- Jury selection has begun ahead of the high-profile sex crimes and racketeering trial of music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs, which is scheduled to begin Monday in New York.
- Combs, 55, is accused of leading a criminal enterprise that used drugs, threats, and violence to coerce victims into sexual acts
- The trial opens on the same day as the Met Gala, a reminder of Combs’s dramatic fall from celebrity to federal defendant
Music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs is set to stand trial in New York on Monday, May 5, as jury selection begins in a blockbuster federal case involving charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
Once a red carpet mainstay and cultural icon credited with bringing hip-hop into the mainstream, the 55-year-old now faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His legal team, led by attorney Marc Agnifilo, insists that all sexual acts were consensual and have portrayed Combs’s lifestyle as that of a free-spirited “swinger.”
Prosecutors, however, paint a darker picture, alleging that he led a criminal enterprise that used threats, violence, and drugs to coerce victims into participating in drug-fueled sexual parties, dubbed “freak-offs.”
Central to the case is Combs’s former girlfriend, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who is expected to testify as a key witness.
A 2016 surveillance video aired by CNN shows Combs physically assaulting Ventura at a hotel, an incident prosecutors claim followed one such “freak-off.”
The indictment alleges these events involved sex workers, were sometimes recorded, and were part of a wider pattern of abuse and coercion.
Though the quality of the video has sparked debate between prosecutors and defence attorneys, Judge Arun Subramanian has ruled that at least portions of the footage will be admissible as evidence during the trial.
Federal agents in New York arrested Combs in September 2024 following a sweeping investigation that included raids on his luxury homes in Miami and Los Angeles.
He has since been denied bail multiple times and is currently held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, a facility infamous for poor conditions, including vermin, decay, and violence. Other high-profile inmates have included R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Sam Bankman-Fried.
The charges against Combs include racketeering conspiracy under the federal RICO statute, a legal tool traditionally used against organised crime but now increasingly applied in cases involving sexual abuse.
RICO allows prosecutors to demonstrate a broader pattern of criminal behaviour, rather than treating each alleged act as isolated.
To secure a conviction, prosecutors must prove “predicate acts” that form the foundation of the alleged criminal enterprise.
Although Combs has no major convictions, his career has long been clouded by allegations of violence and misconduct dating back to the 1990s.
The current legal firestorm was sparked by a 2023 civil lawsuit filed by Ventura, who accused him of more than a decade of abuse, including a 2018 rape.
That suit was swiftly settled out of court, but it opened the floodgates to a wave of similar allegations from both women and men. The federal indictment soon followed.
Prosecutors have revealed that a plea deal was offered to Combs but not accepted. Details of the deal remain undisclosed. If convicted, Combs could face life imprisonment.
The start of the trial is symbolically significant; it coincides with the first Monday in May, the day of the Met Gala, where Combs was once a fixture.
Just two years ago, he was striking poses for photographers at the glamorous event uptown. Now, he finds himself downtown in federal court as a panel of citizens is selected to determine his fate.
Jury selection is expected to last about a week, with opening statements tentatively scheduled for May 12.
The trial is being closely watched by industry observers, who see it as a potential turning point for the music world, a sector that, unlike Hollywood, has largely avoided the full impact of the #MeToo movement.
Outrage as 15-year-old boy allegedly defiles 14-year-old girl
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that Nigerians expressed their shock and anger at the case of a 14-year-old girl, Mercy, who was allegedly assaulted by her classmate, a 15-year-old boy named Goodluck Bison.
Many Nigerians took to social media to react to the matter, while some people think Goodluck Bison should be castrated and jailed, others advised parents to train their boys well.