Though Stapleton wouldn’t directly address the ongoing disagreement during our conversation, she does say that when she started work on the series, “I never, in a million years, thought that [footage] was going to fall into my lap.” Instead, she prepared a treatment that explored the allegations against Combs chronologically, from rumors around his alleged role in the slayings of Tupac Shakur and Christopher George Latore Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G., to multiple allegations of sexual assault. (Combs has denied any responsibility in the deaths of Shakur and Wallace, and has never been charged in those cases. He also has denied all allegations of sexual assault.)
As opposed to being a Jinx-like self-indictment, the found footage helps to illustrate how Combs approached the increasing tide of accusations, and how seriously—or not—he took them. At times, he can be seen performing as if he’s on a reality show; at other points, it appears he’s forgotten the cameras are there. “Those are things that I think you have to see in order to understand the type of person that you’re dealing with,” Stapleton says. “There’s intention behind how he moves. And in his defense, there should be, if you have your life on the line at that level.”
Toward the series’s end, we are reminded that in criminal court, Combs has been convicted of only two prostitution-related offenses, and was acquitted of the most serious charges against him. Jurors in the New York case “didn’t necessarily think that he was a good guy,” Stapleton says, “but they couldn’t connect the dots” when it came to more consequential criminal behavior. He remains incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution Fort Dix, New Jersey, serving a 50-month sentence. His anticipated release date is June 4, 2028.
At present, Combs also faces over 70 civil claims, some of which may stretch back to the 56-year-old’s days as a student at Howard University. But though Stapleton left a massive amount of footage on the cutting room floor, she seems reluctant about returning for a possible The Reckoning 2. “I would have no interest in doing it for gratuitous reasons, or to feed the appetite of people wanting more,” she says. The documentarian is already gearing up to premiere her next project, The Brittney Griner Story, at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
That said, Stapleton does believe that Combs will continue to provide fodder for reporters and documentarians for years to come. “I definitely think this is the beginning. He has dozens upon dozens upon dozens upon dozens of civil suits to get through. We’ll see how this all continues to take shape.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ personal videographer has addressed how he alleges Netflix and 50 Cent obtained the behind-the-scenes footage of Combs for the docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning, which unpacks the allegations behind the rapper and his Bad Boy Entertainment empire.
The videographer, Michael Oberlies, is alleging that the footage was released by a freelancer who was hired to fill in for him while he was out of state for a few days.
“For over two years we have been working on a project profiling Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs,” Oberlies said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “The footage in question was not released by me or anyone authorized to handle Sean Combs’ materials; it was by a third party who covered for me for three days while I was out of state. This incident had nothing to do with any fee dispute or contract issue.
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“The actions of the parties involved reflect the lack of integrity every storyteller should uphold. Taking footage intended for our project to advance a narrative that was not our own is both unethical and unacceptable.”
The footage Oberlies is referencing features clips of Combs in his New York City hotel room days before his September 2024 arrest, when he was indicted on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges that accused him of hitting and abusing women for over a decade and presiding over an empire of sexual crimes.
The footage featured in the Netflix docuseries, produced by 50 Cent, shares conversations with Combs’ legal team about how to navigate the case.
“We have to find somebody that’ll work with us. Whether they’re from this country or from another country, it could be somebody that has the dirtiest of dirtiest dirty business of media and propaganda,” Combs told his lawyer Marc Agnifilo on the phone, before adding, “We’re losing.”
In another scene, Combs meets fans in Harlem, where he later says he needs hand sanitizer because he was “out in the streets amongst the people.”
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“The amount of people that actually I’m coming in contact with, that’s what I have to do,” he said while asking the people around him for hand sanitizer. “It’s time to cleanse, I got to go under the water, water got to be boiling hot, put some peroxide in that.”
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Sean “Diddy” Combs claims new Netflix doc uses “stolen footage” depicting days leading up to his arrest
A day before the docuseries was released on Netflix, a representative for Combs issued a statement, calling it a “shameful hit piece.”
“Today’s GMA (Good Morning America) teaser confirms that Netflix relied on stolen footage that was never authorized for release. As Netflix and CEO Ted Sarandos know, Mr. Combs has been amassing footage since he was 19 to tell his own story, in his own way. It is fundamentally unfair, and illegal, for Netflix to misappropriate that work,” the Dec. 1 statement read.
Combs’ rep said Netflix was “plainly desperate to sensationalize every minute of Mr. Combs’s life, without regard for truth, in order to capitalize on a never-ending media frenzy.”
“If Netflix cared about truth or about Mr. Combs’s legal rights, it would not be ripping private footage out of context – including conversations with his lawyers that were never intended for public viewing. No rights in that material were ever transferred to Netflix or any third party,” the statement said.
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“No rights in that material were ever transferred to Netflix or any third party,” the statement continued. “It is equally staggering that Netflix handed creative control to Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson — a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta who has spent too much time slandering Mr. Combs.”
“We obtained the footage legally and have the necessary rights. One thing about Sean Combs is that he’s always filming himself, and it’s been an obsession throughout the decades,” Stapleton said.
She also claimed that the docuseries team “reached out to Sean Combs’ legal team for an interview and comment multiple times, but did not hear back.”
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs not guilty of racketeering, sex trafficking in split verdict
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In a second statement to Deadline from a Netflix spokesperson, the streamer doubled down, saying, “The footage of Combs leading up to his indictment and arrest were legally obtained. This is not a hit piece or an act of retribution. Curtis Jackson is an executive producer but does not have creative control. No one was paid to participate.”
50 Cent insisted the docuseries isn’t part of a “personal vendetta” to take Combs down.
“I’m not doing this as some personal mission. I’m telling a story no one else is telling because I don’t have the fear that others feel towards him. I’m not afraid at all,” he told Us Weekly in an interview on Tuesday.
When asked how he acquired the footage filmed before Combs’ arrest, 50 Cent said, “A journalist would ask that, but a journalist would also say, ‘I’m going to keep my sources secure.’”
Combs is currently serving 50 months in prison after a New York jury found him guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution while acquitting him of the most serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.
The 56-year-old disgraced hip-hop mogul was originally scheduled to get out of prison on May 8, 2028, but the date has now been changed to June 4, 2028, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ online database.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is participating in a drug rehabilitation program in prison that could help reduce his sentence by a year, his spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said.
The program is offered at Fort Dix, the federal prison complex in New Jersey where Combs will serve his sentence.
