The music mogul was acquitted of his most serious charges. What comes next?
Less than two years ago, the public image of Sean “Diddy” Combs started to shift from playboy to villain: to the raging boyfriend caught beating Cassie Ventura on a hotel camera; the alleged criminal kingpin facing federal prosecution; the mastermind of an elite sex cult, according to online conspiracy theorists. He was broadly painted as (and assiduously denied being) the sort of man who used money and power to pursue his desires no matter the harm to those around him. Now that a verdict has been rendered in his case, expect another reputational shift—a redemption story, unearned though it may be.
After a seven-week trial in a Manhattan federal courthouse, the music mogul has been convicted of two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution. These are serious offenses that together carry possible sentences of up to 20 years in prison. But they are less grave than the other crimes he was acquitted of—two counts of sex trafficking, and one count of racketeering—which each could have brought a life sentence. Combs had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him, and his family cheered in court after the verdict was read. “Mr. Combs has been given his life by this jury,” his lawyer Marc Agnifilo said in court.
The saga began in November 2023, when the singer Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit against Combs, the producer and rapper known for both hits such as “It’s All About the Benjamins” and business endeavors such as Bad Boy Records. Ventura, who’d signed to his label as a young woman and then dated him, alleged that he’d abused and manipulated her for years. She said he’d repeatedly pressured her to participate in “freak-offs”: orgies involving sex workers and drug use that sometimes lasted for days. Combs settled the lawsuit after one day for a reported $20 million. But many of its details were central to the federal case, which was filed in September 2024.
