P Diddy: What is Sean Combs charged with and when is his trial? | Ents & Arts News

Sean Combs – also known as P Diddy and Puff Daddy – will go on trial on sex trafficking charges in May next year.

The rapper has been repeatedly refused bail after pleading not guilty to three felony counts.

Combs, a three-time Grammy winner and one of the most influential hip-hop producers of the past three decades, has been facing a wave of lawsuits by women who have accused him of sexual assault.

Combs is at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn where he has been since he was arrested on 16 September at a hotel in New York.

Combs denies all charges, and faces a criminal trial having been denied bail at $50m (£37.8m).

Since he was detained, more allegations have emerged, including some of rape, and fresh lawsuits have also been filed.

Here’s a look what the charges are, what else he has been accused of and what his lawyers have said.

What are the charges?

They relate to sex trafficking, drug possession and firearms offences.

Specifically, there are three charges outlined by the Southern District of New York (SDNY) in a 14-page legal indictment:

• Racketeering conspiracy
• Sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion
• Transportation to engage in prostitution

Racketeering conspiracy – which means illegal activity for profit that is disguised as legitimate business dealings – carries a maximum sentence of life in prison; sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion has a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison; and transportation for purposes of prostitution carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

The indictment alleges Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct” from at least 2008.

It claims the 54-year-old used his employees, resources and influence in the music industry to create a “criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice”.

Details of ‘freak offs’

He allegedly induced female victims and male sex workers into drug-fuelled sexual performances, dubbed “freak offs”, according to the document.

The freak offs, referred to in the document some 16 times, were described as “elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded”.

Prosecutors allege victims were given controlled substances during the sometimes days-long events to keep them “obedient and compliant” and Combs subjected them to “physical, emotional, and verbal abuse” to get them to engage.

It said Combs and his victims were so exhausted after the sessions – which sometimes lasted days at a time – that they “typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use”.

Around 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant were seized from Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles when they were raided in March, the indictment added.

It also claims Combs and members of his business “engaged in acts of violence, threats of violence, threats of financial and reputational harm, and verbal abuse” including kidnapping and arson when witnesses of his alleged abuse threatened his authority or reputation.

What have Combs and his lawyers said?

Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

After his arrest, his lawyer Marc Agnifilo said he was “disappointed” with the decision to “pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr Combs by the US Attorney’s Office”.

“Diddy is an imperfect person but is not criminal,” he continued.

“To his credit, Mr Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges.

“Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

Speaking to journalists after Combs entered his plea, the lawyer added: “I am feeling confident. We’re going to go get Mr Combs out of jail.”

A statement from lawyers representing some of those who have made accusations against Combs said the “long-awaited arrest is the first step for our clients receiving justice”.

“The evidence is very clear and it was only a matter of time,” the statement from lawyers Rodney Diggs and Tyrone Blackburn read.

“This is an important step towards justice for all of Mr Combs’s victims including my clients. Justice will prevail.”

Diddy’s mother says narrative created out of lies

Combs’s mother Janice Smalls Combs, via her attorney, released a statement on 7 October.

Her statement read:

“It is heartbreaking to see my son judged not for the truth, but for a narrative created out of lies,” Ms Combs wrote.

“To bear witness to what seems to be like a public lynching of my son before he has had the opportunity to prove his innocence is a pain too unbearable to put into words,” she continued.

“Like every human being, my son deserves to have his day in court, to finally share his side, and to prove his innocence.

“I am not here to portray my son as perfect because he is not. He has made mistakes in his past, as we all have.”

She went on to say he “may not have been entirely truthful about certain things,” referencing the fact he denied being violent towards ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, and settled her lawsuit out of court months before CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking her and throwing her to the floor.

Ms Combs said she believed the federal government used his decision to settle out of court “by interpreting it as an admission of guilt”.

You can read her full statement by clicking here and scrolling down.

Why has Combs been denied bail?

Combs’s lawyers offered a $50m (£37.8m) bail package in exchange for him being placed under house arrest at his Florida mansion with GPS monitoring and strict limits on visitors.

Arguing to keep him behind bars, prosecutor Emily Johnson told the judge that Combs had a long history of intimidating both accusers and witnesses to his alleged abuse.

Ms Johnson cited text messages from women who said Combs forced them into the freak offs and then threatened to leak explicit videos of them engaging in sexual acts.

She also said that Combs’s defence team was “minimising and horrifically understating” his propensity for violence.

The defence and prosecution were wrangling over the request before US district judge Andrew L Carter denied bail and the rapper has been behind bars since 17 September.

He said the government had proved “by clear and convincing evidence that there is no condition or set of conditions” that will ensure the safety of the community and that the rapper and music mogul will not tamper with witnesses.

