Combs

Convicted music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs looked to the White House for major relief amid his legal saga, President Trump says.

“I have a lot of people asking for pardons,” Trump said Monday as reporters pressed him about whether he will pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein. Trump went on to name-drop Combs, using one of his former stage names.

“I call him Puff Daddy, he’s asked me for a pardon,” he continued. A representative for Combs did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but reports about a potential pardon for the Bad Boys Records founder and former Cîroc alcohol entrepreneur first surfaced months ago.

Combs, also formerly known as “Puffy,” “P. Diddy” and “Love,” was convicted in July in his high-profile federal criminal case, in which he was accused of sexually assaulting numerous women. Jurors found Combs guilty on two prostitution-related charges but cleared him of the most serious: racketeering and sex trafficking.

A month after the verdict, CNN reported that Combs’ legal team had reached out to the Trump administration to clear his name. “It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon,” attorney Nicole Westmoreland told the outlet at the time. Days later, the New York Post reported otherwise, with Combs’ lead attorney Marc Agnifilo disputing Westmoreland’s claim.

Earlier this year, Trump also issued pardons for rapper NBA YoungBoy and “Chrisley Knows Best” reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, among others.

Combs was sentenced Friday to more than four years in federal prison for transporting prostitutes across state lines for drug-fueled sex performances he dubbed “freak-offs.” The rapper’s legal team on Monday requested he carry out his sentence at FCI Fort Dix, a low-security federal prison in New Jersey. This will allow Combs “to address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts,” lawyer Teny Geragos wrote.

Meanwhile, as Combs prepares for time behind bars, 50 Cent is making it abundantly clear he’s going to make the most out of his rap foe’s sentence. Over the weekend, the “Candy Shop” musician poked fun at an upcoming speaking engagement that Combs had scheduled before his sentencing, joking that he’s open to take the spot.

50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, also reacted on Trump’s latest pardon comment, of course. “Man you can’t get No pardon running ya mouth like that,” he wrote on Instagram. “LOL Get Out of here.”

Times staff writer Richard Winton and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

The famed hip-hop mogul told the court that his actions were ‘disgusting’ and ‘shameful’ in a plea for leniency.

Musician and producer Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to four years and two months in prison for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters.

His sentencing hearing on Friday capped a federal case that featured harrowing testimony and ended in a forceful reckoning for one of the most popular figures in hip-hop. Combs, 55, was also fined half a million dollars.

Since Combs has served a year in jail already, he is expected to be released in about three years. His lawyers wanted him freed immediately and said the time behind bars has already forced him to embrace remorse and sobriety.

He was convicted in July of flying his girlfriends and male sex workers around the country to engage in drug-fuelled sexual encounters, a practice that happened over many years and in different locations. However, he was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life.

“Why did it happen so long?” US District Judge Arun Subramanian asked as he handed down the sentence. “Because you had the power and the resources to keep it going, and because you weren’t caught.”

Combs showed no visible change of emotion as he learned his sentence, sitting in his chair and looking straight ahead as the judge spoke. He remained subdued afterwards and appeared dejected, with none of the enthusiasm and smiles that accompanied his interactions with lawyers and his family earlier in the day.

In a final word before sentencing, Combs told the judge his years of behaviour were “disgusting, shameful” and apologised to the people he had hurt physically and mentally. He said his acts of domestic violence were a burden he would have to carry for the rest of his life.

His defence lawyers played an 11-minute video in court portraying Combs’ family life, career and philanthropy. At one point during the video, Combs put a hand on his face and began to cry.

His nearly two-month trial in a federal court in Manhattan featured testimony from women who said Combs had beaten, threatened, sexually assaulted and blackmailed them. Prosecutor Christy Slavik told the judge that sparing Combs serious prison time would excuse years of violence.

“It’s a case about a man who did horrible things to real people to satisfy his own sexual gratification,” she said. “He didn’t need the money. His currency was control.”

Combs was convicted under the Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for prostitution. Defence lawyer Jason Driscoll argued the law was misapplied.

During testimony at the trial, former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura told jurors that Combs ordered her to have “disgusting” sex with strangers hundreds of times during their decade-long relationship. Jurors saw video of him dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway.

Another woman, identified as “Jane”, testified she was pressured into sex with male workers during drug-fuelled “hotel nights” while Combs watched and sometimes filmed.

The only accuser scheduled to speak Friday, a former assistant known as “Mia”, withdrew after defence objections. She has accused Combs of raping her in 2010 and asked the judge for a sentence that reflects “the ongoing danger my abuser poses”.

Oct. 3 (UPI) — A federal judge on Friday sentenced Sean “Diddy” Combs to 50 months in prison on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution after the rapper, record producer and entrepreneur apologized for his actions.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan, N.Y., issued his sentence, which he described as “hard time” away from his family, after Combs, 55, was convicted of the two prostitution charges on July 2 by a jury that also acquitted him of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.

Subramanian also imposed a $500,000 fine on Combs, which is the maximum he could order. Comb has an estimated $400 million net worth.

“There is a light at the end of the tunnel,” the judge said. “These letters, all those letters that I saw, show that you have a universe of people who love you. Let them lift you up now, just like you’ve lifted them up for so many years.”

He also noted Comb, a self-made artist and businessman, “inspired and lifted up communities.”

The conviction and sentence can be appealed.

“Every single thing the judge says, from the minutia of his rulings to the grand statements about credibility, will be scrutinized by an appellate court,” Laura Coates, a CNN legal analyst and anchor, said.

Attorneys on both sides weighed in.

Then Combs, who has been held in custody in Brooklyn, N.Y., addressed the court after he submitted a four-page letter to the judge that included an apology to the victims.

“I ask your honor for the chance to be a father again,” he said. “I ask your honor for the chance to be a son again. I ask Your honor for the chance to be a leader in my community again. I ask your honor for a chance to get the help that I desperately need to become a better person because I don’t want to let God down, I don’t want to let my family down.”

Combs, saying he will fully comply with the sentence, added: “I don’t have nobody to blame but myself. I know I’ll never put my hands on another person again. I know that I’ve learned my lesson. I’m willing to comply with any conditions the court puts upon me. Given a chance, when we talk about the possibility of me sharing my story, it’s not just a scheme to try to get less time — it’s that this story is real, this story is tragic.”

Combs wrote Thursday in a letter: “In my life, I have made many mistakes, but I am no longer running from them. I am so sorry for the hurt that I caused, but I understand that the mere words ‘I’m sorry’ will never be good enough as these words alone cannot erase the pain from the past.”

He also spoke about his former girlfriends, ex-R&B star Casandra “Cassie” Ventura Fine and a woman identified as “Jane,” apologizing to them both. “I want to personally apologize again to Cassie Ventura for any harm or hurt that I caused to her, emotionally or physically. My actions were disgusting, shameful and sick,” Combs said.

He said to Jane: “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Ventura’s attorney said after the sentencing hearing: “While nothing can undo the trauma caused by Combs, the sentence imposed today recognizes the impact of the serious offenses he committed. We are confident that with the support of her family and friends, Ms. Ventura will continue healing knowing that her bravery and fortitude have been an inspiration to so many.”

Combs was convicted of transporting the two women as well as sex workers for the intent of prostitution.

Fine and Jane testified in court that Combs physically abused and controlled them and had them participate in marathon drug-fueled sexual encounters with male escorts. Those sessions, which were called “freak offs,” often involved travel across state and even international boundaries.

Subramanian thanked the victims for coming forward.