Combs is “committed to sobriety, focused on healing, and trying to set an example for others,” Engelmayer told the New York Times.
“Mr. Combs is an active participant in the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) and has taken his rehabilitation process seriously from the start,” Engelmayer said. “He is fully engaged in his work, focused on growth, and committed to positive change.”
Combs has been sleeping in a nine-person room within a unit that houses around 200 people and he currently works in the chapel library, Engelmayer added.
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On Friday, a report from TMZ claimed that Combs had been caught in prison drinking homemade alcohol, which Engelmayer denied.
Combs’ official X account also shared a statement denying the allegations on Monday, saying, “The rumors claiming Mr. Combs was caught with alcohol are completely false. His only focus is becoming the best version of himself and returning to his family.”
The rumors claiming Mr. Combs was caught with alcohol are completely false. His only focus is becoming the best version of himself and returning to his family.
In an Oct. 6 filing, Combs’ legal team requested that he be placed at “FCI Fort Dix for RDAP purposes and any other available educational and occupation programs” in order to “address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts.”
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The news of Combs’ participation in the rehabilitation program comes two weeks after his prison release date was revealed following his sentencing.
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The 55-year-old disgraced hip-hop mogul was originally scheduled to get out of prison on May 8, 2028, but the date has now been changed to June 4, 2028, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ online database.
On Oct. 3, Judge Arun Subramanian sentenced Combs to just over four years in prison and a fine of US$500,000, the maximum possible, for his conviction on federal prostitution-related offences. He will also be under five years’ supervised release after his time in prison is served.
Tensions run high as Diddy sentenced in prostitution case
In his ruling, Subramanian said that “a history of good works can’t wash away the record in this case, which shows that you abused the power and control over the lives of women who you professed to love.”
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“You were no John,” he added. “You were more than that, even if your currency was satisfying your sexual desires instead of money.”
Subramanian said a substantial sentence is required “to send a message to abusers and victims alike that exploitation and violence against women is met with real accountability.”
Federal prosecutors had asked that Combs, 55, be sentenced to at least 11 years and three months in prison. Combs’ lawyers urged the judge to sentence him to no longer than 14 months, which would have resulted in his near-immediate release, as he has already served nearly 13 months in a Brooklyn jail.
While addressing the judge, Combs thanked Subramanian for “giving me the chance to finally speak up for myself,” as the former rapper did not testify during his trial.
“One of the hardest things that I’ve had to handle is having to be quiet. Not being able to express how sorry I am for my actions,” Combs said in his statement to the court.
“I want to personally apologize again to Cassie Ventura for any harm or hurt that I’ve caused her – emotionally or physically.”
Combs called his conduct “disgusting, shameful and sick.”
“Because of my decisions, I lost my freedom, I lost the opportunity to effectively raise my children and be there for my mother,” Combs said. “I lost all my businesses, I lost my career, I totally destroyed my reputation.”
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Combs said he’s “lost my self-respect” and has been “humbled and broken to my core.”
“I hate myself right now. I got stripped down to nothing,” Combs said. “I want to apologize to my seven children. Y’all deserve better.”
Diddy trial jury reaches verdicts on all charges except for racketeering conspiracy
The sentencing marked the conclusion of Combs’ New York trial, which began on May 5.
Combs’ legal team filed a notice of appeal on Oct. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from the Oct. 3 judgment. Details of the appeal have not been made public other than the legal filing.
NEW YORK (WABC) — Sean “Diddy” Combs’ prison release date was revealed on Monday.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons says he is scheduled to be released on May 8, 2028.
That equates to a little more than three years behind bars, counting the time he was incarcerated before his trial.
Earlier this month, a judge sentenced the disgraced music mogul to 50 months in prison after a jury convicted him on two prostitution-related counts after an eight-week trial in July. The jury acquitted Combs of the sex trafficking and racketeering charges he faced.
Combs pleaded not guilty and maintains his innocence.
Combs’ lawyers intend to appeal his conviction and over four-year prison sentence, according to a notice filed in the Federal District Court of New York.
Combs remains incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
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Combs is currently scheduled to get out of prison on May 8, 2028, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ online database.
The 55-year-old disgraced hip-hop mogul is currently behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
On Oct. 3, Judge Arun Subramanian sentenced Combs to just over four years in prison and a fine of US$500,000, the maximum possible, for his conviction on federal prostitution-related offences. He will also be under five years’ supervised release after his time in prison is served.
In his ruling, Subramanian said “a history of good works can’t wash away the record in this case, which shows that you abused the power and control over the lives of women who you professed to love.”
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“You were no John,” he added. “You were more than that, even if your currency was satisfying your sexual desires instead of money.”
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Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Subramanian said a substantial sentence is required “to send a message to abusers and victims alike that exploitation and violence against women is met with real accountability.”
Federal prosecutors had asked that Combs, 55, be sentenced to at least 11 years and three months in prison. Combs’ lawyers urged the judge to sentence him to no longer than 14 months, which would have resulted in his near-immediate release, as he has already served nearly 13 months in a Brooklyn jail.
Tensions run high as Diddy sentenced in prostitution case
While addressing the judge, Combs thanked Subramanian for “giving me the chance to finally speak up for myself,” as the former rapper did not testify during his trial.
“One of the hardest things that I’ve had to handle is having to be quiet. Not being able to express how sorry I am for my actions,” Combs said in his statement to the court.
“I want to personally apologize again to Cassie Ventura for any harm or hurt that I’ve caused her – emotionally or physically.”
Combs called his conduct “disgusting, shameful and sick.”
“Because of my decisions, I lost my freedom, I lost the opportunity to effectively raise my children and be there for my mother,” Combs said. “I lost all my businesses, I lost my career, I totally destroyed my reputation.”
Combs said that he’s “lost my self-respect” and he has been “humbled and broken to my core.”
“I hate myself right now. I got stripped down to nothing,” Combs said. “I want to apologize to my seven children. Y’all deserve better.”
The sentencing marked the conclusion of Combs’ New York trial, which began on May 5.
Combs’ legal team filed a notice of appeal on Oct. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from the Oct. 3 judgment. Details of the appeal have not been made public other than the legal filing.
“Sean has always made it a priority to open doors for Black people,” she added, “to make sure we are seen, heard, and valued in spaces where we’ve historically been excluded.”