On 30 September, Combs’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal to have him released on house arrest which was denied again.

New lawsuits: ‘It’s a long list’

On 1 October 2024, a lawyer representing 120 accusers said he would be filing lawsuits against the hip-hop mogul within the next month.

Houston attorney Tony Buzbee described the alleged victims as 60 males and 60 females, and that 25 were minors at the time of the alleged misconduct. The claims cover a period from 1991 to 2024.

He said one claimant alleges he was abused when he was nine years old.

“This is not a class action,” Mr Buzbee said at a news conference. “A class action is when one or two people file a case on behalf of a group of people – that’s not this.

“These cases are individual cases. Each case will live and die on its own merit. These cases will be filed individually; one plaintiff against whoever the defendants were involved in the case.”

According to Mr Buzbee, more than 3,280 people contacted his firm with allegations against Combs.

‘Names will shock you’

Mr Buzbee said in the news conference: “The day will come when we will name names other than Sean Combs, and there’s a lot of names – it’s a long list already. And of course, I already know who some of these individuals are, but because of the nature of this case, we’re going to make damn sure we’re right before we do that.

“But the names that we’re going to name, assuming that our investigators confirm and corroborate what we’ve been told, are names that will shock you.”

He went on to say they were individual cases, there are other alleged perpetrators involved and they will be revealed when that case is filed, before adding: “They already know who they are.”

He said they were not limited to “cowardly but complicit bystanders”, but people who “participated, encouraged, and egged it on”.

He added that as they were identified, each will be part of the case as defendants, which will not only include individuals but also “corporate entities”.

Teenage boy among alleged victims

On 14 October 2024, Mr Buzbee announced that the first six lawsuits had been filed against Combs at a federal court in New York City.

All were filed anonymously – two by women identified as Jane Does and four by men identified as John Does.

They included allegations of raping women, sexually assaulting men and molesting a 16-year-old boy.

Mr Buzbee said the cases involved alleged “conduct that occurred over a span beginning in 1995 through 2021”.

He added: “We expect to be filing many more cases over the next several weeks naming Mr Combs and others as defendants as we continue to gather evidence and prepare the filings.”

One of the John Does, a man living in North Carolina, claims Combs molested him when he was 16 at one of the rapper’s famous white parties in the 1990s.

The man alleges the assault occurred during a conversation about how to become a music star. Combs is alleged to have said: “Don’t you want to break into the business?”

The other lawsuits include allegations of rape and drugging to incapacitate victims.

One of the Jane Does alleged Combs raped her in a hotel room in 2004 and forced her friend to perform a sex act on him – and also threatened to have them both killed if they did not comply with his demands.

Rape case filed over 2Pac comment

A separate lawsuit filed in California alleges that Combs raped a woman as payback for her saying she believed he was involved in the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

The woman is suing the music mogul, along with four other men and two women, over allegations of sexual assault, battery, rape, sexual abuse, false imprisonment and kidnapping, and has called for a trial by jury.

She claims she met a friend of Combs in a bar in 2018, where he made a video call to Combs to show her. The suit claims she said she was “not impressed” because she believes Combs “had something to do with the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur”.

She alleges Combs said she would “pay” for the comment.

When the woman went to that friend’s house weeks later, Combs turned up unannounced, the court documents say.

He told her again she would “pay”, the lawsuit claims, and approached her with a knife.

He held it to the right side of her face “and threatened to give her a ‘Glasgow smile’ – which means to cut the sides of her mouth – in retaliation for her previous statements on the video call”, the document says.

The woman alleges her clothes were removed and that Combs covered her in a substance she realised was an oil or lubricant, before picking up a television remote and “violently” raping her with it.

She also claims he threatened he could harm her and her family if she spoke out.

More details of this lawsuit can be found here.

Diddy ’emphatically and categorically denies’ the claims

Representatives for Combs said the rapper “cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.”

However, they added that Combs “emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors”.

Combs’ representatives said: “He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court if and when claims are filed and served, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation.”

Previous allegations against Combs

Combs has been facing civil allegations including rape, sexual assault, and forced drugging since November 2023.

The first allegations were made by the rapper’s ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, who claimed in her lawsuit that she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs, and viciously beaten by Combs on many occasions over the course of 10 years.

He denied all allegations and settled the lawsuit with Cassie the day after it was filed, with the terms of the agreement kept confidential.

Months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her to the floor. He apologised for what he called his “inexcusable” behaviour in the video, saying he was “disgusted” by his past behaviour.

Combs was sued by Joie Dickerson-Neal in November who alleged he drugged and sexually assaulted her when she was a psychology student at Syracuse University in January 1991. She also accused him of filming the attack.

In May, a former model accused Combs of sexually assaulting her at his New York City recording studio in 2003.