“To Ms. Ventura, Jane, and the other victims here who came forward, I can only say — your families are proud of you and your children, when they’re old enough will be proud of you, and I am proud of you for telling the world what really happened,” Subramanian said.

“You were speaking to the millions of women out there who have been victims but feel invisible and powerless and had to suffer in silence. You told those women and the world that violence behind closed doors doesn’t have to stay hidden forever. The number of people who you reached is incalculable.”

Six of Combs’ seven children tearfully spoke in support of their father. One of Combs’ defense attorneys cried as she recounted how inspiring she thought he was.

The defense team submitted over 75 letters of support for Combs from friends, family members and other supporters.

The prosecution submitted six letters to the judge, including one from Ventura, whose physical assault at Combs’ hands was recorded by hotel security cameras.

The prosecution’s letters also included written pleas from Ventura’s parents and “Mia,” a former assistant who accused Combs of sexual assault.

The conviction carried a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison per count, and prosecutors argued for a sentence of at least 11 years. Combs’ defense team argued for a 14-month sentence, which would see Combs released by the end of the year, as he has been in a New York federal detention center since his arrest 13 months ago.

“I hope that your decision considers the truths at hand that the jury failed to see,” Fine wrote. “My worries that Sean Combs or his associates will come after me and my family is my reality.”

Oct. 2 (UPI) — Sean “Diddy” Combs is set to be sentenced Friday for his July 2 conviction of two counts of transportation for the purposes of prostitution.

The rapper and music mogul, 55, faced a long list of charges but was acquitted of the most serious — human trafficking.

In September, his lawyers asked the court to only sentence him to 14 months, which would be almost time served. But prosecutors have asked for 11 years.

“Mr. Combs’s near-13 months in prison has been life changing, productive, and a testament to his desire to return to his family and community and lead the best life possible,” his lawyers said. “He has taken the time to achieve necessary rehabilitation from day one at the [Metropolitan Detention Center] — including getting clean of all substances.”

The memo was 380 pages and included letters from his mother, children, friends and business associates. It took issue with recommendations by prosecutors and the Probation Department for tougher sentences.

Combs has been in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest in September 2024.

Last week, Combs’ attorneys asked Judge Arun Subramanian to throw out the convictions because his intent was voyeurism, not profit.

“To our knowledge, Mr. Combs is the only person ever convicted of violating the statute for conduct anything like this,” said his defense attorneys in a written filing. “The proof at trial showed that he typically hired the services of male escorts or dancers advertised openly through lawful businesses, that the men were paid for their time, and that they enjoyed the activities and had friendships with Ms. [Cassie] Ventura and Jane [a pseudonym] and were not merely traveling to have sex for money.”

They also argued that Combs’ actions are protected by the First Amendment because the events were recorded to watch privately.

“The freak-offs and hotel nights were performances that he or his girlfriends typically videotaped so they could watch them later. In other words, he was producing amateur pornography for later private viewing,” the defense said.

But prosecutors argued that Combs used violence and drugs to force the women to comply and that the prostitution transportation was for them to “engage in sex acts for pay.”

Subramanian denied Combs’ request.

Adding to Combs’ legal issues, on Sept. 24, his former stylist, who had testified against him in his criminal trial, filed a lawsuit against him. Deonte Nash, who was hired by Combs as a stylist at age 21 in 2008, alleges multiple violent and sexual charges, human-trafficking, and false imprisonment.

Nash “personally experienced sexual, physical, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of Defendants during his 10-year employment,” court documents said.

Sean “Diddy” Combs will remain in federal custody until he faces sentencing later this year, a judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian on Monday denied the disgraced rapper and music producer’s motion requesting release prior to his sentencing on Oct. 3, The Times has confirmed. Combs has been in federal custody in the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest in September. The facility is reportedly notorious for incidents of violence as well as staffing shortages, inmate overcrowding and even power outages.

“Combs fails to satisfy his burden to demonstrate an entitlement to release,” Subramanian said in the order, reviewed by The Times. “The motion for bail is denied.”

A legal representative for Combs, 55, did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

In his order, Subramanian was unswayed by lawyers’ arguments for Combs’ release including that he shouldn’t be punished for his “swinger” lifestyle; that he’s the target of “ongoing threats of violence” at the MDC; and explanations for his violence against ex-girlfriends Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and Jane, who went by a pseudonym. The two women testified about the musician’s orgies known as “freak-offs” and made allegations about his violent behavior.

Combs’ attorneys urged the release, insisting their client is not a flight risk. The judge, however, didn’t see “clear and convincing evidence” of this or the danger that his lawyers said Combs faced at the prison. Regarding the “squalor and danger” at the facility, Subramanian acknowledged that “public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners,” according to the order.

Yet, he wrote, Combs has said that MDC staff have “been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.”

Though Combs was cleared in July of racketeering and sex trafficking, the jury convicted him on two counts of prostitution-related charges. The jury’s split verdict leaves Combs facing up to 10 years in prison for each of the two counts of prostitution.

The denial of bail comes after Combs’ legal team on Sunday submitted a letter from a woman who identified herself as “Victim 3” from the trial. Virginia Huynh wrote in support of the rapper’s release, claiming he had “made visible efforts to become a better person,” according to the letter reviewed by The Times.

She added: “I want to assure the Court that if released, I believe Mr. Combs will adhere to all conditions imposed and will not jeopardize his freedom or the well-being of his family. Allowing him to be at home will also support the healing process for all involved.”

The legal team for Sean “Diddy” Combs has moved to get the disgraced music mogul released from prison ahead of his Oct. 3 sentencing. Less than a month ago, Combs was acquitted of the most damning charges in his high-profile sex-trafficking case.

Combs’ defense attorneys on Tuesday filed a motion requesting the Bad Boy Records founder’s release, outlining the terms for his bail, including a $50-million bond and travel restrictions. The motion, reviewed by The Times, is addressed to Judge Arun Subramanian and claims “there are exceptional circumstances warranting a departure from mandatory detention and ensuring that Sean Combs is released.”

In the 12-page filing, Combs’ lawyers make the case for his pre-sentence release, including that he shouldn’t be jailed for his “swinger” lifestyle and that he faces “ongoing threats of violence” at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Combs has been in federal custody in the notorious Brooklyn prison since his arrest in September.

The 55-year-old music star was cleared earlier this month of racketeering and sex trafficking but convicted on two counts of prostitution-related charges.

Combs was found guilty of violating the Mann Act by transporting male sex workers across state lines, but his attorneys argued that in similar convictions “the defendants were released pending sentencing.” Additionally, the filing puts a new spin on Combs’ relationships with ex-girlfriends Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and “Jane,” who went by a pseudonym. Each testified about the musician’s orgies known as “freak-offs” and made allegations about his violent behavior. The filing claims that the relationship Combs had with his exes was open, akin to swinging.

“In the the lifestyle he and other adults voluntarily chose, Mr. Combs would be called a swinger,” reads the motion, which later asserts that “Sean Combs should not be in jail for this conduct.”

Combs’ legal team insists in the motion that Combs “is not a risk of flight nor is he a danger to the community or to any specific people.” The motion also downplays the claims of domestic violence against Combs.

Notably, Combs was seen in security footage kicking and dragging Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel. The accuser identified as “Jane” had accused Combs of forced sex, physical violence and abuse.

Referring to earlier court proceedings, Combs’ attorneys note that the “defense admitted a history of domestic violence” but claimed in the motion that Combs struck “Jane” twice in June 2024 because she “provoked” him. The filing also says Combs enrolled in a domestic violence program prior to his arrest last year.