Deonte Nash, a former stylist for Combs writing in the government’s sentencing submission, said, “Many of us were abused precisely because Mr. Combs wanted us to hold his secrets to maintain his ‘reputation.””
“Judge…. That’s a good man,” Brownlee wrote.
“Judge, this is not a good man,” Nash said.
On Friday, Combs, hair graying, entered the courtroom in a white sweater after Subramanian ruled this week that, as during his trial, he would be permitted to receive non-prison clothing at the Metropolitan Detention Center. He offered a wave to his family in the gallery and hugged his attorneys.
After his lawyers and prosecutors spoke, Combs addressed the judge—his lengthiest public comments on the legal saga that has enveloped him since Ventura first sued. (He declined to testify at trial.)
“I want to thank you for giving me the chance to finally speak up for myself,” Combs said.
He framed his remarks in part as an apology to Ventura and Jane Doe. “I brought you into my mess,” Combs said, describing his behavior as “disgusting, shameful, and sick.”
“I’m not this larger-than-life person,” Combs said he had come to realize. “I’m just a human being.”
Janice Combs, mother of Sean.Leonardo Munoz/AFP/Getty Images.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to just over 4 years in prison, three months after he was found guilty of two counts of prostitution.
Combs was given 50 months in prison and a fine of US$500,000, the maximum possible, for his conviction on federal prostitution-related offences.
In his ruling, Judge Arun Subramanian said “a history of good works can’t wash away the record in this case, which shows that you abused the power and control over the lives of women who you professed to love.”
“You were no john,” he added. “You were more than that, even if your currency was satisfying your sexual desires instead of money.”
Subramanian said a substantial sentence is required “to send a message to abusers and victims alike that exploitation and violence against women is met with real accountability.”
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Federal prosecutors had asked that Combs, 55, be sentenced to at least 11 years and three months in prison. Comb’s lawyers urged the judge to sentence him to no longer than 14 months, which would have resulted in his near-immediate release, as he has already served nearly 13 months in a Brooklyn jail.
Lawyer for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs speaks as his client awaits sentencing
During the sentencing hearing, Combs’ six children crowded around the podium, imploring the judge to give their father a second chance.
Quincy Brown, the 34-year-old son of Kim Porter, who was adopted by Combs, shared that his father “has learned a lesson.” The family had seen him evolve, Brown said, and “he is completely transformed.”
“My father is my superhero. Seeing him broken down and stripped of everything is something I will never forget,” said another son, Justin Combs, 31.
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Chance Combs, his eldest daughter, told the judge that while her father was been incarcerated, she saw changes in him that “feel real and lasting.”
“When we talk he speaks with a clear mind and sense of purpose that I didn’t always hear before,” she added.
“I know how hard it was to stand up here and tell me those things, but it’s important for me to hear,” Subramanian said to them.
After an emotional series of statements from the children, Combs’ legal team presented an 11-minute tribute video that featured clips showcasing the rapper’s philanthropic efforts, motivational speeches, home videos and scenes of him mourning his late partner Porter, who died in 2018.
While addressing the judge, Combs thanked Subramanian for “giving me the chance to finally speak up for myself,” as the former rapper did not testify during his trial.
“One of the hardest things that I’ve had to handle is having to be quiet. Not being able to express how sorry I am for my actions,” Combs said in his statement to the court.
“I want to personally apologize again to Cassie Ventura for any harm or hurt that I’ve caused her – emotionally or physically,” he added.
Combs called his conduct “disgusting, shameful and sick.”
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“Because of my decisions, I lost my freedom, I lost the opportunity to effectively raise my children and be there for my mother,” Combs said. “I lost all my businesses, I lost my career, I totally destroyed my reputation.”
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Combs said that he’s “lost my self-respect” and he has been “humbled and broken to my core.”
“I hate myself right now. I got stripped down to nothing,” Combs said. “I want to apologize to my seven children. Y’all deserve better.”
Trump asked if he would ever consider a pardon for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
The sentencing marks the conclusion of the disgraced hip-hop mogul’s New York trial, which began on May 5.
In a letter to Subramanian ahead of his sentencing, Combs proclaimed himself to be a new man after realizing that he was “broken to my core.”
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“Over the past year there have been so many times that I wanted to give up. There have been some days I thought I would be better off dead. The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn. Prison will change you or kill you — I choose to live,” he said.
Combs admitted that he had “no one to blame for my current reality and situation but myself.”
“In my life, I have made many mistakes, but I am no longer running from them,” he wrote. “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 went on to apologize for hitting, kicking and dragging his then-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 — an attack captured on security camera.
“The scene and images of me assaulting Cassie play over and over in my head daily,” Combs wrote. “I literally lost my mind. I was dead wrong for putting my hands on the woman that I loved. I’m sorry for that and always will be.”
Rather than make an example out of him with a lengthy sentence, Combs asked Subramanian to “make me an example of what a person can do if afforded a second chance.”
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The charges: What led to Combs’ sentencing?
Combs has been behind bars since his September 2024 arrest. He faced federal charges of coercing girlfriends into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers while he watched and filmed them.
Combs had pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argued that prosecutors were trying to criminalize Combs’ swinger lifestyle and that, if anything, his conduct amounted to domestic violence, not federal felonies.
In July, Combs was found guilty of two counts of prostitution, including the transportation of Ventura to engage in prostitution. He was also found guilty of the transportation of former girlfriend “Jane” for the same purposes.
The Bad Boy Records founder was acquitted in July of the top charges — racketeering and sex trafficking. The defence won three acquittals after he was found not guilty of running a criminal enterprise and two counts of sex trafficking.
In all, 34 witnesses testified, headlined by Combs’ former girlfriends Ventura and “Jane,” who testified under a pseudonym. Both women said he was often violent toward them. Ventura said he forced her into hundreds of sexual encounters with paid male sex workers, while Jane recounted numerous “hotel nights.”
After the verdict was read, Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo asked the court to release Combs from federal detention now that he is no longer charged with sex trafficking.
Judge Subramanian noted Combs’ violent history: “At trial, the defence conceded the defendant’s violence in his personal relationships, saying it happened with Cassie and Jane.”
Agnifilo asked that Combs be released on conditional bail to his home in Miami, and offered a US$1-million bond. Prosecutor Maurene Comey countered, saying to Subramanian that Combs should remain in jail until sentencing.
Agnifilo said conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn were “dangerous,” and said defendants convicted in the past of prostitution-related charges that were similar to Combs’ were typically released before their sentencing.
