True crime sleuths descend on New York for Diddy ‘trial of the century'

Telegraph

17-05-2025

The world's media descended on New York this week to churn out wall-to-wall coverage from the 'trial of the century' where Sean 'Diddy' Combs is in the dock for sex trafficking.
But legacy media journalists must jostle with true crime sleuths and podcasters for a coveted place inside the courthouse.
Resplendent in navy blue braces and a fedora, Sean Gunby prepares to go live to his 160,000 followers in his 1950s-esque garb.
'Yo, we live, we down here, Lower Manhattan, Puffy trial, we don't never stop,' he begins, the federal courthouse towering behind him.
Usually the 56-year-old podcaster from New Jersey shares tips on keeping fit over 50 with his followers, but this week he is among scores of influencers who have flocked to cover the criminal trial.
The first week of the trial has centred on explosive testimony from Cassie Ventura, the rapper's ex-girlfriend, who has claimed she was physically and emotionally abused and coerced into taking part in days-long drug-fuelled 'freak-off' sex parties that became like a full-time job.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution.
It is chaotic outside the courthouse, with fans of Combs arriving throughout the day. Some play his music and honk their horns as they drive past.
'I'm a fan of Puff so I just wanted to come down and get to the bottom of it and hear it for myself,' Mr Gunby tells The Telegraph as he stands in front of the tripod he has carefully set up in front of the courthouse.
Mr Gunby has been arriving at 7.30am each day and streaming from outside before court begins. He watches proceedings from the overflow room, where the trial is live streamed, and updates his fans during lunch and afterwards. His followers are rapt.
'People are interested because my followers trust me because they know that I'm authentic, I have integrity, I'm gonna call a spade a spade,' he says.
Mr Gunby, who is wearing a freshly pressed Hickey Freeman pinstripe suit, believes appearances are important.
'If you look good you feel good', he says.
YouTuber Tisa Tells, has flown in from Montana to cover the trial for her more than 500,000 followers. She has been in the courtroom each day, paying a professional queuer $600 to join the line from 5pm to secure her a space in the courtroom the following morning.
'It's a pretty penny, but thank goodness there's lots of fan funding so it works out,' she says.
She started her channel five-years-ago, describing herself as 'Karma's chief correspondent'. Her past reporting included the Johnny Depp trial.
'I just wanted to get into the space, because I thought I had an opinion that could really add something to the conversation', she says after going live to her followers from the courthouse steps during the lunch break. The video has 33,000 views within one hour.
'The interest is voracious every time I cover the Diddy trial... it's like gaining like, hundreds of followers a day,' she says.
Lauren Conlin, a freelance journalist, is among the true crime podcasters sitting through court hearings for her 70,000 followers across YouTube and TikTok.
Combs's trial is 'by far the biggest trial' Ms Conlin, 40, who runs the PopCrime TV channel, has reported on. She has been running her podcast The Outlier for five years.
'I'm finding it to be uncomfortable, really hard to sit through a lot of the testimony,' she says.
On Thursday she paid a line sitter hundreds of dollars to queue for her, but they left the line one minute before she arrived, losing her a spot in the courtroom.
'It was heartbreaking, I almost cried,' she says.
Ms Conlin is recording video updates for her followers in the afternoon break and after court adjourns in which she goes through the day's testimony.
'I could not believe it yesterday, the appetite for who wants to know what's going on,' she says, before showing me a video that got 4.9 million views on X. Her following on the platform jumped from 6,000 to more than 16,000.
For Marvin, who runs the account Big Apple Vibes on TikTok, interest in the Combs trial saw his following swell from 8,000 on Monday to more than 40,000 by Friday afternoon.
Marvin, who did not want to give his last name, streams live from outside the court from 8am until 5.30pm, pausing for lunch and to recharge his batteries.
He began his channel in December 2024, making AI videos and streaming walking tours of New York, because he was 'bored' and his friends told him to stop being 'such a hermit crab'.
He says there has been 'crazy interest' in the Combs case.
'People really want to because it's a trial of the century. It's a big, big deal,' he adds.
'I don't go inside [the court] because you have to really relinquish all your phones and devices', he says.
Marvin is now getting 'decent' revenue from TikTok. 'I do need money. Who doesn't?', he says.
Curious members of the public also find themselves queuing for up to 14 hours to secure a spot in the courthouse.
Personal trainer Justin B, waited from 5pm on Monday night to claim a seat in the courtroom on Tuesday, making sure not to eat or drink so he did not need to leave the line to use the bathroom.
'I just came to show support and see what was happening,' he says, adding that he is there for 'both parties'.
'It's a reality check, it shows you how regular people are, because on TV he's [Combs] larger than life but here he's a regular man fighting for his life and a man that did things that he might need to pay for I guess,' he says.