March 14 (UPI) — Sean “Diddy” Combs pleaded not guilty Friday in New York to a superseding indictment that charges him with forcing one of his employees into sex acts.
In September, the hip-hop mogul was charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The trial is scheduled for May 5 for jury selection.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan set another pre-trial conference for April 25.
Combs, who is facing several lawsuits, has denied all the allegations.
Combs, 55, has been in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., since September. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
Combs was arraigned in court on a new indictment on accusations he forced employees to work long hours and threatened to punish those who didn’t assist in a sex trafficking scheme over two decades.
Earlier this month, prosecutors updated another superseding indictment from January that added three unnamed women who were allegedly victims of his so-called sex trafficking enterprise. Combs allegedly subjected employees to forced labor under inhumane circumstances.
During Friday’s hearing, Mitzi Steiner, an assistant U.S. attorney, said the prosecution would file a letter for attorneys that would reveal the names of some witnesses and victims willing to testify against Combs.
Federal prosecutors said Friday they have as many as 20 potential witnesses besides the three main alleged victims, who could testify about Combs’ conduct.
“We want to protect the identities of these witnesses and victims,” Steiner told the judge. Steiner said some of them are “incredibly frightened” to have their identities revealed to the defense.
Combs, whose hair was notably white, stood and spoke briefly in a tan jumpsuit.
The defendant, who blew a kiss to family members, said “good afternoon” to the judge and he was pleading “not guilty” to the new indictment.
Prosecutors said they would make a “strong argument” to include a video depicting Combs kicking and dragging his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
The defense has insisted the video, which was first obtained by CNN last May, is “deceptive” and wants it excluded from the trial.
“The defense has confirmed, through a forensic video analysis of the CNN footage that the government provided to this Court and of the footage provided by CNN in response to the defense subpoena, that all CNN video footage was substantially altered in significant respects,” the defense said.
A CNN spokesperson denied the video was altered.
Combs posted a video on Instagram apologizing for the incident.
In February, Combs sued NBCUniversal and its streaming service Peacock, accusing them of airing a documentary, Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy, that “shamelessly advances conspiracy theories” about him.