“As we said in court this jury gave [Combs] his life back, and he will not squander his second chance at life, nor would he do anything to further jeopardize his seven children not having a father, and four of his children not having a parent at all,” his defense team says in the motion, referring to the four children Combs shares with Kim Porter, who died in 2018.

According to the proposed bail package, Combs’ $50-million bond would be secured by his home in Miami, where he will live if released. Combs’ attorneys also say his travel would be limited to specific sites in Florida and New York for attorney meetings, and the airports required to travel between those destinations.

To ensure his release, Combs’ attorneys said he was open to the court adding more conditions — including house arrest, mental health treatment and substance abuse treatment — if deemed necessary.

Times editorial library director Cary Schneider contributed to this report

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ high-profile sex trafficking and RICO trial came to a close on Wednesday, prompting a variety of reactions from other musicians, accusers, supporters and social media critics.

Federal prosecutors accused the music mogul of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution in his criminal trial, which began last month in New York. On Wednesday, jurors found Combs, 55, guilty on two counts of the prostitution-related charge but cleared him of the most serious charges: racketeering and sex trafficking.

The split verdict proved a victory for Combs and his legal team, with defense attorney Marc Agnifilo telling Judge Arun Subramanian, “Mr. Combs has been given his life by this jury.”

Rapper 50 Cent — who has trolled Combs on social media since disturbing allegations against the Bad Boy Records founder first surfaced in late 2023 — offered a less formal take on the verdict. “Diddy beat the Feds that boy a bad man!” the pugnacious “In Da Club” artist said on Instagram, in an early version of his post.

50 Cent reacted to the verdict by posting a seemingly AI-generated selfie. “[Combs] beat the RICO,” he said, likening Combs to organized crime boss John Gotti. For the record, Gotti was convicted in 1992 of murder and racketeering.

On Tuesday, 50 Cent seemingly hinted at Combs’ partial victory with another Instagram post. “Diddy just told me to tell Yall don’t worry about him, he gonna hold it down,” he captioned another AI-generated photo.

Singer Cassie (real name Casandra Ventura) received praise from her legal team after Wednesday’s verdict. The “Me & U” artist dated Combs for about 11 years before their split in 2018. In November 2023 she sued Combs, becoming the first accuser to publicly raise allegations of rape, sexual assault and sex trafficking against Combs. During the weeks-long trial, a pregnant Cassie took the stand to testify about her relationship with Combs and the alleged sexual “freak-off” events he orchestrated.

Attorney Douglas Wigdor said in a statement to The Times on Wednesday that his client “paved the way” for Combs’ conviction. Combs faces up to 10 years in prison for each prostitution-related count. He has been in custody since he was indicted last year.

“By coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice. We must repeat — with no reservation — that we believe and support our client who showed exemplary courage throughout this trial,” Wigdor said. “She displayed unquestionable strength and brought attention to the realities of powerful men in our orbit and the misconduct that has persisted for decades without repercussion.”

Combs’ case “proved that change is long overdue,” added Wigdor, who also said his firm remains committed to “fight on behalf of survivors.”

Lisa Bloom, an attorney representing Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard in her sexual assault lawsuit against Combs, said on Instagram that “today’s split verdict is a disappointment” but noted the criminal case is different from the civil battle.

“We will continue to aggressively fight our case until we obtain full and complete justice for Dawn,” said Bloom.

Outside the courthouse, Combs supporters celebrated the Grammy winner’s partial victory by spraying baby oil on each other, according to video shared by NBC News reporter Matt Lavietes. Authorities notably seized narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant at Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles during the raids last year.

Several users on social media also expressed confusion and skepticism at the jury’s decision to acquit Combs on charges of sex trafficking. Citing the prostitution-related charges, one critic alleged in a tweet “that is QUITE LITERALLY SEX TRAFFICKING??? hello??”

“Someone [with] a law degree explain to me how that makes sense,” tweeted a second X user.

David Ring, an attorney who represents sexual abuse victims in some of the highest-profile cases, told The Times he felt “the government overreached” in their pursuit of RICO charges.

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani also told The Times in an interview prior to Wednesday’s verdict that “the prosecution’s presentation was underwhelming.” He added that the high-profile case was “the most expensive prostitution trial in American history. What a huge win for the defense and a tremendous loss for the prosecution.”

Subramanian decided in a late afternoon hearing on Wednesday that Combs would remain behind bars until his sentencing, citing past violent incidents that his attorney acknowledged during the trial. The rapper was denied release on a $1 million bond. Subramanian suggested a sentencing hearing for Oct. 3, but Combs’ lawyers are seeking an earlier date.

Times staff writers Richard Winton and August Brown contributed to this report.

When Lauren Hersh, the national director of the anti-sex trafficking activist group World Without Exploitation, heard Wednesday that Sean “Diddy” Combs was convicted only on the two least serious charges against him, she felt grief for his former partner Casandra Ventura and his other accusers.

“I think this is a travesty,” Hersh said. “It shows there is culturally a deep misunderstanding of what sex trafficking is and the complexity of coercion. So often in these cases, there’s an intertwining of horrific violence and affection.”

Hersh, the former chief of the sex trafficking unit at the Kings County district attorney’s office in Brooklyn, said that Combs’ verdict — guilty on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted on one for racketeering and two for sex trafficking — is a mixed message about Combs’ conduct. But it will likely be felt as a step backward for the movement to hold powerful men to account for alleged sex crimes.

In a cultural moment when other music stars like Marilyn Manson and Chris Brown have mounted successful comebacks after high-profile abuse investigations and lawsuits, Hersh worries the Diddy verdict may deter prosecutors from pursuing similar cases against powerful men and chill the MeToo movement’s ability to seek justice for abuse victims.

“It’s a huge setback, especially in this moment when the powerful have continuously operated with impunity,” Hersh said. “It sends a signal to victims that despite the MeToo movement, we’re still not there in believing victims and understanding the context of exploitation. But I’m hoping it’s a teachable moment to connect the dots with what trafficking is and understanding the complexity of coercion.”

The charges against Combs were not a referendum on whether he had abused Ventura or the myriad other women and men involved in his “freak-off” parties, where group sex and drug use intertwined into an allegedly decadent and violent culture around Combs.

Combs’ defense team freely admitted that his relationship with Ventura was violent, as seen in an infamous 2016 videotape of Combs beating Ventura in an elevator lobby at the InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles. Marc Agnifilo, one of Combs’ lawyers, said in closing arguments that Combs has a drug problem but described his relationship with Ventura as a “modern love story” in which the hip-hop mogul “owns the domestic violence” that plagued it.

“The defendant embraced the fact that he was a habitual drug user who regularly engaged in domestic abuse,” federal prosecutors wrote in a hearing about Combs’ possible bail terms.

The jury decided that Combs’ conduct, however reprehensible, did not amount beyond a reasonable doubt to a criminal racketeering organization or sex trafficking. Yet the case’s impact on movements within music and other industries to hold abusers to account is uncertain.

Many civil suits against the music mogul are still moving through court and could affect his depleted finances. Combs’ reputation has been thoroughly tainted by the lurid details of the trial and strong condemnations from his many accusers.

Still, for victim advocates, the verdict was a bitter disappointment.

Reactions within the music world were swift and despairing. “This makes me physically ill,” said Aubrey O’Day of Danity Kane, the band Diddy assembled on his popular reality TV show “Making the Band,” on social media. “Cassie probably feels so horrible. Ugh, I’m gonna vomit.”

