A timeline of the rise and fall of Sean 'Diddy' Combs

CNA

05-05-2025

For more than two decades, Sean 'Diddy' Combs was one of hip-hop's most opportunistic entrepreneurs, spinning his hitmaking talents into a broad business empire that included a record label, a fashion brand, a TV network, deals with liquor companies and a key role in a reality TV show.
But US prosecutors say that behind the scenes, Combs was coercing and abusing women with help from a network of associates who helped silence victims through blackmail and violence.
Combs has pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations. Jury selection for his trial starts Monday (May 5).
Here is a timeline of major events in his rise and fall:
1990: Combs, then a student at Howard University, gets his start in the music business with an internship at Uptown Records in New York.
Dec 28, 1991: Nine people die at a celebrity basketball game promoted by Combs and the rapper Heavy D when thousands of fans try to get into a gym at the City College of New York. A mayoral report lays part of the blame for the catastrophe on poor planning by Combs.
1992: Combs is one of the executive producers on What's the 411?, the debut album by Mary J Blige.
1993: After being fired by Uptown, Combs establishes his own label, Bad Boy, which quickly cuts a lucrative deal with Arista Records.
1994: Bad Boy releases Notorious BIG's album Ready to Die. Two months later, Tupac Shakur survives a shooting in New York and accuses Combs and Biggie of having prior knowledge of the attack, which they deny. Shakur was later killed in a 1996 shooting in Las Vegas.
1996: Combs is convicted of criminal mischief after he allegedly threatened a photographer with a gun.
1997: Biggie is killed in Los Angeles. Combs, then known as Puff Daddy, releases I'll be Missing You in honour of his slain star.
1998: Combs wins two Grammys, one for best rap album for his debut No Way Out and another for best rap performance by a duo or group for I'll Be Missing You with Faith Evans. Also that year, Combs' Sean John fashion line is founded.
Apr 16, 1999: Combs and his bodyguards are charged with attacking Interscope Records music executive Steve Stoute in his New York office in a dispute over a music video. Combs is sentenced to an anger management course.
Dec 27, 1999: Combs is arrested on gun possession charges after he and his girlfriend at the time, Jennifer Lopez, fled a shooting that wounded three people at a New York City nightclub. Some witnesses tell police Combs was among the people shooting in the club. He is later charged with offering his driver US$50,000 to claim ownership of the 9mm handgun found in his car.
Mar 17, 2001: Combs is acquitted of all charges related to the nightclub shooting. One of his rap proteges, Jamal 'Shyne' Barrows, is convicted in the shooting and serves nearly nine years in prison. Two weeks after the trial, Combs announces he wants to be known as P Diddy.
2002: Combs becomes the producer and star of Making The Band, a talent-search TV show.
Feb 1, 2004: Combs performs at the Super Bowl halftime show along with Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake and others. A week later, Combs, Nelly and Murphy Lee win a Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or group for Shake Ya Tailfeather.
April, 2004: Combs makes his Broadway acting debut in A Raisin In The Sun.
2005: Combs announces he is changing his stage name to Diddy, getting rid of the P.
March, 2008: Combs settles a lawsuit brought by a man who claims Combs punched him after a post-Oscar party outside a Hollywood hotel the previous year. In May, Combs is honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2015: Combs is arrested after a confrontation at UCLA in Los Angeles, where one of his sons played football. Assault charges are later dropped.
2016: Combs launches the Capital Preparatory School charter school in Harlem. Also that year, he announces he is donating US$1 million to Howard University.
2017: Combs is named the top earner on Forbes' list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities, which says he brought in US$130 million in a single year.
2018: Kim Porter, Combs' former girlfriend and mother of three of his children, dies from pneumonia at age 47.
2022: Combs receives a lifetime honour at the BET Awards.
September, 2023: Combs releases The Love Album – Off the Grid, his first solo studio project since 2006's chart-topping Press Play.
Nov 16, 2023: R&B singer Cassie sues Combs, alleging he subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape. A day later, the lawsuit is settled under undisclosed terms. Combs, through his attorney, denies the accusations.
Nov 23, 2023: Two more women accuse Combs of sexual abuse in lawsuits. Combs' attorneys call the allegations false. Dozens of additional lawsuits follow by women and men who accuse Combs of rape, sexual assault and other attacks. Plaintiffs include singer Dawn Richard, a Making The Band contestant who alleged years of psychological and physical abuse. Combs denies all the allegations.
Mar 25, 2024: Federal agents search Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Florida.
May 17, 2024: CNN airs video that shows Combs attacking and beating Cassie in a hotel hallway in Los Angeles in 2016. Two days later, Combs posts videos on social media apologising for the assault.
Sep 16, 2024: Combs is arrested at his Manhattan hotel. A sex trafficking and racketeering indictment unsealed the next day accuses him of using his business empire to coerce women into participating in sexual performances. Combs denies the allegations. His attorney calls it an unjust prosecution of an 'imperfect person.'