He argued that the court should release Combs “on reasonable conditions” in advance of sentencing. The lawyer claimed that Combs “is not a risk of flight nor is he a danger to the community or to any specific people.”
Agnifilo said that if Combs was released on conditions, he “will not be violent to anyone.”
Combs’ lawyer also added a proposed bail package for the rapper with conditions including “a $50-million bond secured by Mr. Combs’ home in Miami,” which would also be co-signed by three “financially responsible people.”
A source close to Combs’ legal team confirmed to NBC News that they had been in contact with the Trump administration.
This came after Nicole Westmoreland, a member of Combs’ defence team, told CNN in an exclusive interview that the music mogul’s team had reached out to Trump for a potential pardon.
In early August, Trump told Newsmax that Combs’ lawyers have “talked to me about Sean” but said he was unlikely to pardon the music mogul.
“I was very friendly with him, I got along with him great and he seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well. But when I ran for office, he was very hostile,” Trump said.
When Trump was asked if granting Combs clemency was more likely a “no,” he said, “I would say so.”
Diddy trial: Ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura fought what ‘only the demon himself could have done’
They said their client is a “changed man,” who had realized that his overuse of drugs had contributed to violent acts he participated in.
What’s next for Combs?
Combs was denied acquittal and a new trial on Tuesday, the judge rejecting his lawyers’ argument that he was an amateur pornographer — not engaging in prostitution — and that the guilty verdict violates his First Amendment rights.
“The government proved its case many times over. That by itself might be enough to dispose of Combs’s challenge,” Subramanian wrote in the 16-page opinion and order.
“Illegal activity can’t be laundered into constitutionally protected activity.”
He called Combs’ filming “incidental,” pointing to trial evidence that showed he didn’t typically give notice or ask for consent for filming, as a film producer would.
Criminal Defense Attorney Arthur Aidala calls the prosecution’s request “strikingly heavy-handed”
P. Diddy has been held without bail since his September arrest on federal human trafficking charges. Credit: Elizabeth Williams via AP
The federal government is pushing for a sentence exceeding 11 years for Sean “Diddy” Combs, plus a $500,000 fine, following his conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the Mann Act. The sentencing is set for Friday, October 3rd, before Judge Arun Subramanian, after Combs was acquitted of more severe charges, including racketeering and sex trafficking, in July. Each Mann Act charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years; however, it was initially believed that prosecutors would be asking for no more than 63 months.
Los Angeles spoke exclusively to Arthur Aidala of Aidala, Bertuna and Kamins, Criminal Defense Attorney for high-profile clients like Harvey Weinstein, Lawrence Taylor and Steve Bannon. Aidala tells us, “After decades of handling cases in the Southern District of New York, I can say that while the prosecutors’ recommendation of more than 11 years is strikingly heavy-handed given the offense for which Combs was convicted, it is not at all surprising. They want to put the judge in a position that if he sentences Mr Combs to far less than the prosecutor’s request, the judge will seem out of step with judicial norms.” He also added that “The prosecution in their oral arguments to the judge will lean heavily into one of the factors the judge must take into consideration, and that is general deterrence. They will be asking the judge to send a message to society that violating these laws comes with severe consequences and the judge must send a message with a significant sentence.”
In an extensive 189-page sentencing memorandum submitted late Monday, the US Attorney’s office described Combs, 55, as “unrepentant” and urged a sentence of at least 135 months. The filing emphasized Combs’ alleged use of violence and intimidation, stating, “The defendant engaged in abusive conduct that instilled fear in others.” They also state, “Now, faced with the repercussions for his actions, the defendant casts himself as the victim. He is not the victim.”
There are also letters or Victim Impact Statements from former employees and associates, including Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, “Mia,” Capricorn Clark, and Chef Jordan Atkinson.
Ventura, in her letter, says, “I still have nightmares and flashbacks on a regular, everyday basis, and continue to require psychological care to cope with my past. My worries that Sean Combs or his associates will come after me and my family is my reality. I have in fact moved my family out of the New York area and am keeping as private and quiet as I possibly can because I am so scared that if he walks free, his first actions will be swift retribution towards me and others who spoke up about his abuse at trial. As much progress as I have made in recovering from his abuse, I remain very much afraid of what he is capable of and the malice he undoubtedly harbors towards me for having the bravery to tell the truth.” In November of 2023, Ventura was awarded $20 million in a civil suit she brought forth against Combs.
A former assistant, identified as “Mia” during the trial, ends her letter with a simple plea to the judge: “Please help us.”
Combs’ legal team argued for a lenient sentence of no more than 14 months, noting that he has already served 13 months in custody after being denied a $50 million bail. They claimed his reputation in music, fashion, media, and other industries has been irreparably damaged. What is Aidala’s prediction? “The defense, on the other hand, will argue that the jury acquitted him of the most serious charges and that our system is designed to ensure he is not punished for crimes of which he was found not guilty. They will contend that a sentence of time served is sufficient—both to specifically deter Mr. Combs from reoffending and to serve as a general deterrent to society. My informed view is that the judge will likely land somewhere between these two extremes.”
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Sentencing is set for 10 AM EDT on Friday, October 3rd.
Next week, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs will be sentenced for two prostitution-related convictions. On Thursday (September 25), his lawyers made their last bid to get Judge Arun Subramanian to toss out the convictions. In response, the judge said he’ll rule “very shortly.” However, late Friday afternoon, there was still no word. While we wait for Subramanian’s final ruling, here’s what to know about Combs’ upcoming sentencing and his defense’s uphill battle to get him free!
For context, Diddy is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 3 in Manhattan. He’s convicted of arranging interstate travel for people engaged in prostitution. The jury previously acquitted him of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges. Those dropped charges saved him from the potential penalty of life in prison.
During the oral arguments on Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik said the prosecution against Combs showed the necessity of fighting prostitution because of the violence, drugs, and sexually transmitted diseases that often accompany it.
Prosecutors said Combs paid for and arranged hundreds of drug-fueled sexual marathon performances between male sex workers and his girlfriends. As previously reported, two women–Cassie and Jane Doe–testified about being beaten and kicked by Combs.
However, Shapiro argued that Sean Combs cannot be held responsible for financing and helping to arrange the transportation domestically and internationally for 15 years. On the other hand, Slavik said the jury verdict should stand because the charges were brought correctly.