“Cassie, I believe you. I love you. Your strength is a beacon for every survivor,” wrote singer Kesha, who in 2014 sued producer Dr. Luke, accusing him of assault. Kesha has frequently altered the lyrics of her hit single “TikTok” in performances to lambast Combs.

Even longtime Diddy antagonist 50 Cent seemed to acknowledge his partial victory. “Diddy beat the feds that boy a bad man,” 50 Cent wrote on Instagram, before referencing a famous mobster notorious for evading convictions. “Beat the RICO he the gay John Gotti.”

Mitchell Epner, a former assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey who prosecuted numerous sex trafficking and involuntary servitude cases, said that despite some recent high-profile sex trafficking cases that ended in convictions, Combs’ charges were never going to be easy to prove.

“In recent years, we’ve seen prosecutions of Ghislaine Maxwell in the Jeffrey Epstein case, Keith Raniere of NXIVM and R. Kelly, where they are trafficking in order to feed the traffickers’ sexual desire,” Epner said. “But this indictment was all about Sean Combs sharing women with people he was paying. He wasn’t receiving money, he wanted to be a voyeur. That technically fits the definition of sex trafficking, but it wasn’t the primary evil Congress was thinking about.”

The hurdles for accusers to come forward with claims against powerful men, and for juries to discern between transgressive sexual relationships and criminally liable abuse beyond a reasonable doubt, make such cases difficult to prosecute.

In the absence of convictions, some recently accused artists have already mounted successful comebacks.

Shock-rocker Marilyn Manson had been under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department since 2021, when several women accused him of rape and abuse including “Westworld” actor Evan Rachel Wood and “Game of Thrones” actor Esmé Bianco.

Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in January that the statute of limitations had run out on Manson’s domestic violence allegations, and that prosecutors doubted they could prove rape charges.

“While we are unable to bring charges in this matter,” Hochman said in a statement then, “we recognize that the strong advocacy of the women involved has helped bring greater awareness to the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault.”

Bianco told The Times that, “Within our toxic culture of victim blaming, a lack of understanding of coercive control, the complex nature of sexual assault within intimate partnerships, and statutes of limitations that do not support the realities of healing, prosecutions face an oftentimes insurmountable hurdle. Once again, our justice system has failed survivors.”

Manson has denied all claims against him. He has since released a new album and mounted successful tours.

Meanwhile, R&B singer Chris Brown was recently the subject of “Chris Brown: A History of Violence,” a 2024 documentary that shed new light on a 2022 lawsuit where a woman accused Brown of raping her on a yacht owned by Combs in 2020.

That lawsuit — one of many civil and criminal claims made against Brown over the years, beginning with the infamous 2009 incident in which he assaulted his then-girlfriend Rihanna — was dismissed. In 2020, Brown settled another sexual assault lawsuit regarding an alleged 2017 incident at the singer’s home. Brown currently faces criminal charges around a 2023 incident where he allegedly assaulted a music producer with a tequila bottle in a London nightclub.

Brown denied the claims in the documentary, and his attorneys called the film “defamatory.” He sued Warner Bros. Entertainment for $500 million. He is currently on a stadium tour that will stop at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood in September.

Combs, meanwhile, may still face a range of criminal and civil consequences. He could be sentenced from anywhere up to the maximum of 10 years apiece on each prostitution charge, or to a far lesser sentence. Some experts said it’s possible he may be sentenced to time served and walk away a free man soon.

Though it’s too soon to know what kind of future awaits Combs should he return to public life, it’s hard to imagine a return to the heights of influence that defined his ‘90s tenure at Bad Boy Entertainment, or his affable multimedia-mogul personality in the 2000s. A fate similar to the former hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons seems most likely — reputationally tarnished and culturally irrelevant.

Still, his supporters thronged outside the New York courtroom waving bottles of baby oil — an infamous detail of the trial — in a pseudo-ironic celebration of his acquittal on the most serious charges.

If Combs wants to ever return to music, he’ll have at least one ally in Ye, the embattled Nazi-supporting rapper who showed up in court to bolster Combs. Ye featured the incarcerated mogul on his song “Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine,” and released clothing featuring the logo of Combs’ old fashion label Sean John.

President Trump, another convicted felon and alleged sexual assailant who quickly returned to the heights of power, has said he is open to pardoning Combs. “It’s not a popularity contest,” he has said, regarding a Combs pardon. ”I would certainly look at the facts if I think somebody was mistreated.”

July 2 (UPI) — Sean “Diddy” Combs will remain behind bars while awaiting sentencing after a federal jury on Wednesday found him guilty of two prostitution-related charges.

The jury found Combs guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and innocent on one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking at the U.S. District Court of Southern New York in Manhattan.

Combs’ attorneys sought bail to obtain his immediate release, but Judge Arun Subramanian denied the request, CNN reported.

“The defense conceded defendant’s violence in personal relationships, saying ‘it happened,'” Subramanian told the court.

“This highlights a disregard for the rule of law and a propensity of violence,” the judge said, adding that violence and illegal acts continued after investigators searched Combs’ homes and he was aware of the investigation.

Subramanian proposed a sentencing hearing for Combs at 10 a.m. EDT on Oct. 3 but said he would be willing to move up the date if Combs’ attorneys request it.

Throughout the nearly two-month-long trial, prosecutors alleged Combs used his business empire to push two people into taking part in drug-fueled, sexual activities called “freak offs.”

The defense argued the sexual activities were consensual, and Combs had pleaded not guilty to the five criminal counts against him.

Each of the two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution carries a 10-year maximum sentence.

Prosecutor Maurene Comey said the government will request that Combs serve each sentence concurrently, which would give him a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Comey also said a pre-sentencing investigation is necessary to ensure a fair sentence is imposed, which would be done as soon as possible, CNN reported.

Lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo wants to waive the pre-sentencing investigation to end the matter sooner.

He said the defense will argue for a sentence that is less than the maximum of 10 years per count.

A jury in the United States has found musician Sean “Diddy” Combs guilty of prostitution-related offences but cleared him of more serious charges after a federal criminal trial.

Combs, a celebrated figures in hip hop music, was convicted on Wednesday of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking.

The verdict culminates seven weeks of trial in which two of the music mogul’s former girlfriends – singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a second woman referred to as “Jane” – testified that Combs physically and sexually abused them.

The jury’s decision also represents a partial win for the former billionaire known for elevating hip hop in US culture, through his work with artists like Notorious BIG and Usher.

After the jury read its verdict, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo asked US District Judge Arun Subramanian to release Combs on bail.

“This is his first conviction and it’s a prostitution offence, and so he should be released on appropriate conditions,” Agnifilo said. Subramanian will determine Combs’ sentence at a later date.

The acquittals on the sex trafficking counts mean he will avoid a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence. He could have faced life in prison if he were convicted of sex trafficking or racketeering conspiracy.

Prosecutors say that, for two decades, Combs used his business empire to force his romantic partners to take part in drug-fuelled, days-long sexual performances with male sex workers in hotel rooms. These performances were sometimes referred to as “freak-offs”.

During raids of Combs’s homes, authorities found drugs and 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant that he would use in the performances, prosecutors said.

Combs, 55, had pleaded not guilty to all five counts. His lawyers acknowledged that the Bad Boy Records founder, once famed for hosting lavish parties, was at times violent in his domestic relationships.

But they argued the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual.