The same month, a woman accused Combs of sexually assaulting her more than 20 years ago when she was a fashion student in New York City.

In February, a music producer alleged Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

Read more:
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Combs was also named in a lawsuit that alleges his son sexually assaulted a woman working on a yacht chartered by his father.

His son is accused in the suit of spiking a woman’s drink and groping her, while it is alleged Combs created the circumstances that led to the assault and paid to cover it up afterwards. Both Combs and his son have denied the claims.

Another suit was brought against Combs shortly before his arrest by singer Dawn Richard, who has described years of psychological and physical abuse, including groping, as he helped launch her career.

Other allegations since arrest

Since his arrest, another two women, one who is named and the other who is known under the pseudonym Jane Doe, have filed lawsuits in New York.

The first was filed by Thalia Graves, who claims the music mogul and his head of security raped her and made a video recording of it at his studio.

The second claims she was repeatedly raped and drugged at the music mogul’s homes and became pregnant after one of the encounters. She later suffered a miscarriage after allegedly being pressured by Combs’ associates to get an abortion.

In a statement to TMZ, Combs’s lawyer said in relation to the allegations by Ms Graves: “No matter how many lawsuits are filed it won’t change the fact that Mr Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone.

“Fortunately, a fair and impartial judicial process exists to find the truth and Mr Combs is confident he will prevail against these and other baseless claims in court.”

Representatives have not responded to the allegations by Jane Doe but have denied every other made against him in the lawsuits, which you can read more about here.

In a statement in December, Combs described the claims he was facing then as “sickening” and alleged his accusers were “looking for a quick payday”.

“Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth,” he said.

Kim Porter’s ‘book’

Kim Porter, Diddy’s late girlfriend, did not write a best-selling book on Amazon, despite her being listed as the author.

Kim’s Lost Words: A journey for justice, from the other side, was independently published on the marketplace in early September and claims to be based on her diary and personal notes.

However, Porter’s children have issued a joint statement saying that claims their mother wrote a book before she died are false.

The statement reads: “Claims that our mom wrote a book are simply untrue. She did not, and anyone claiming to have a manuscript is misrepresenting themselves.

“Any so-called ‘friend’ speaking on behalf of our mom or her family is not a friend, nor do they have her best interests at heart.

“We have seen so many hurtful and false rumours circulating about our parents, Kim Porter and Sean Combs’ relationship, as well as about our mom’s tragic passing, that we feel the need to speak out.

“Our lives were shattered when we lost our mother. She was our world. And nothing has been the same since she passed. While it has been incredibly difficult to reconcile how she could be taken from us too soon, the cause of her death has long been established. There was no foul play. Grief is a lifelong process, and we ask that everyone respect our request for peace as we continue to cope with her loss every day.

“We are deeply saddened that the world has made a spectacle of what has been the most tragic event of our lives. Our mother should be remembered for the beautiful, strong, kind, and loving woman she was. Her memory should not be tainted by horrific conspiracy theories.

“We ask that everyone please respect our mother, Kim Porter, and hold her legacy in high regard so that she may rest in peace. It’s what she deserves.

“We love you and miss you mommy.

“Quincy, Christian, Jessie & D’Lila.”

The author behind the book is Todd Christopher Guzze, who goes by the name Chris Todd and defines his occupation as an “investigative producer, author and journalist”.

In a phone interview with The Associated Press news agency, Todd said he was approached by people “very close to Kim and Sean Combs”.

He says they provided him with a flash drive, documents and tapes from Porter that he used to create the memoir.

In response to Porter’s children’s statement, he said his “door is open” for any family members to communicate directly with him.

Porter died from pneumonia in 2018, aged 47.

Her autopsy report determined she died of natural causes.

At the time of her death, Combs said he and the former model and actor were “more than soul mates”.

Amazon has since pulled the book.

“We were made aware of a dispute regarding this title and have notified the publisher,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.

“The book is not currently available for sale in our store.”

When is P Diddy’s trial?

Combs will go on trial on 5 May next year.

The rapper blew kisses to his mother and children in court after the judge set the trial date at a Manhattan federal court hearing.

He also hugged each of his lawyers.

Diddy will remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn until the trial begins.

Judge Arun Subramanian will oversee the trial after another judge recused himself based on his past associations with lawyers in the case.

Prosecutors say the investigation into Combs’s alleged criminal activity is still ongoing.

They say they have interviewed more than 50 victims of and witnesses to Combs’s alleged abuse, but that they expect more people to come forward with their accounts.

US attorney in Manhattan Damian Williams said in a news conference he wouldn’t “take anything off the table” when asked whether Combs’s associates or employees will face charges, adding: “Our investigation is very active and ongoing.”