Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s Sex-Trafficking Case Is Headed Back to Court
Combs showed up to plead not guilty.
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Sean “Diddy” Combs pleaded not guilty to revamped criminal charges on Friday, March 14, in his Manhattan federal court sex-trafficking case. Combs, who walked into court just after 2 p.m., looked dramatically different than at prior court proceedings: His hair and beard were silvery gray, and he appears to have gained weight.
As Combs’s trial approaches, with jury selection starting on May 5, prosecutors have added more details about his alleged crimes in two recent superseding indictments. In the revamped indictment released on March 6, Combs was accused of controlling some employees by forcing them to work grueling hours with minimal sleep and using threats to keep them in check. Back in late January, prosecutors listed two more accusers, identified as “Victim-2” and “Victim-3,” who claim to have been lured into sex acts by the disgraced music mogul. They also said that “on one occasion, Combs dangled a victim over an apartment balcony.” With the help of his staff, Combs allegedly used his powerful business empire to create a “criminal enterprise” that enabled his alleged manipulation of women into sexual performances with male sex workers. Civil lawsuits against Combs also accuse him of sexual abuse against boys and men.
Combs, 55, was arrested on September 16, 2024, amid numerous accusations of sexual abuse and trafficking. In court papers and proceedings, prosecutors have detailed what they describe as a decadeslong history of alleged misconduct. They claim the Bad Boy Records founder “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.” Prosecutors allege that Combs kept women under his thumb with drugs and threats, enabled by his vast financial resources. After these women fell into his deceptive orbit — frequently under the belief that their interactions with him constituted a romantic relationship — Combs purportedly forced them to partake in events called “freak offs,” prosecutors said. These freak offs amounted to “elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.” Cassie Ventura — whose now-settled November 2023 lawsuit against Combs, her former partner, set the stage for others to take legal action against him and, ultimately, the criminal case — is known as “Victim-1” in the federal proceedings. Combs, who has been jailed since his arrest, maintains his innocence.
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