The musician has previously faced a number of civil lawsuits accusing him of abuse. Ventura, for example, sued Combs in November 2023 for sex trafficking.

Combs, also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, settled with Ventura for $20m. He has denied all wrongdoing.

At the trial, jurors saw surveillance footage from 2016 showing Combs kicking and dragging Ventura in the hallway of an InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles, where she said she was trying to leave a “freak-off”.

Jane later testified that Combs, in June 2024, attacked her and directed her to perform oral sex on a male entertainer, even though she told him she did not want to. That alleged attack took place a month after Combs apologised on social media for his 2016 attack on Ventura, footage of which had been broadcast on CNN.

“The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” prosecutor Christy Slavik said in her closing argument on June 26. “He doesn’t take no for an answer.”

Combs’s defence lawyers argued that, while he may have committed domestic violence in the context of volatile romantic partnerships, his conduct did not amount to sex trafficking.

His defence team said Ventura and Jane were strong, independent women who voluntarily took part in the sexual performances because they wanted to please Combs.

They also suggested that Ventura and Jane were retrospectively accusing Combs of forcing their participation in the performances because they were jealous he was seeing other women.

Both women testified they spent time with Combs and took part in sexual performances after he beat them.

“If he was charged with domestic violence, we wouldn’t all be here,” defence lawyer Agnifilo said in his closing argument on June 27. “He did not do the things he’s charged with.”

Ventura’s lawyer Doug Wigdor, meanwhile, praised his client’s courage to speak up, saying she “paved the way” for Combs’s conviction.

“By coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice,” Wigdor said in a statement.

Separately, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York published remarks underscoring the lasting impact of sexual violence.

“Sex crimes deeply scar victims, and the disturbing reality is that sex crimes are all too present in many aspects of our society,” the statement read. “New Yorkers and all Americans want this scourge stopped and perpetrators brought to justice.”

Jurors have reached a verdict on four of five counts against music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is on trial in a New York federal courtroom, accused of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation for prostitution.

The jury sent a note to the trial judge Tuesday afternoon stating they’d reached a verdict on several counts but were unable to reach a consensus on count one — racketeering. They will continue deliberating on that count in Manhattan starting Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Combs, 55, is charged under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as RICO, which requires a defendant to be part of an enterprise involved in at least two overt criminal acts out of 35 offenses listed by the government.

He is also charged on two counts each of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution in connection with two women — his former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a woman identified in court only as Jane, also a former girlfriend.

The jury has reached a unanimous verdict on the four counts tied to Ventura and Jane but not on the racketeering count. Their verdict is not yet known. As Tuesday’s deliberations concluded, Combs was seen praying in the courtroom and looking morose, according to the Associated Press.

The impending verdicts are the culmination of a celebrity legal drama that has generated global attention and offered a graphic and often violent glimpse into the life of one of the nation’s most powerful music figures and his near billion-dollar enterprise. Jurors heard from three women, two former girlfriends and a personal assistant, who described mob-family-style racketeering with coercion, kidnapping, threats and beatings done to cover up a pattern of sexual assaults, sex trafficking and prostitution over decades.

During the seven-week trial, prosecutors portrayed Combs and his associates as luring female victims, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship. Once he had gained their interest, Combs allegedly used force, threats of force, coercion and controlled substances to get them to engage in sex acts with male prostitutes while he occasionally watched in gatherings that Combs referred to as “freak-offs.”

On the stand, witnesses testified that Combs gave the women ketamine, ecstasy and GHB to “keep them obedient and compliant” during the performances.

Jurors deliberated for more than 12 hours before reaching verdicts on several of the counts against Combs.

The racketeering charge alleged Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment was like a mob family and criminal enterprise that threatened and abused women and utilized members of his enterprise to engage in a litany of crimes over the years including kidnapping, sex trafficking, bribery, arson, forced labor and obstruction of justice.

Though RICO cases are more typically associated with the mafia, street gangs or drug cartels, any loose association of two or more people is enough, like Combs’ entourage, said former federal prosecutor Neama Rahami. Prosecutors during the trial aimed to demonstrate a pattern of racketeering or two or more RICO predicate acts that occurred over 10 years. That’s why the evidence of bribery, kidnapping, obstruction, witness tampering and prostitution became key to the case.

Key to the government’s case was the testimony of three women: Combs’ onetime lover Ventura, whose 2023 lawsuit set off the unraveling of Combs’ enterprise and reputation; his most recent ex-girfriend, Jane; and his former assistant, only identified in court as Mia.

In the trial, Ventura testified she felt “trapped” in a cycle of physical and sexual abuse by Combs, and that the relationship involved years of beatings, sexual blackmail and a rape.

She claimed Combs threatened to leak videos of her sexual encounters with numerous male sex workers while drug-intoxicated and covered with baby oil as he watched and orchestrated the freak-offs.

One of those freak-offs led to an infamous hotel beating that was captured on hotel security cameras. Video footage from that March 2016 night shows Combs punching and kicking Ventura as she cowers and tries to protect herself in front of an L.A. hotel elevator bank. He then drags her down the hall by her hooded sweatshirt toward their hotel room.

A second angle from another camera captures Combs throwing a vase toward her. She suffered bruising to her eye, a fat lip and a bruise that prosecutors showed was still visible during a movie premiere two days later, where she wore sunglasses and heavy makeup on the red carpet.

In closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Atty. Christy Slavik told jurors Combs “counted on silence and shame” to enable and prolong his abuse and used a “small army” of employees to harm women and cover it up, according to the Associated Press.

Combs, he said, “doesn’t take no for an answer.”

When it came time for Combs’ defense team to present their case, they opted to move straight to closing arguments without presenting a witness. Rahami, the former federal prosecutor, said the defense expected jurors would question why those on the stand did not report the behavior to authorities at the time it was occurring and, in some cases, chose to stay in Combs’ orbit.

Marc Agnifilo, one of Combs’ lawyers, told jurors in closing that federal prosecutors “exaggerated” their case and sought to turn the hip-hop mogul’s swinger lifestyle into the most serious of federal offenses — racketeering and sex trafficking, without the evidence to back it up. In reality, Combs has a drug problem and his relationship with Ventura was a “modern love story” where the mogul “owns the domestic violence” that was revealed in the trial, Agnifilo said.

Terrance “T.A.” Dixon, once a hype man to rapper Fat Joe, has sued his former employer for $20 million, making some allegations that might blend right in at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ RICO and sex-trafficking trial.

The federal lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York and reviewed by The Times, alleges that the rapper underpaid Dixon, cut him out of promised pay for contributing to album tracks, defrauded authorities about his income, ditched Dixon in foreign countries without money or transportation home and is running a criminal organization built on intimidation and violence.

The lawsuit alleges that Fat Joe forced the hype man — a sort of backing vocalist who pumps up the audience — into approximately 4,000 sex acts with women in front of him and his crew.

The 54-year-old rapper, born Joseph Antonio Cartagena, is also accused of having sexual relationships with girls who were 15 and 16. The allegations go back to when the rapper was in his late 30s, the lawsuit says. Fat Joe’s song “She’s My Mama,” which has graphically sexual lyrics, was based on what is alleged to have happened with him and one of the girls in real life, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit states that Dixon’s role over about 16 years was more than that of the usual hype man. He “consistently” had duties that included co-writing lyrics, structuring hooks, recording background vocals, performing at more than 200 live shows as Fat Joe’s primary onstage counterpart and managing travel logistics, including equipment transport, security and emergency arrangements. The complaint alleges that Dixon also acted as Joe’s bodyguard and handler during tours.

