Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: a timeline of charges as sex trafficking case begins
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was once one of the biggest hip-hop moguls in all of music, but is now set to go on trial starting on May 5th for charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
The rapper and record producer, who created a seismic career throughout the 1990s and 2000s under the names of Puff Daddy, P Diddy, and ‘Love’, was arrested in September 2024 following a federal investigation into his actions.
His trial for the first set of offences will begin in New York, but he is also charged in dozens of other lawsuits by both men and women of prolific sexual abuse over decades.
Allegations against Combs first surfaced from his former girlfriend, Cassie, in November 2023, but the trial has not commenced until now, amid a failed bid by the rapper’s legal team to delay proceedings.
Cassie alleges abuse from Combs
Combs’ downfall began in November 2023 when his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, filed a lawsuit against him, alleging sexual abuse over a period of ten years. Her charges included that she was trafficked, raped, forced to take drugs, and beaten by Combs numerous times over the decade.
Cassie had been signed to the rapper’s record label, Bad Boy, since 2005, and the pair were in a relationship together from approximately 2007 until 2017.
In response to the singer’s claims against him, Combs said in a statement at the time that he “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations,” but the following week, on November 18th, 2023, reached a settlement with Cassie, saying, “We have decided to resolve this matter amicably.” The details of the settlement were never made public.
However, after his case with Cassie had concluded, Combs then began to face a litany of allegations which emerged as a result.
More charges from other victims come to light
The week after the settlement with Cassie was reached, two women came forward to accuse Combs of similar sexual abuse throughout the 1990s. His lawyer claimed the accusations were untrue.
Then, in December 2023, another woman filed a separate lawsuit which claims that Combs and two other men raped her when she was underage in 2003. The woman claimed she was flown to a New York recording studio and given drugs and alcohol by the men, so she was unable to consent to having sex with them.
The same day these claims emerged, Combs took to Instagram to attempt to defend himself, stating, “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family, and for the truth.”
The music producer Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones filed a further lawsuit against Combs in February 2024, claiming that he was forced to engage in sexual acts. Jones also added the actor Cuba Gooding Jr to his allegations, accusing him of “fondling” and “groping”.
A judge has since dismissed some of Jones’ claims – after Combs’ legal team attempted to have the case thrown out, branding the allegations as “pure fiction” – but his alleged sexual abuse by the rapper still stands.
Combs’ home searched, his son becomes involved, and video footage revealed
Over the successive months of March to May 2024, three events occurred which proved significant to the case.
Firstly, Combs’ homes in both Miami and Los Angeles were searched by federal law enforcement, which the rapper’s legal team claimed was related to the case but exerted “a gross use of military-level force”.
A month later, Combs’ son, Christian ‘King’ Combs, was also accused of sexually assaulting a woman on one of his father’s yachts. Combs was named as a co-defendant in his son’s case as he allegedly created the circumstances for the assault to take place and subsequently paid to cover it up. A lawyer for the father and son said the claims were “outrageous”.
In May 2024, a major development in the claims materialised when American broadcaster CNN showed video footage of Combs physically attacking the original accuser, Cassie, in a hotel hallway in 2016.
Combs cannot be charged for that incident specifically as it does not relate to one of Cassie’s claims, but he posted another video to social media in the days following the video being published, in which he said: “I was fucked up – I mean I hit rock bottom – but l make no excuses. My behaviour on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I am disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
Combs’ arrest
After a number of other lawsuits were filed, Combs was arrested in New York in September 2024 on a grand jury indictment.
He pleaded not guilty, claiming he was an “imperfect person” but “not a criminal”, yet was denied bail. He was charged with three counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
In the aftermath of his initial plea, a number of other lawsuits, separate from the New York criminal case, were filed against Combs.
More lawsuits, and Jay-Z is accused
Once again, in the months after Combs’ arrest, more and more lawsuits against him emerged from other victims, including from those who were children at the time they allege the rapper of abusing them.
His legal team denied these charges, and also apply for Combs to be released on bail, which was not granted.
At the same time, Jay-Z was also accused of raping a 13-year-old girl at the MTV Music Video Awards in 2000 as part of another case against Combs. For his part, he called the allegations “heinous”, and the case was later dropped against him for prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought to him again.
Subsequently, Jay-Z filed a lawsuit against the accuser for defamation.
Indictments added to the case
Prosecutors added three indictments to the case against Combs from January to April 2025, the last of which contained two new charges from further victims, bringing the total number of potential prosecutions to five.
Combs again denied any wrongdoing when details from these indictments came to light, with his team counter-claiming that he has been the victim of a “racist” prosecution.
They said the hip-hop mogul “has been singled out because he is a powerful Black man” and that “no white person” has ever “been the target of a remotely similar prosecution.”
Meanwhile, Combs’ mother, Janice Smalls Combs, was sued in February 2025 by Kirk Burrowes, her son’s business partner in Bad Boy Entertainment, for allegedly colluding with Combs to “illegally seize” his ownership of and earnings from the company.
Janice Smalls Combs has not yet responded to this case.
Combs’ legal team attempts to delay the case
On April 16th, Combs’ legal representatives asked for the trial to be delayed for up to two months in order for them to prepare a defence for Combs’ latest charges brought about in the last indictment, which included new counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion and an extra count of transportation to engage in prostitution.
However, this request was ultimately denied by the judge as it was made too close to the start of the trial, and as such, the case will begin as planned on its originally scheduled date.
Combs will face trial in New York on five charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He is also accused of sexual abuse in a plethora of other civil lawsuits. He denies all the allegations against him.
Jury selection for the trial will begin on May 5th, while initial statements are expected to be heard on May 12th. The trial will then last for approximately eight weeks.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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