This report includes mentions of physical and sexual violence.
Opening arguments in the federal criminal trial against hip-hop tycoon Sean Combs are scheduled to begin today in a Manhattan courtroom. Combs — who is better known by nicknames like Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Diddy — is facing charges of racketeering and sex trafficking for alleged crimes that took place over the course of two decades. The 55-year-old Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges, but if he is found guilty, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Who is Sean Combs?
Combs began his career in the early 1990s as a hip-hop producer and record label executive. From the early years of that decade into the 2000s, during the heyday of Bad Boy Records, the label he co-founded, Comb nurtured the careers of artists like The Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls), Faith Evans and Mase. In that era, he was a driving force in enmeshing the hip-hop community with mainstream pop — and made himself the face of Bad Boy. After Biggie was murdered in 1997, Combs himself became one of Bad Boy's biggest artists, with hits like "I'll Be Missing You" and "Been Around the World," and continued to bring hip-hop into the pop music charts.
Soon, Combs was well-positioned to parlay his success into other fields — and retooled himself into a multifaceted entertainment and lifestyle brand. With assets including a clothing line (Sean John), TV production (including the MTV reality series "Making the Band"), and a lucrative liquor deal (developing the vodka brand Ciroc with the liquor conglomerate Diageo). As the record industry began a steep decline with the rise of streaming services like Spotify, Combs had already found huge success in those other ventures; by 2022, he had reportedly amassed a fortune of some $1 billion.
By that time, Combs was also being celebrated as a hip-hop elder: In 2022 and 2023, he was given lifetime achievement honors at both the BET Awards and the VMAs. In September 2023, the same month Combs released a new album, Mayor Eric Adams gave him the key to the city — which Adams later requested to have returned. In November of that year, the new album was nominated for a Grammy, but less than a week later, Cassie Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Combs alleging years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse (more on those allegations below).
What crimes is Combs accused of committing?
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have charged Combs with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. In the current indictment, which was issued in April, the government alleges that over the course of some 20 years — between 2004 and 2024 — Combs sexually trafficked three women, controlled them via physical and emotional abuse, paid them and others to keep quiet, and supplied alleged victims with a host of drugs to keep them compliant. The indictment also describes Combs' alleged "freak offs," or "FOs" — elaborately planned, staged and often videotaped marathons of sex and drug use — that play heavily into Combs' current legal woes in both criminal and civil court.
Separately and simultaneously to the federal charges, Combs is facing dozens of civil lawsuits that followed one filed by his ex-girlfriend, the singer and model Cassie; Cassie's suit was later settled (more on that below). In the current suits, many accusers say that they were raped or sexually assaulted after being drugged at one of his lavish parties. Others allege that Combs forced them to participate in or witness the "freak offs." Meanwhile, the other co-founder of Bad Boy Records, Kirk Burrowes, sued Combs' mother, Janice Combs, in federal court in February, claiming that she secretly and illegally assumed control of his 25% ownership stake in Bad Boy, after Sean Combs allegedly coerced him into signing over his share under threat of physical violence. That civil litigation is also ongoing.
Why is the government charging Combs with racketeering? Isn't that a charge usually used in mob and other organized crime cases?
Yes, but it's become fairly common of late in cases involving popular figures in the entertainment industry. One similar case is the 2021 federal trial against R&B singer R. Kelly, in which Kelly was convicted of the sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, racketeering and sex trafficking involving five victims. In that case, prosecutors successfully argued to a jury that Kelly's musical career and his income sustained his crimes against women, girls and boys, and that Kelly's employees knew about and enabled his crimes. The 58-year-old Kelly is serving a 31-year sentence in federal prison.
Prosecutors arguing Combs' case allege that he used his business empire to fuel and conceal his criminal activities, and that he used his money, power, influence and employees to criminal ends.
More recently, prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, charged the rapper Young Thug with racketeering as well as several other gang, gun and drug offenses, accusing his YSL Records of simultaneously acting as a recording label and as a criminal street gang. Last November, Young Thug (whose real name is Jeffery Williams) pleaded guilty to racketeering and no contest to the other charges.
Who is expected to testify in the Combs case?
Combs' former girlfriend, the singer and model Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, is expected to be one of the major witnesses for the prosecution. While it is unclear at this point how many other alleged victims will appear on the stand, the indictment accuses Combs of having "abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct."
Thanks to a post-#MeToo lookback law in New York that allowed a window for alleged survivors of sexual violence an opportunity to file civil claims well after the statute of limitations had passed, Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in Novemver 2023. She alleged that he raped and physically and emotionally abused her, among other accusations. Within a day of Ventura filing her suit, she and Combs settled for an undisclosed figure. In May 2024, CNN aired footage of Combs attacking Ventura in a hotel hallway in California, in which he kicked, shoved and dragged her – an incident that was part of Ventura's complaint. Two days after CNN aired the video, Combs issued a public apology via Instagram, saying: "I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I'm disgusted now." His video apology has since been removed from the social media platform.
Prosecutors in the federal case have said that they intend to introduce video of that incident as evidence in their trial. During jury selection for the criminal trial, potential jurors were asked if they had seen the footage CNN aired, and if their opinions of that video would possibly influence their judgement.
How long is this trial expected to last?
As of now, the court is expecting the full trial to last somewhere between eight and 10 weeks. Jury selection began on May 5 and is slated to be finalized on May 12, before opening arguments begin.
Copyright 2025 NPR