Days before Thursday’s hearing, Diddy’s defense claimed he’s suffered enough, including a threat to his life and intense surveillance. They claimed he hasn’t had fresh air and sun on his skin in almost 13 months, and that he has a limp due to a needed knee surgery. Additionally, his defense said he is sometimes given food with maggots. Overall, the defense portrayed Sean Combs as a changed and “humbled” man, who is sober for the first time in 25 years.
How Does The Judge Plan To Rule?
Judge Subramanian listened to nearly 90 minutes of lawyers’ arguments about whether prosecutors properly brought charges against Diddy. Defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro urged the judge to toss out two violations of the Mann Act that resulted in convictions. Shapiro said the “infamous law” had “racist and sexist origins” that are “well documented and beyond dispute.”
“The whole history of the statute is really, I would submit, an embarrassment to the United States of America,” Alexandra Shapiro said.
Before the trial, Judge Arun Subramanian declined to throw out Diddy’s charges. According to the Associated Press, Subramanian sometimes sounded skeptical as Shapiro pressed her arguments that Diddy was improperly convicted.
Late Thursday, the judge seemed focused on the sentencing going forward. At one point, he explained why he forced Sean Combs to wear his prison uniform to the latest hearing. Additionally, he said defense lawyers had failed to explain why Combs would need civilian clothing in court when no jury was present. The judge also said there was no legal precedent that would allow that.
“The Court will entertain an application relating to the sentencing proceeding, but it needs to provide some explanation along these lines,” the judge wrote.
Combs will have been jailed for nearly 13 months by the time sentencing arrives. In court papers submitted this week, his lawyers argued that he should be sentenced to no more than 14 months in prison. With credit for good behavior, that would mean he would be released immediately.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have said he should spend several more years behind bars. However, they won’t submit their sentencing recommendations to the judge until next week. Judge Subramanian has suggested that he, too, is leaning toward a substantial amount of prison time. He twice refused to grant bail since July, citing Combs’ history of violence. Subramanian has denied bail for the Bad Boy Records founder twice since his conviction in July.
How Was Diddy Acting In Court?
As he entered the courtroom, a smiling Diddy waved to his supporters and touched his heart before taking his seat among several lawyers. He did not speak during the hearing except to greet the judge. At the end of the hearing, Combs blew kisses to his family, which included his mom, three daughters and three sons.
“Thank you all for coming. I love you all so much,” he said. “Every hour, every day, is me getting closer to going home.” He also told them: “I’ve got some big plans for us.”
In a presentence submission this week, defense lawyers said Sean Combs’ family has suffered since his arrest, including financially from the loss of business possibilities.
NEW YORK — Investigators from various federal agencies launched an “interagency operation” on Monday at the troubled lockup in New York City where Sean “Diddy” Combs is being held.
The investigators from the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s inspector general’s office and other law enforcement agencies had descended on the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on Monday, the Bureau of Prisons said in statement to The Associated Press.
The law enforcement operation is “designed to achieve our shared goal of maintaining a safe environment for both our employees and the incarcerated individuals housed at MDC Brooklyn,” the agency said. Prison officials declined to provide specific details about the operation Monday morning.
But the move comes as the jail has faced increasing scrutiny over horrific conditions, rampant violence and multiple deaths and amid a push by the Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons to fix problems at the jail and hold perpetrators accountable.
Last month, federal prosecutors charged nine inmates in connection with a spate of attacks from April to August at the Metropolitan Detention Center, the only federal jail in New York City. The allegations made public last month detailed serious safety and security issues at the jail, including charges after two inmates were stabbed to death and another was speared in the spine with a makeshift icepick. A correctional officer was also charged with shooting at a car during an unauthorized high-speed chase.
The criminal charges offered a window into violence and dysfunction that has plagued the jail, which houses about 1,200 people, including Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
In a statement on Monday, the Bureau of Prisons said its operation in Brooklyn was pre-planned and that there is “no active threat.”
The agency said it wouldn’t provide additional details about what exactly investigators were doing there on Monday until the operation is complete “in an effort to maintain the safety and security of all personnel inside the facility and the integrity of this operation.”
The facility, in an industrial area on the Brooklyn waterfront, has about 1,200 detainees, down from more than 1,600 in January. It’s used mainly for post-arrest detention for people awaiting trial in federal courts in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Other inmates are there to serve short sentences following convictions.
Those held at the Brooklyn jail have long complained about rampant violence, dreadful conditions, severe staffing shortages and the widespread smuggling of drugs and other contraband, some of it facilitated by employees. At the same time, they say they’ve been subject to frequent lockdowns and have been barred from leaving their cells for visits, calls, showers or exercise.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has a lot of people worried. Why? Because it appears that he taped a lot of important people doing a lot of strange things (and people) in his infamous, drugged-out “freak offs.”
Let’s lay out a quick and dirty scenario. There is a video going around social media, a clip from the end of the 1991 cult classic New Jack City. Already caught up by the police, ruthless drug boss Nino Brown (played by Wesley Snipes), knowing he’s already cooked but taking a lesser charge, elects to snitch on everyone. Of course, he’s shot in the chest at the end of the film, but the damage is done.
This grand fallout scenario is essentially what an unknown number of celebrities, athletes, musicians, and politicians are gravely concerned about following the recent federal indictment against Combs. These alleged tapes purportedly document drug-fueled orgies and other wild sexual encounters and are now a focal point of the criminal case against the former mogul.
“No one’s saving me tonight.” Those weren’t men in that room, those were animals that need to be put down.
The existence of these “freak off” tapes came to light through accusations made by ex-girlfriend and singer Cassie Ventura in her now-settled lawsuit last year. Multiple accusers since then (and before) have come forward—along with the federal indictment—alleging Combs routinely recorded these graphic sexual encounters, often without consent, for his own sexual desires and as a means to blackmail and control others.
Per the indictment, Combs had “freak offs” that “occurred regularly, sometimes lasted multiple days, and often involved multiple commercial sex workers” and “distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims obedient and compliant.”
TMZ recently reported an exclusive story about a male sex worker claiming to have submitted a copy of a video from May 2023 to federal investigators that allegedly shows a threesome of Combs, himself, and an unidentified woman. The unease around the tapes now extends beyond Combs’ activities in the videos, detailing growing anxiety about who else might be in the recordings. Online speculation is running rampant, with people coming out to provide the ‘I told you so’s’ and former bodyguards spilling what they recall. Potential career-ending revelations, criminal activity by people other than Combs, or embarrassing exposures seem to be at play.
