Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hip-hop entrepreneur whose hugely successful career has been riddled with claims of violence, will appear in court in New York on Monday to face charges of sexually abusing women using his business empire’s influence and resources.
Jury selection is slated to begin in the morning and may last several days. The lawyers’ opening statements are due next week, followed by the start of testimony.
The 17-page indictment against Combs reads like a charging paper for a Mafia leader or the head of a narcotics gang, accusing him of sex trafficking and leading a racketeering organization.
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The hip-hop mogul will face charges of using his business empire’s influence and resources to sexually assault women.
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a’swinger’ but not a rapist, according to his lawyer, as the rapper rejects a plea agreement before trial.
According to the indictment, Combs engaged in two decades of abusive behavior against women and others with the assistance of members of his entourage and personnel from his business network.
Women were coerced into drug-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers known as “Freak Offs,” according to prosecutors.
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According to authorities, Combs used a combination of power and violence to keep women in line: He promised to promote their entertainment careers if they did what he asked — or cut them off if they didn’t.
When he didn’t get his way, the indictment claims Combs and his cronies resorted to violence, including beatings, kidnapping, and arson. The indictment states that he once dangled someone from a balcony.
They claim that any group sexual activity was voluntary. They said that there was no attempt to push people into doing things they did not want to do, and that nothing occurred as part of a criminal enterprise.
The trial is planned to last at least eight weeks.
Combs, 55, has admitted to one episode of violence that is expected to be used in the trial. In 2016, a surveillance camera saw him knocking up his ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, in a Los Angeles hotel corridor. Cassie sued Combs in late 2023, claiming she had been subjected to years of abuse, including beatings and rape.
The Associated Press normally does not identify persons who claim to have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, like Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, did.
Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ attorney, has stated that Combs was “not a perfect person” with drug usage and toxic relationships, but that all sexual contact between Combs, Cassie, and others was consensual.
The trial is the latest and most serious in a long list of legal issues for Combs.
In 1999, he was accused of breaking into the offices of an Interscope Records executive with his bodyguards and hitting him with a champagne bottle and a chair. Steve Stoute, the executive, eventually asked prosecutors to ease up on Combs, who pled guilty to a lesser misdemeanor and completed an anger management course.
Later that year, police stopped Combs when he and his then-girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, departed a nightclub where three people were injured by gunshots. Combs was cleared of all charges relating to the event at a 2001 trial, but Jamal “Shyne” Barrow, a rapper in his entourage, was convicted of the shooting and sentenced to nearly nine years in jail.
Then, in 2015, Combs was accused of attacking someone with a weight-room kettlebell at the University of California, Los Angeles, where one of his kids played football. Combs said he was protecting himself, and prosecutors dismissed the case.
Combs now faces his most serious charge yet.
If convicted, he may spend decades in prison.
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