Key Points
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
If convicted, he faces anywhere from 15 years to life in prison.
The mogul’s trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks.
After years of allegations, investigations, and disturbing leaks, Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested last September on charges that include sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. This week, the rapper, actor, and businessman is finally on trial.
Prosecutors are alleging a criminal enterprise built around sexual exploitation, blackmail, and more. Combs, who has been in prison since his arrest, denies all of the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
It’s a complex case that’s likely to become even more tangled as the trial unfolds, but we’ve sought to lay out the basics. Read on for details on what Combs is accused of, where he’s been jailed, and how long his trial is expected to last.
What is Diddy being charged with?
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Sean “Diddy” Combs at Howard University in 2023
Following an indictment on Sept. 16, Combs was arrested and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. The mogul denies the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
According to the indictment, which Entertainment Weekly has reviewed, Combs oversaw a “criminal enterprise” that, for years, has engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice, among other crimes.
The enterprise operated under the umbrella of Combs’ many business ventures, per federal prosecutors. It’s alleged that the members of this enterprise, which included managers, security guards, and personal assistants, among others, engaged in the aforementioned criminal activity to help Combs “fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
Specifically, prosecutors are accusing Combs of trafficking three women, who were controlled, manipulated, and forced to “engage in commercial sex acts,” also known as “freak offs,” through a combination of violence, drugs, money, and the promise of career opportunities. He’s also accused of “knowingly transport[ing] individuals in interstate and foreign commerce with intent that the individuals engage in prostitution.”
What are “freak offs”?
As far back as the ’90s, Combs has bragged about the notorious parties he threw on his estate and elsewhere. The September indictment, as well as a 2023 lawsuit filed by Combs’ ex, Cassie Ventura, alleged that these parties would often host “freak offs,” described by prosecutors as “elaborate and produced sex performances” overseen and often recorded by Combs. It’s said that they could last several days and were prolonged by drugs and threats of violence.
The indictment also alleges that, in addition to physical violence and threats to their livelihoods, Combs used incriminating footage from freak offs to blackmail, control, and silence his victims.
Several members of Combs’ enterprise were allegedly involved in planning and staging freak offs. Court papers detail how Combs’ employees arranged travel for the women and sex workers, as well as their duties obtaining drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, and oxycodone. They would also book hotel rooms for freak offs, clean them afterwards, and gather supplies, such as bottles of baby oil, linens, and IV fluids.
The indictment says that federal raids on Combs’ Miami and Los Angeles properties in March 2024 turned up over 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.
Is Diddy accused of physical violence?
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Sean Combs and Cassie Ventura at the 2018 Met Gala in New York City
Yes, the indictment details various acts of physical violence carried out by Combs on those who threatened his reputation or resisted participation in freak offs or other sex acts.
Combs is alleged to have “hit, kicked, threw objects at, and dragged victims, at times, by their hair,” resulting in “injuries that took days or weeks to heal.” One instance accuses the mogul of dangling a woman over an apartment balcony. He’s also accused of using firearms to intimidate his victims.
Last year, a 2016 video of Combs physically assaulting Ventura resurfaced online, and the New York Times described the incident as a “core event in the government’s sex trafficking case.”
Combs acknowledged the incident following the video’s release, saying, “I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
Ventura’s lawsuit against Combs was settled just one day after it was filed.
How many lawsuits is Diddy facing?
According to the New York Times, Diddy is currently facing more than 50 civil lawsuits.
Of them, at least 20 were filed by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee. Last October, Buzbee announced that he was representing 120 individuals planning to file sexual misconduct lawsuits against Combs.
Attorneys for Combs said in a statement to EW that their client “emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone.”
What is Diddy’s defense?
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Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean “Diddy” Combs,” arrives at federal court for Combs’ trial
Following the mogul’s arrest in 2024, Combs’ lawyers denied the allegations against their client. “Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process,” they said in a statement to EW. “In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman.”
In April, Combs’ attorneys responded to prosecutors filing a third superseding indictment, saying that Combs and the accusers were “involved in consensual relationships.” They added, “This was their private sex life, defined by consent, not coercion.”
Though lawyers for the defense hoped to keep the video of Combs’ assault on Ventura out of the trial, the prosecution showed it to jurors on the first day of the proceedings.
In March, the defense claimed that CNN, which published excerpts from the video in 2024, “substantially altered” it and “destroyed the original video file they received from their source.”
CNN denied the allegation in a statement to EW. “CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source,” said the spokesperson. “CNN aired the story about the video several months before Combs was arrested.”
Douglas H. Wigdor, a lawyer for Ventura, told EW in a statement, “It is not surprising that Combs would make a disingenuous argument to exclude the disturbing video from being shown to the jury in the upcoming trial. I am confident that the video fairly and accurately represents what happened, will be admitted into evidence, and that Combs will be held accountable for his depravity.”
What jail is Diddy in?
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Sean “Diddy” Combs at the premiere “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” in Los Angeles in 2017
Combs, who was denied bail, is incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the same prison that previously held disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly and the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
How much time could Diddy serve in prison?
If convicted, Combs could serve anywhere from 15 years to life in prison.
When did Diddy’s trial start?
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Janice Combs, mother of Sean Combs, arrives at federal court for the trial Sean “Diddy” Combs
Combs’ trial began Monday, May 12, in Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan. The trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks.
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