Aside from the potential cultural fallout, the legal ramifications of these tapes are significant. Again, prosecutors allege that Combs—instead of just throwing them away and simply going to therapy—used them as a tool for intimidation and to ensure the silence of victims and participants.
One accuser stated in court that Combs threatened to expose her, saying, “He just threatened me about my sex tapes that he has of me on two phones. He said he would expose me, mind you, to these sex tapes where I am heavily drugged.” Just in the last few days, another accuser has come out, with her attorney saying there are leaked tapes “around Hollywood being shopped around.” Attorney Ariel Mitchell-Kidd noted that the video—from which she claims to have seen stills—features Combs and someone even “more high-profile” than he, engaging in sexual acts. The accuser says Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2018
After their client pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges, Combs’ legal team downplayed the encounters found on these tapes, calling them consensual threesomes rather than wild orgies, but that feels flimsy at very best.
As federal prosecutors build out an already-considerable case against Combs, the hanging specter of these tapes of lurid activity by your favorite actor or singer threatens to send shockwaves through multiple industries, upending careers and detailing how deep the cesspools go.
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It is a jaw dropping scandal flooding the news…but the cannabis industry is avoiding it because the big investment deal fell through.
The entertainment industry and the public is general have been shocked by the scandal around Diddy (formerly Puff Daddy, Sean Combs, etc). The tentacles of his being charged at a federal level is making causing X in the music, entertainment, fashion, alcohol and monied worlds…but one industry is breathing a sigh of relief. There is a flood of celebrates who worried they will be pulled down including Ashton Kutcher, actor and Silicon Valley investor, Kevin Hart, Usher, Jay-Z, and more. But Diddy’s failed cannabis investment saves industry a scandal, right as it seems to waiting for good news.
Combs was arrested on Sept. 16 and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. He is depicted as the leader of an alleged criminal enterprise, subjecting women and men to a pattern of physical and sexual abuse, according to federal prosecutors.
Investigators allege over a span of years, Combs would ply victims with narcotics and even resort to violence and intimidation during days-long sex sessions in events called “freak offs”. Big names were at these events and it has people running scared.
Diddy deeply dove into being part of the merge of cannabis companies Cresco Labs Inc. and Columbia Care Inc. They are currently two of the largest cannabis companies and were exploring a joint operations while adding additional investors. Diddy’s $155 million part would have given him a huge foothold into the growing market. His reach, wealth, and connections could have helped the industry. Luckily, in August 2023, the $ merger was terminated, canceling and voiding his deal with them.
But what next? Other people near him have a role in the industry including Jay-Z. He Jay-Z started a $10 million investment for minority-owned cannabis startups. He is the Chief Visionary Officer of TPCO Holding.
Wiz Khalifa, Method Man, and Snoop Dog all have fingers in marijuana. Time will tell how the Diddy indictments plays out for all the players.
It is a jaw dropping scandal flooding the news…but the cannabis industry is avoiding it because the big investment deal fell through.
The entertainment industry and the public is general have been shocked by the scandal around Diddy (formerly Puff Daddy, Sean Combs, etc). The tentacles of his being charged at a federal level is making causing X in the music, entertainment, fashion, alcohol and monied worlds…but one industry is breathing a sigh of relief. There is a flood of celebrates who worried they will be pulled down including Ashton Kutcher, actor and Silicon Valley investor, Kevin Hart, Usher, Jay-Z, and more. But Diddy’s failed cannabis investment saves industry a scandal, right as it seems to waiting for good news.
Combs was arrested on Sept. 16 and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. He is depicted as the leader of an alleged criminal enterprise, subjecting women and men to a pattern of physical and sexual abuse, according to federal prosecutors.
Investigators allege over a span of years, Combs would ply victims with narcotics and even resort to violence and intimidation during days-long sex sessions in events called “freak offs”. Big names were at these events and it has people running scared.
Diddy deeply dove into being part of the merge of cannabis companies Cresco Labs Inc. and Columbia Care Inc. They are currently two of the largest cannabis companies and were exploring a joint operations while adding additional investors. Diddy’s $155 million part would have given him a huge foothold into the growing market. His reach, wealth, and connections could have helped the industry. Luckily, in August 2023, the $ merger was terminated, canceling and voiding his deal with them.
But what next? Other people near him have a role in the industry including Jay-Z. He Jay-Z started a $10 million investment for minority-owned cannabis startups. He is the Chief Visionary Officer of TPCO Holding.
Wiz Khalifa, Method Man, and Snoop Dog all have fingers in marijuana. Time will tell how the Diddy indictments plays out for all the players.
A week after Sean “Diddy” Combs entered a not guilty plea on sex trafficking charges and more, another lawsuit alleging severe sexual assault has been filed against the incarcerated performer/producer.
“In or around the summer of 2001, Plaintiff’s life was violently knocked off course when Defendants Sean Combs and Joseph Sherman viciously raped her at the Bad Boy Records studio in New York City,” says the complaint against Combs, his bodyguard and Bad Boy corporate entities filed in federal court in New York on Tuesday.
“Plaintiff was twenty-five at the time and dating one of Combs’ employees, a relationship that Combs exploited to lure Plaintiff into meeting him and Sherman alone,” the graphic suit adds. “Once they successfully sequestered Plaintiff, Combs and Sherman gave Plaintiff a drink, likely laced with a drug that eventually caused her briefly to lose consciousness. She awoke to find herself bound and restrained.”
Over 20 years after the alleged attack, the wound of the rape was ripped open anew for Graves late last year around the time Combs’ former girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed her own short lived sexual assault suit against the Grammy winner.
“Any progress Plaintiff had made in healing from the attack over the years was dramatically reversed on or around November 27, 2023, when she learned for the first time that Combs and Sherman had video-recorded the horrific rape twenty-two years before and had shown the video to multiple men, seeking to publicly degrade and humiliate both Plaintiff and her boyfriend,” today’s 26-page filing states.
“Plaintiff could not believe that Defendants would record themselves committing such a gruesome crime and then proceed proudly and widely to disseminate the recording of it,” the document says. “She was distraught and sunk into a deep depression. She again considered ending her life.”
A few hours after the jury seeking complaint was filed in the Empire State, Graves appeared at a press conference in Los Angeles with attorney Gloria Allred.