According to the filing, Dixon wrote or co-wrote tracks including “Congratulations,” “Money Over Bitches,” “Ice Cream,” “Cupcake,” “Blackout,” “Dirty Diana,” “Porn Star,” “Okay Okay,”“No Problems,” a version of “All the Way Up,” “300 Brolic,” “All I Do Is Win (Remix verse),” “Red Café (Remix),” “Winding on Me,” “Cocababy” and “Get It for Life.”

The complaint alleges that Dixon was not properly paid for his efforts, even though he says he was promised certain ownership percentages and documented credit on songs that Fat Joe released commercially. Dixon, who left Fat Joe’s team in 2020, was unable to obtain certain evidence of wrongdoing until a person named as “Accountant Doe” came forward last year with information, the lawsuit says.

Fat Joe “exercised sole control over contracts, budgets, tour management, licensing, and credit attribution and intentionally omitted Plaintiff’s name from liner notes, publishing registrations, and royalty structures, despite Plaintiff’s direct contributions to these works’ creative and commercial success,” the complaint says.

Joe Tacopina, an attorney for Fat Joe, called the lawsuit “a blatant attack of retaliation” and labeled the allegations “complete fabrications” that his client denies in a statement to Variety. Retaliation referred to the slander lawsuit that the rapper filed against Dixon in April after the former hype man accused him on social media of flying a 16-year-old across state lines for sex.

Dixon’s attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, is also representing producer Lil Rod (Rodney Jones) in his $30-million federal lawsuit filed last year against Sean “Diddy” Combs and others in Combs’ orbit, in which Lil Rod alleged sexual harassment and sexual assault. A judge tossed out a majority of Lil Rod’s allegations against Combs in late March.

Both lawsuits include trigger warnings in bright red type ahead of the allegations — something not often seen in such documents.

“Fat Joe is Sean Combs minus the Tusi [pink cocaine],” Blackburn said in a statement to the Independent. “He learned nothing from his 2013 federal conviction,” the attorney added, referencing Fat Joe’s four-month sentence and $15,000 fine in a plea deal for failure to file a tax return in multiple years on more than $3.3 million in income.

In addition to Fat Joe, defendants in the new lawsuit include Peter “Pistol Pete” Torres, Richard “Rich Player” Jospitre, Erica Juliana Moreira and several companies —including Roc Nation — that are affiliated with the rapper. Dixon is asking for a jury trial.

May 30 (UPI) — The Sean “Diddy” Combs jury Friday heard from “Mia,” one of the alleged sexual abuse victims in his sex trafficking and racketeering case. She acknowledged later positive social media posts about Combs.

She testified Thursday that Combs repeatedly physically and sexually assaulted her, making her feel trapped in what she alleged was ongoing abuse.

“Mia” said she felt she didn’t have any safe way to report the abuse.

Combs denies all the charges and maintains sexual acts described by prosecutors were consensual.

Under prosecutor questioning “Mia” said she was traumatized by the abuse she alleges Combs inflicted on her and that it resulted in complex, severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“Mia” testified that she posted the positive social media posts about Combs in part because it was about demonstrating how great your life was even if it wasn’t true.

She added she felt fear any time Combs was unhappy because it meant she was unsafe.

“Mia” said during cross examination that her dynamics with Combs would shift and “when things were good, we felt really safe” and almost forgot about the abuse.

She said she had to “beg” Combs to allow her to go to her grandmother’s funeral.

On Tuesday, former Combs assistant Capricorn Clark testified she saw Combs beat Cassie Ventura for having a relationship with another rapper. She added Combs told her he wanted to kill Scott Mescudi, also known as “Kid Cudi.”

Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Cassie is celebrating a new personal milestone: her baby boy with husband Alex Fine has arrived.

The “Me & U” singer on Tuesday gave birth to her third child in a New York hospital, sources confirmed to TMZ and People. She and “MobLand” actor Fine welcomed their newest family member after the former was rushed to the hospital Tuesday and admitted into the labor and delivery unit, according to TMZ.

A representative for Cassie, 38, did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for confirmation and additional information.

The singer (born Casandra Ventura) married Fine, 32, in October 2019 months after meeting him earlier that year at a gym where he worked as a wellness consultant. They also share daughters Frankie, 5, and Sunny, 3.

Cassie announced her pregnancy in February via Instagram, sharing photos from an intimate family photo shoot. She captioned the post — which prominently featured her baby bump and her loved ones surrounding her — with a few emojis, including a blue heart. Fine, also known for the series “American Primeval” and “1883,” said in his own Instagram post at the time that his growing family was the “best gift I could ask for.”

The “Long Way 2 Go” musician enters her newest chapter of motherhood less than two weeks after she testified against ex-boyfriend and disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs in his federal sex trafficking trial in New York. During her four days of testimony, Cassie shared disturbing allegations about her relationship with the Bad Boy Records boss — including his alleged fits of violence, threats of blackmail and his notorious sexual marathons called “freak-offs.” She sued Combs in the fall of 2023, helping set the stage for additional lawsuits from other accusers, federal raids on Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami and more legal fallout.

“I hope my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from abuse and fear,” Cassie said in a statement shared by her attorney Douglas Wigdor. “For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember. And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget.”

Fine, in a statement through Wigdor, also shut down narratives that he saved his wife from Combs. “To say that is an insult to the years of painful work my wife has done to save herself,” he said. “Cassie saved Cassie.”

He added: “She alone broke free from abuse, coercion, violence and threats.”

Fine concluded, noting “this horrific chapter is forever put behind us” and asked for privacy ahead of the arrival of his son with Cassie.

Times staff write Richard Winton and former Times staff writer Nardine Saad contributed to this report.

Mess with 50 Cent and he might come for your house — even if it takes him a few years to do it.

The rapper’s company Sire Spirits got the OK last week from a federal judge to seize the Connecticut home of former Sire executive Mitchell Green as partial payment toward a $7-million debt after a federal bankruptcy judge lifted an automatic stay that had prevented transfer of the property.

That took 50 Cent — real name Curtis Jackson III — and his legal team a little more than four years to accomplish, from when Green confessed to embezzling from his employer via a kickback scheme involving wholesalers until last week when the stay came off the house.

Branson Cognac and Chemin du Roi Champagne, both owned by Jackson, are managed through Sire Spirits. Green admitted in February 2020 that he had been raising prices and getting kickbacks from wholesalers that were labeled “agency fees,” the New York Post reported in 2022 and 2023.

Sire Spirits filed a request with the U.S. District Court, New York Southern, on Sept. 1, 2021, for confirmation of an arbitration agreement of a little less than $3.5 million in damages, according to court documents reviewed by The Times.

Green had been embezzling from 2018 into 2020, when someone attempted to blackmail him over the $2.2 million in kickbacks, according to AllHipHop. At that point, Green told his employer what he’d done. Sire Spirits fired him and went into arbitration, which was settled in Sire’s favor. With attorney fees and legal costs rolled in, the November 2022 final judgment totaled around $6.3 million.

In March 2023, the disgraced businessman filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, which was still going on when Sire Spirits’ legal team secured a judgment lien against Green’s home in Westport, Conn., according to the court documents.

Green’s legal team had been providing court-ordered updates on the status of the property, always stating that Green was still in bankruptcy proceedings and therefore still had that automatic stay protecting his home. But last week, Sire’s attorneys asked the bankruptcy judge to get rid of the stay, saying that Green had no equity in the home due to the size of the judgment against him and therefore the property didn’t need to be part of his liquidation.

