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.
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.
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”.