While Graves gave a statement, she would not answer any questions. Allred did take questions but was very cagey about whether Graves’ legal team had been in contact with federal prosecutors in Combs’ criminal case, or if Combs or other alleged victims of his supposed predatory misconduct had been in contact.
Allred would not say if she would be filing any other suits against Combs,but did admit that she has at least one other client with accusations against the one-time music mogul.
Graves is the 11th person so far to publicly claim that Combs sexually assaulted them.
Arrested on September 16 at an upscale Manhattan hotel as the on-going federal probe reached a clear inflection point, Combs is charged in by US Attorney Damian Williams with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. The allegations in the unsealed indictment could see the 54-year-old Grammy winning rapper in prison for the rest of his life, if he’s found guilty.
Awaiting trial after two failed attempts by the defense to spring him on a $50 million bond and more. Combs is behind bars at Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center, the only federal prison facility in the five boroughs,
Judge Anna Marie Anzalone, who made the $100 million judgment in Cardello-Smith’s favor after Combs failed to appear for a Sept. 9 virtual hearing, ruled in agreement with Fink that the statute of limitations for Cardello-Smith’s lawsuit had expired. Cardello-Smith’s complaint stated that he and Combs met in 1997 when Cardello-Smith worked at Fishbone’s Rhythm Kitchen restaurant in Detroit’s Greektown, and that they later partied together at a hotel. Combs drugged and raped Cardello-Smith as other consensual group sex involving women took place, the lawsuit alleged.
A temporary restraining order that Anzalone issued on Cardello-Smith’s behalf in August was set aside after her Sept. 18 ruling. Cardello-Smith, serving an unrelated sentence at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon, generated hundreds of thousands of YouTube views from the hearing in which he successfully argued that Anzalone should prevent Combs from selling assets that might be used to compensate Cardello-Smith in his lawsuit. Combs has been the target of a growing number of claims alleging sexual assault and violence.
Both the temporary restraining order and the default judgment were set aside today after Fink further argued that Combs had not been properly served notice of the complaint. Combs learned about the $100 million award only after Metro Times reported the initial story, according to his defense.
“Also, Mr. Combs has denied every single fact alleged in the complaint,” Fink told Anzalone.
“Your honor, this witness has no credibility,” Fink said, citing Cardello-Smith’s convictions including sexual assault and kidnapping.
“This man has been in court more times than I have.”
Cardello-Smith, who appeared from a meeting room at Earnest C. Brooks, briefly addressed Fink’s accusations by alluding to wrongful conviction and telling the court that his proof of service to Combs’s residence in Los Angeles was evident from postal tracking numbers.
“Sean Combs lived at that address,” Cardello-Smith said. “That is his home, period.”
“That man got that [court notice], that man signed it, and now he’s going to lie through his attorney,” added Cardello-Smith. “His credibility is shot … I’m the prisoner and I have way more credibility than he does.”
Earlier Cardello-Smith had asked for an adjournment, saying he hadn’t been allowed to properly prepare for the hearing since being placed in protective custody after the announcement of his court victory. Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) spokesperson Jenni Riehle confirmed that Cardello-Smith was removed from the general prison population.
“Prisoner Smith was placed in protective temporary segregation at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility on Sept. 10, which he is not provided the opportunity to waive at this time,” Riehle said in a statement. “The facility is currently making a determination on next steps to ensure Smith’s safety.”
But during the initially scheduled Sept. 16 hearing requested by Combs’s defense, Cardello-Smith alleged that MDOC officials had harassed him, altered documents relevant to his court proceedings, and tried to exploit him under the guise of protection. He waddled backwards from a camera in the meeting room to show Anzalone that his limbs were shackled to his waist, which he said hindered his legal work.
Riehle told Metro Times the prison’s warden informed her office that Cardello-Smith was no longer in waist chains Sept. 17, but he appeared shackled at the waist again in court again today.
The Sept. 16 hearing was continued due to what Anzalone said was a lengthy docket of cases that also required her attention, but not before she threatened Fink with a contempt charge as the lawyer kept speaking when she tried to end the proceeding.
The court “has heard many lies from Mr. Smith,” Fink said earlier, including a claim that Combs had visited the prison to discuss a settlement of the lawsuit. Fink presented a visitor log revealing only the names of Cardello-Smith’s lawyer and that of a private investigator since 2024.
Cardello-Smith, who didn’t get to respond Sept. 16, repeated to Anzalone during the Sept. 18 hearing that MDOC officials interfered with his litigation: “They want to alter all sorts of documents if the court doesn’t rule in Mr. Combs’s favor.”
He told the court he’ll file a motion for reconsideration of the Sept. 18 ruling.
Anzalone set a date of Nov. 4 for summary disposition of the case.
NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs is expected Wednesday afternoon to appeal a federal judge’s decision to hold the hip-hop artist and music mogul without bail after he pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution Tuesday.
Until the court appearance in front of US District Court Judge Andrew Carter at 3:30 p.m. ET, Combs will be held by himself at the Special Housing Unit in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to a law enforcement official. Carter is expected to preside over Combs’ case until the end.
Judge Robyn Tarnofsky ruled in a New York court on Tuesday that Combs will stay in custody while he faces charges. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors allege Combs, 54, created and ran a “criminal enterprise” through his business empire that engaged in crimes including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice, according to the federal indictment.
The indictment states that Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct” for more than adecade.
Specifically, the indictment accuses Combs of working with other associates and employees, alleges he hosted drug-fueled “freak offs” with victims and sex workers, notes instances of physical and sexual abuse and illuminates what law enforcement found in the March raids of his homes.
In court, prosecutors argued the music mogul should not be released because he had previously reached out to witnesses and victims. Meanwhile, Combs’ defense attorneys proposed to put him on home detention with a $50 million bond secured by his Miami residence, according to a bail motion Tuesday.
The judge told Combs there were no conditions she could find to assure her that he would appear in court if released. Tarnofsky said her concern is “this is a crime that happens behind closed doors, even when pretrial services is monitoring.”
If the bail appeal is denied, Combs will be remanded back to the detention center. Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday night that Combs will likely not take a plea deal.
“I believe he’s innocent of the charges, and he is going to go to trial, and I believe he’s going to win,” Agnifilo said.
Combs is a ‘serial abuser and a serial obstructor,’ prosecutors say
In court Tuesday, Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson said Combs should be detained because he is a “serial abuser and a serial obstructor,” adding pretrial services also recommended detention.