The judge agreed and lifted the stay.

The Connecticut home was appraised in late April at $1 million. That value will ultimately be credited against the judgment plus pre- and post-judgment interest, which now totals around $7 million.

Although Jackson has mentioned Branson Cognac recently on social media, he hasn’t said anything about the legal victory. In the last week, the rapper has been enjoying himself by poking fun at Sean “Diddy” Combs, a.k.a. “Puffy,” who is mired in a federal sex trafficking and conspiracy trial, where prosecution witnesses have been testifying.

“Cut, CUT … Wait a minute PUFFY’s got a gun, I can’t believe this I don’t feel safe … LOL,” Jackson wrote Tuesday on social media, posting screen shots of new testimony from Combs’ former assistant Capricorn Clark. Clark told the court that Combs said something about guns that she took as him making a threat against Jackson.

“Oh my goodness itty bitty Diddy wants me Dead,” the entrepreneur and provocateur said in a follow-up post. “I have to lay low, I think I’m gonna hide out at the playoff game tonight LOL.” He posted a comical picture of himself looking completely freaked out.

The New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers should be tipping off right about now.

May 27 (UPI) — Sean “Diddy” Combs beat his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, for having a relationship with another rapper, whom he threatened to kill, former assistant Capricorn Clark testified on Tuesday.

Clark told the court she witnessed Combs beating Ventura, and he told her he wanted to kill Scott Mescudi, also known as “Kid Cudi,” NBC News reported.

Combs, 55, allegedly armed himself with a firearm and rushed to Mescudi’s Los Angeles home upon learning of the relationship between the rival rapper and Combs’ ex-girlfriend Ventura, Clark testified, USA Today reported.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Clark said while telling the court that Combs was in a rage and tried to break into Mescudi’s home.

Combs would not let her leave until she relayed a threat to Ventura, Clark testified.

She also said Combs repeatedly threatened her life several times while he employed her and at one time kidnapped her.

Clark teared up at times while telling the court Combs held her against her will for five days in New York City after he discovered jewelry missing from one of his homes.

She said Combs forced her to retake the polygraph test many times over several days due to her being “petrified” of her boss.

A very large man told her if she failed the polygraph test, “they’re gonna throw you in the East River,” Clark told the court.

She said the polygraph testing continued for five days until they could get a conclusive result.

Combs’ security staff would take her home each night and bring her back to the same dilapidated room on the sixth floor of a New York City building while the polygraph testing continued, Clark testified.

Combs also allegedly forced Clark to work as his personal assistant from 9 a.m. to 4 a.m. with no time off to sleep or eat.

The stress from her employment caused Clark to develop alopecia, which is a health condition that causes hair loss, she told the court.

She also said the human resources department at the business owned by Combs determined she was owed $80,000 in overtime pay after she complained about her working conditions.

Instead of paying her, Combs tore up the paperwork showing the amount of back pay he owed her, Clark testified.

“Your problem is you want a life and you can’t have that here,” Combs told Clark during the summer of 2006, she testified.

Clark said her duties as Combs’ personal assistant included booking hotels for Ventura and Kim Porter, with whom Combs fathered four children.

She also testified that Combs always brought a camera and a toiletry bag that contained illegal drugs and small bottles of baby oil and lubricant.

While in the south of France, Clark said Combs told her to obtain cocaine for one of his friends.

Clark told the court she finally quit after Combs overheard her complaining about his Miami home lacking turkey bacon and saying she hated being there.

She said Combs ran toward her and pushed her for 20 or 30 yards and yelled she could get out of his house if she hated being there.

The shoving continued until Combs’ security stopped him, and Clark said she quit after that incident.

Combs afterward asked her to work for his Sean John women’s apparel business, but Clark said she refused because she “didn’t want to be trapped in his house no more,” she told the court.

Clark’s testimony followed last week’s court appearances by Ventura, her mother, Regina Ventura, musical artist Dawn Richard and Mescudi.

All testified about abuse and threats made by Combs at various times.

Mescudi told the court Combs broke into his home and locked his dog in a bathroom on one occasion.

He said his car was blown up on another occasion.

Prosecutors argue such events demonstrate Combs’ alleged violent acts committed over two decades while coercing women to take drugs and participate in orchestrated sex parties that he called “freak offs” and often recorded on video.

Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and could be sentenced to between 10 years and life in prison if found guilty on one or more charges.

The trial began on May 5 at the U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan.

May 22 (UPI) — Rapper Kid Cudi will take the stand Thursday in the closed door federal sex-trafficking trial against Sean “Diddy” Combs in a big day for prosecutors.

The 41-year-old Grammy Award-winning rapper, whose birth name is Scott Mescudi, is expected to share details about his romantic past from more than 10 years ago with Combs’ ex-partner, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, particularly the allegations that Combs allegedly was behind the blowing up of Mescudi’s car.

The trial began on May 5 at the U.S. District Court for Southern New York courthouse in Manhattan in a trial where cameras are prohibited.

Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and two counts of sex trafficking by force. He has pleaded not guilty and could be sentenced to up to life in prison if a jury finds him guilty on one or more charges.

On Tuesday, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was the first to open testimony in the trial during the morning hours as a handful of other witnesses took the stand, including a board-certified forensic and clinical psychologist and Ventura’s mother.

Ventura, in a 2023 civil lawsuit settled privately without Combs admitting any wrongdoing, alleged that Combs told her that he would blow of Mescudi’s car.

“Around that time, Kid Cudi’s car exploded in his driveway,” court documents read, adding that Ventura was “terrified, as she began to fully comprehend what Mr. Combs was both willing and able to do to those he believed had slighted him.”

Meanwhile, Ventura testified in court last week and said she kept a burner phone to hide her relationship with Cudi.

The prosecution will likely try to prove that Combs used his considerable influence and wealth to execute the bombing of Cudi’s vehicle, according to a former federal prosecutor for New York’s Southern District.

Calling Mescudi to the witness stand could help the prosecution if it can demonstrate Combs used his considerable financial and business resources to carry out the bombing, said Rachel Maimin, a former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York.

“The burden of proof is on the federal government, so they’ll have to show this was part of the racketeering,” Rachel Maimin, now a criminal defense attorney with Lowenstein Sandler LLP, told NBC.

“This may be a way of explaining how he used his business empire to further the prosecution’s goal of proving the racketeering enterprise,” she added.

NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs’ one-time personal assistant testified Wednesday that he was in charge of cleaning up hotel rooms after the hip-hop mogul’s sex marathons — tossing out empty alcohol bottles, baby oil and drugs, tidying pillows and making it look as if nothing had happened.

Implied in the job was that “protecting him and protecting his public image were important to him,” George Kaplan told jurors at Combs’ sex trafficking trial in federal court in Manhattan.

“That’s what I was keen on doing,” Kaplan said.

Kaplan, who worked for Combs from 2013 to 2015, said the Bad Boy Records founder would sometimes summon him to a hotel room to deliver a “medicine kit,” a bag full of prescription pills and over-the-counter pain medications. He said Combs also dispatched him to buy drugs, including MDMA, also known as ecstasy.

Kaplan, 34, was granted immunity to testify after initially telling the court that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Prosecutors contend Combs leaned on employees and used his music and fashion empire to facilitate and cover up his behavior, sometimes making threats to keep them in line and his misconduct hush-hush.

