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Straits Times
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
The Sean 'Diddy' Combs story - From recording studio to courtroom
FILE PHOTO: Rapper Sean Diddy Combs arrives at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, U.S., August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/ File Photo FILE PHOTO: Sean \"Diddy\" Combs performs at the BET Awards 2022 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 26, 2022. REUTERS/David Swanson/ File Photo Sean "Diddy" Combs, the hip-hop mogul who discovered the Notorious B.I.G. and ran one of the genre's most iconic record labels, is set to stand trial in New York on Monday in a case accusing the onetime industry kingmaker of running a multi-decade racketeering and sex-trafficking conspiracy. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. Here is a timeline of his rise and fall from music industry A-lister to criminal defendant. Here is a timeline of his career and legal troubles: 1993 - Combs establishes his record label Bad Boy Records, bringing along rapper Christopher Wallace (the Notorious B.I.G.) from their former label. 1996 - Under the name 'Puff Daddy,' Combs releases his first solo album, titled No Way Out, which later wins a Grammy Award for best rap album. 1999 - Combs pleads guilty in New York state court to harassment for attacking another rapper's manager and is sentenced to one day of anger management class. Several months later, Combs is charged with weapons offenses over a shooting at a club in New York's Times Square, but is acquitted at trial. 2001 - A Detroit radio host sues Combs for assault, claiming the rap mogul's associates roughed him up and destroyed an interview tape. Combs denies wrongdoing and is ultimately cleared by a jury. 2003 - A former business partner sues Combs for allegedly threatening him with a baseball bat. Combs denies the allegations, and the case is dismissed after an appeals court finds the statute of limitations had expired. 2008 - Combs privately settles a lawsuit by a man who claimed the mogul punched him outside a Hollywood nightclub. 2015 - Combs is arrested for aggravated assault after an argument with his son's football coach in Los Angeles. The charges are later dropped. 2017 - Combs' former personal chef sues the mogul for sexual harassment and retaliation. The case is settled for an undisclosed amount two years later. November 16, 2023 -- Combs' former girlfriend Cassie Ventura sues Combs in New York federal court for rape, sex trafficking and physical abuse. Combs and Ventura settle the case for an undisclosed sum days later. November 23, 2023 - A California woman named Joi Dickerson-Neal files a lawsuit accusing Combs of drugging and raping her when she was a university student in 1991, one of dozens of sexual abuse lawsuits Combs would ultimately face. May 17, 2024 -- CNN releases footage purporting to show Combs violently assaulting Ventura at a hotel in Los Angeles on March 5, 2016. May 19, 2024 -- Combs posts an apology video for the Ventura incident, saying he is "truly sorry" for his "inexcusable" actions. October 14, 2024 -- Combs is accused of assault in six new civil lawsuits filed by an attorney who said he was representing 120 people who accused Combs of abuse. September 16, 2024 -- Combs is arrested in New York and charged with racketeering, sex trafficking by force and transportation for purposes of prostitution. He pleads not guilty the following day, and a judge denies him bail. April 4, 2025 -- Federal prosecutors in Manhattan file an expanded indictment charging Combs with five criminal counts. Combs pleads not guilty two weeks later. May 5, 2025 -- Combs' trial begins with jury selection before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan federal court. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial kicks off with jury selection
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs arrives at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, U.S., August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo NEW YORK (Reuters) -A year and a half after Sean "Diddy" Combs' former longtime girlfriend accused him of sex trafficking in a bombshell civil suit, the hip-hop mogul is heading to court on Monday for jury selection in a criminal trial that offers him the chance to challenge allegations against himbut could see him sent to prison for life. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment charging him with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied abuse allegations in more than 50 civil lawsuits filed against him starting in November 2023 when his romantic partner of 10 years, the R&B singer Casandra Ventura, filed her suit. The case settled for an undisclosed amount of money. The accusations dealt a swift and severe blow to the onetime billionaire's reputation. Once known for elevating hip-hop in American culture and hosting lavish parties for the cultural elite in the Hamptons and Saint-Tropez, Combs is now the latest powerful man in the entertainment industry to be accused of sexual misconduct since the #MeToo movement encouraged women to speak up about abuse. His rags-to-riches life story saw the New York City native move from an upbringing by a single mother to living in mansions in Los Angeles and Miami. But last year, Combs returned a symbolic key to his hometown at the behest of Mayor Eric Adams, and since September he has been held in a Brooklyn jail about an hour by subway from the Harlem neighborhood where he was born. On Monday, Combs will be driven across the East River by U.S. Marshals to the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, and is due to arrive in U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian's courtroom at 8:30 a.m. EST (1230 GMT). There, the judge is expected to begin questioning prospective jurors one-by-one in a bid to seat a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates who can be fair and impartial despite heavy media coverage of the case so far. Hundreds of prospective jurors have already filled out questionnaires designed to elicit any bias they may have about the case. Prosecutors say Combs used his business empire to coerce women into taking part in days-long, drug-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers, which the mogul called "Freak Offs." Combs' defense lawyers and prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office agreed on about 150 who could proceed to in-person questioning by the judge, known as voir dire. Subramanian said in a May 1 hearing that the goal will be to choose 45 potential jurors who are qualified to serve, and lawyers for both sides will then have the opportunity to dismiss jurors without stating a reason, known as peremptory strikes. The jury will be anonymous, which is frequently the case in high-profile trials in which jurors could face threats or harassment if their identities are known. Voir dire is expected to finish by the end of the week, and opening statements are scheduled for May 12. Over the course of the two-month trial, Combs' lawyers are expected to argue that the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual and to try to undermine the credibility of the four alleged victims expected to testify against him. In a hearing last month, defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said there was nothing criminal about a "swingers" lifestyle in which Combs and his girlfriends sometimes brought a third person into their relationships. Any jury verdict must be unanimous. If convicted on all counts, Combs faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and could face life in prison, though any sentence would be imposed by Subramanian at a later date. (Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jack Queen in New York)
