail at $50m (about £37m) is denied.
Meanwhile, the rapper's mother, Janice Smalls Combs releases a statement defending her son, saying he is being "judged not for the truth, but for a narrative created out of lies". She continues: "To bear witness what seems to be like a public lynching of my son before he has had the opportunity to prove his innocence is a pain too unbearable to put into words."
November 2024
Combs is denied bail once again, despite his lawyers citing changed circumstances and new evidence which they say makes it "clear that the government's case is thin".
It comes after prosecutors claim in a court filing that he has attempted to contact prospective witnesses from jail in a bid to sway public opinion ahead of his trial. They say a review of recorded jail calls made by Combs shows he has asked family members to reach out to potential victims and witnesses and has urged them to create "narratives" to influence the jury pool.
In a document filed by Combs' legal team a few days later, his lawyers say prosecutors have made "unsubstantiated claims of witness tampering".
They also argue the rapper is not a flight risk, saying he "fully intends to face these charges" and that "the prospect of a conviction does not materially change his incentives here, where his reputation has already been destroyed by the government's allegations and aggressive and deceptive media tactics, and can only be rebuilt by winning at trial".
December 2024
More lawsuits are filed, including separate claims by three men who accuse Combs of plying them with drinks laced with drugs, then raping them while they were unconscious, in hotel rooms or his private home between 2019 and 2022. Combs' legal team describes the complaints as "full of lies" and says they will "prove them false and seek sanctions against every unethical lawyer who filed fictional claims".
Another lawsuit filed earlier in the year is refiled to add fellow rapper Jay-Z to the claim. In the court documents, an unnamed woman accuses Combs and Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, of raping her after the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000, when she was 13.
Jay-Z denies the allegations, calling them "heinous" and criticising Mr Buzbee, who filed the suit: "My heart and support goes out to true victims in the world, who have to watch how their life story is dressed in costume for profitability by this ambulance chaser in a cheap suit."
This case is later voluntarily dropped with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again, by the accuser - and Jay-Z files his own lawsuit for defamation.
In another lawsuit, at a party in New York in 2006.
January 2025
Prosecutors update the criminal indictment against Combs. No new charges are added, but new details accuse the rapper of coercing two other women into commercial sexual acts, in addition to "Victim 1", who is referred to in the original indictment. He is also accused of dangling a person over an apartment balcony.
According to the filing, Combs "used force, threats of force, and coercion, to cause victims, including but not limited to three female victims" to engage in commercial sex acts. Marc Agnifilo, one of Combs' lawyers, says the prosecution's "theory remains flawed" and that the rapper "is as committed as ever to fighting these charges and winning at trial".
Combs pleads not guilty to the new allegations.
February 2025
Combs' lawyers argue that one of the criminal charges against him - transportation to engage in prostitution - should be dismissed, saying in a court filing that the rapper has been subject to a "racist" prosecution.
They say he "has been singled out because he is a powerful black man" and that "no white person" has ever "been the target of a remotely similar prosecution".
Meanwhile, more civil lawsuits are filed against the rapper - and his mother.
Kirk Burrowes, the co-founder of Combs' company Bad Boy Entertainment, set up in the 1990s, sues Janice Smalls Combs and others, saying she allegedly colluded with her son and others "to illegally seize" his 25% ownership interest in Bad Boy, as well as a 15% share of annual earnings.
In the legal documents, Burrowes says he was "an integral co-founder and executive" of Bad Boy, that he contributed "significant financial investments, industry expertise, and leadership", and helped the company "evolve from an amateur start-up entity to a global music powerhouse" - and that his trust was exploited and his "pivotal role" erased.
As yet, no legal response has been filed on Janice Smalls Combs' behalf.
March 2025
The criminal indictment against Combs is updated for a second time. Again, no new charges are added, but the indictment includes new claims that the rapper forced employees to work long hours and threatened to punish those who did not assist in his alleged two-decade sex trafficking scheme.
Prosecutors claim Combs and those who worked with him "maintained control" over some employees by forcing them to work long hours with minimal sleep, with threats of physical force, financial harm, psychological harm and reputational damage.
during a court appearance the following week.
April 2025
The indictment is amended for a third time, but this time prosecutors add two additional charges - a second charge of sex trafficking and a second charge of transportation to engage in prostitution. This takes the total number of criminal charges up to five.
Combs pleads not guilty to the new charges. His team also applies for the trial, scheduled to begin on 5 May, to be delayed for two months, saying they need more time to prepare their case due to the new charges. However, this request is denied a few days later by the judge.
May 2025
Jury selection begins - a process known as "voir dire" - on Monday 5 May, with the aim of finding a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates who can be fair and impartial despite heavy media coverage of the case.
A week later, on the morning of Monday 12 May, the jury is finalised and the court hears opening statements from the prosecution and defence. The trial is now under way.
Prosecutors in their opening statement tell the court that while Combs's public persona was that of a "charismatic" hip-hop mogul, behind the scenes he was violent and abusive for years.
His defence lawyers argue that the case is really about nothing more than the rapper's sexual preferences, which they say should remain private, and do not make him a sex trafficker.
They concede Combs is "flawed" and could be violent, but said that does not make him guilty of the crimes he is accused of.
On the second day of the trial, Cassie is confirmed to be Victim 1 and called to give evidence. She tells the court that sex with male escorts - the freak offs - became like a job, and that she was abused physically and psychologically throughout their on-off relationship.
In total, she spends four days on the witness stand. Other witnesses to give evidence afterwards include her mother, Regina Ventura; Capricorn Clark, a former assistant to Combs; a sex worker known as The Punisher; and rapper Kid Cudi, who had a brief relationship with Cassie in 2011.
The court hears allegations that Combs "kidnapped" Clark at gunpoint to take her to confront Kid Cudi, and that he threatened to kill him.
During week three of the trial, the court hears from Mia*, a former employee of Combs and the second alleged victim to give evidence against him. She breaks down in tears as she tells the court she was sexually assaulted by the hip-hop star on several occasions - calling the alleged abuse "the most traumatising, worst thing that's ever happened to me".
She testifies under a pseudonym.
June 2025
Towards the end of the fourth week of the trial, the court hears from Jane*, who dated Combs between 2021 and his arrest in September 2024. Also giving evidence under a pseudonym, her allegations are similar to Cassie's - that she was coerced into drug-fuelled, hours-long sex sessions with male escorts.
She takes the stand on a dramatic day at the Manhattan court, not long after Judge Arun Subramanian issues a warning to Combs's lawyers after seeing the rapper "nodding vigorously" towards the jury during earlier testimony.