Kaplan testified that Combs threatened his job on a monthly basis, once berating him for buying the wrong size bottled water. Combs’ longtime girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, testified that Kaplan quit after seeing Combs beat her.

Kaplan’s testimony resumes Thursday. He’ll be followed by rapper and actor Kid Cudi.

Cudi, whose legal name is Scott Mescudi, is expected to testify about his brief relationship with Cassie in 2011. Prosecutors say Combs was so upset that he arranged to have Cudi’s convertible firebombed.

Also Wednesday, a federal agent showed jurors two handguns he said were found in a March 2024 raid at Combs’ Miami-area home, along with photos of ammunition and a wooden box marked “Puffy” — one of his nicknames — that the agent said contained psilocybin, MDMA and other drugs.

Investigators also found items prosecutors say were hallmarks of “freak-offs,” including dozens of bottles of baby oil and lubricant, said Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Gerard Gannon.

Combs’ lawyer Teny Geragos suggested the search — which involved 80 to 90 agents, an armored vehicle smashing the security gate, handcuffed employees and boat patrols — was overkill. Combs’ Los Angeles mansion was also searched.

Gannon confirmed the federal investigation began the day after Cassie filed a lawsuit in November 2023 alleging that Combs abused her for years and involved her in hundreds of “freak-offs” with him and male sex workers. He soon settled for $20 million, she said.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he leveraged his fame and fortune to control Cassie and other people through threats and violence. His lawyers say the evidence reflects domestic violence, not racketeering or sex trafficking.

Jurors also heard from a psychologist who delved into the complexities of abusive relationships. Dawn Hughes explained victims often experience a “low sense of self” and tend to stay with abusers because they yearn for love and compassion they experienced in a relationship’s early “honeymoon phase.”

Hughes also explained how a victim’s memory can sometimes become jumbled — retaining awareness of abuse, but mixing up details. Hughes, who was paid $6,000 by the prosecution to testify, didn’t examine or mention Cassie or Combs, but her testimony paralleled some of what Cassie said she experienced with him.

Cassie testified that she started dating Cudi in late 2011. Although she and Combs broke up, they still engaged in “freak-offs,” she said. It was during such an encounter that Combs looked at her phone and figured out she was seeing Cudi, Cassie said.

Cassie’s mother, Regina Ventura, testified Tuesday that Cassie emailed her in December 2011 that Combs was so angry about the relationship that he planned to release explicit videos of her and have someone hurt Cassie and Cudi. Regina Ventura said she Combs also demanded $20,000. Scared for her daughter’s safety, she said she sent Combs the money, only to have it returned by Combs days later.

Cassie testified that she broke up with Cudi before the end of the year.

“It was just too much,” she said. “Too much danger, too much uncertainty of, like, what could happen if we continued to see each other.”

After Cassie reunited with Combs, he told her that Cudi’s car would be blown up and that he wanted Cudi’s friends there to see it, Cassie said.

Sisak and Neumeister write for the Associated Press. AP reporter Julie Walker contributed to this report.

NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs demanded $20,000 from Casandra “Cassie” Ventura’s mother and threatened to release explicit sex tapes of his longtime girlfriend when he became angry that she was dating someone else, the mother testified Tuesday at the hip-hop mogul’s sex trafficking trial.

Regina Ventura said she felt “physically sick” when she received an email from Cassie in late 2011 saying Combs was planning to release two explicit videos of her and send someone to hurt her and the man she was seeing, rapper Kid Cudi.

“I did not understand a lot of it. The sex tapes threw me,” Ventura told the Manhattan federal court.

Ventura, of New London, Conn., said she then received a demand from Combs for $20,000 “to recoup money he had spent on her because he was unhappy she was in a relationship with Kid Cudi.”

“He was angry that he had spent money on her and she went with another person,” she said.

Ventura said she used a home equity loan to make the payment because “I was scared for my daughter’s safety.” Days later, she said, the money was returned, and before long, Cassie was dating Combs again.

Ventura testified for less than a half-hour, in part because defense attorney Marc Agnifilo declined to cross-examine her. During her testimony, the jury was shown photographs of bruises on Cassie’s body that Ventura testified were taken when her daughter came home for Christmas in 2011.

Before the jury arrived Tuesday, Agnifilo tried to persuade Judge Arun Subramanian to disallow the testimony, saying it was “purely prejudicial” because it illustrated the wide difference between the financial status of the Ventura family and Combs. The judge allowed it though, saying the threats to release sex tapes and harm Cassie made it an instance of “potential extortion.”

The testimony came during the second week of the trial, which is scheduled to last up to two months. If convicted of the charges he faces, including racketeering, the Bad Boy Records founder could be sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he used threats and his powerful position in the hip-hop world to abuse women and others, and force Cassie to take part in drug-fueled sexual performances with other men that she said left her too drained to pursue her singing career.

Earlier Tuesday, David James, Combs’ personal assistant from 2007 to 2009, told the court that the job seemed to come with increasing perils. He said he quit when he realized that his life had been put in danger after he was forced to drive a car in which an angry Combs sat in the back seat with three handguns on his lap.

James said his job sometimes required him to ensure that hotel rooms where Combs stayed under the name “Frank Black” were stocked with the musician’s comforts, including fresh underwear, an iPod, apple sauce, vodka, baby oil, Viagra and condoms.

There were also surprising moments, James said, like one in 2008 when Combs asked him to bring an iPod from his Miami home to a hotel room. Upon entering, James said he saw Cassie on the bed with a white comforter pulled up to her neck and an unfamiliar naked man running from the room.

Another time, he said Combs summoned him to his office to show him video he’d recorded at a party of James dancing wildly and told him: “OK. I’m going to keep this footage in case I ever need it.” James said he took it as a threat to keep him in line.

Cassie testified last week that Combs threatened to release videos of her having sex with male sex workers during so-called freak-offs Combs orchestrated if she didn’t do as he said.

James also described being required to take lie detector tests twice when Combs was trying to find out who stole cash in one instance and a watch in another.

He said Combs was on drugs nearly every day, often taking Percocet by day and ecstasy by night. When he stocked Combs’ hotel rooms, he said, drugs were in a bag dropped off by security, including the pill meant to look like then-President Obama.

The moment when James saw the three guns on Combs’ lap came when he testified that he was involved in Combs’ attempt to confront his music industry rival Suge Knight at a Los Angeles diner in November 2008 — an incident that Cassie also testified about. He said he quit soon afterward.

“I was real shook up by it,” James testified. “This was the first time being Mr. Combs’ assistant that I realized my life was in danger.”

Before Tuesday’s lunch break, Sharay Hayes, an exotic dancer known as “The Punisher,” testified that Combs and Cassie brought him into the freak-offs world. He said a woman — Cassie using a pseudonym — called and told him it was her birthday and that her husband said she should hire a dancer.

Hayes said he arrived at a Manhattan hotel room expecting to perform a striptease for a small group of people but instead found the woman who hired him — whom he later found out was Cassie — alone with an otherwise naked man who hid his face with a burqa-like cloth. That man, he said, turned out to be Combs.

Hayes recalled seeing bottles of baby oil in bowls of water and getting handed a stack of $800 in cash. Later, after Combs watched him have a sexual encounter with Cassie, he said he was handed an additional $1,200. He said he was a fan of Combs but didn’t realize it was him in the room until a subsequent encounter at another hotel where the message on the TV screen said: “Essex House would like to welcome Mr. Sean Combs.”

Sisak and Neumeister write for the Associated Press.