Agnifilo asserted the case is about “one victim” – an argument fiercely opposed by federal prosecutors. In a rebuttal, Johnson emphasized, “This is not a case about one victim. There are multiple victims.”
Since last November, Combs has been hit with 10 lawsuits – nine directly accusing him of sexual assault.
“Members and associates of the Combs Enterprise engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other activities, sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice,” the indictment states.
During Combs’ detention hearing, federal prosecutors said at least a dozen witnesses personally observed the music mogul’s violence against women or the injuries they sustained at his hands. Prosecutors also noted Combs had reached out to victims and witnesses, some of whom are scared of him.
Agnifilo told CNN on Tuesday night that he has “flown around the country,” interviewing a “large number” of men who are alleged witnesses in the case and argued the “freak offs” – what the indictment described as “elaborate and produced” sex performances in which he drugged and coerced victims into extended sex acts with male sex workers – were consensual acts among adults.
“Nobody was too drunk. Nobody was too high,” he said.
Sex trafficking charge centers on 2016 video
The indictment accuses Combs of years of abuse that “was, at times, verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual.” Combs “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals,” the indictment states.
Johnson told the judge Tuesday that the investigation uncovered evidence of Combs allegedly assaulting victims by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging victims.
The physical abuse in particular was “recurrent and widely known,” the indictment states, and occurred on “numerous” occasions from about 2009 and continued for years.
The sex trafficking charge is based on allegations against a single, unnamed “Victim-I” from about 2009 up to about 2018, the indictment states.
The indictment highlights a March 2016 incident, “which was captured on video and later publicly reported,” showing Combs kicking, dragging and throwing a vase at a woman. When a hotel staffer intervened, Combs attempted to bribe them for their silence, the indictment adds.
The details match up with CNN’s reporting in May of the video that showed Combs beating and kicking his then-girlfriend Casandra Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel. She is not named in the indictment.
In November 2023, Ventura sued Combs and accused him of rape and years of abuse. In response, an attorney for Combs said he “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations.” They settled the lawsuit a day after it was filed.
Attorney Douglas Wigdor, who represents Ventura, said in a statement Tuesday: “In response to the numerous inquiries we have received regarding the indictment of Sean Combs, neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment.”
The explosive surveillance video contradicted Combs’ earlier comments denying wrongdoing, and days afterward he posted an Instagram video apologizing. That video has since been deleted.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” he said.
Combs’ attorney argued the 2016 video is not evidence of sex trafficking, as prosecutors suggested, but evidence of Combs “having more than one girlfriend and getting caught.”
“This was just a matter of personal embarrassment because he and the person in the video were in the midst of a 10-year relationship that was difficult at times, it was toxic at times, but it was mutually so,” Agnifilo told CNN Tuesday night.
Diddy’s attorney pledges he won’t flee and has ‘earned’ court’s trust
Agnifilo asked the court Tuesday to allow Combs to remain out on bond prior to trial, saying he had no plans to flee and had “earned” the court’s trust.
The attorney said he took Combs’ and his family members’ passports and reported all of his domestic travel since he became involved in the investigation as a show to prosecutors they were taking this seriously. In addition, Combs is in treatment and therapy, which Agnifilo argued was a reason for release.
Agnifilo said he knew the music mogul was going to formally face charges on March 25, when the Homeland Security Investigations agency led dramatic searches of his Los Angeles and Miami homes.
Law enforcement seized guns, ammo, drugs and a huge collection of baby oil and lubricant during the searches, according to the indictment. The indictment accuses Combs of brandishing firearms “to intimidate and threaten others.”
By September, Agnifilo said he realized an indictment was “coming down in a matter of weeks, maybe months,” so he urged Combs to fly to New York. Agnifilo said he called federal prosecutors and said his client was willing to surrender.
When asked how Combs’ defense team would assure the court he wouldn’t pose a flight risk or communicate with witnesses, as prosecutors argued Tuesday, Agnifilo said: “The most important thing, even more than the passport, is that Mr. Combs came to New York on September 5.”
Agnifilo said he will argue the same points again Wednesday, and “we’ll make it as much as we can until we get him out.”
(The-CNN-Wire & 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)
Nearly a year after an incendiary, and quickly settled, lawsuit brought scrutiny to Sean “Diddy” Combs’s personal life, the hip-hop mogul has been indicted on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges in New York. According to his legal team, Combs voluntarily relocated to the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan ahead of his arrest on Monday evening.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Combs’s attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a statement, describing his client as “a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community.”
“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” the statement continued. “To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
The charges follow a series of legal battles surrounding Combs. In November, his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, who performs as Cassie and had been signed to Combs’s record label, accused him of years of sexual and physical abuse. The suit was settled in just a day, but its contents set out a disturbing portrait that instantly reframed the playboy persona that Combs had cultivated for decades.
In the months to come, Combs faced an additional eight lawsuits involving sexual misconduct, five of which included an allegation of sexual assault. He is fighting all of these suits and has denied any wrongdoing in connection with them. In March, federal agents raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami, and while authorities noted few details at that time, the televised spectacle set off widespread discussion of potential criminal charges. His arrest marks the most dire legal threat he has faced to date, and further cements the sharp turn he has taken from world-beating impresario to punchline.
Still, Combs has seemed somewhat pointed in his efforts to appear unfazed, posing for photos at a Miami cafe only a few days after the raids of his homes. As the summer began, TMZ photographed him white-water rafting in Jackson Hole. In the lead-up to his arrest, the only public sign of contrition he offered came when video evidence of his abuse emerged. After CNN published hotel surveillance video from 2016 showing Combs dragging and kicking Ventura, he posted an apology video on Instagram.
“I was disgusted then when I did it,” Combs said. “I’m disgusted now.”
NOTE: The following article contains disturbing content. Please read at your own discretion.
Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested Monday night and indicted on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges that accuse him of hitting and abusing women for over a decade and presiding over an empire of sexual crimes.
In a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday, Combs was charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The charges are tied to so-called “freak offs,” coerced sex acts that Combs allegedly orchestrated and recorded.
Standing to speak, after listening to the allegations while showing little reaction, his uncuffed hands folded in his lap, Combs pleaded not guilty.
The judge denied Combs bail and ordered he be sent to jail while awaiting trail.
In deciding to deny Combs bail, Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky said she has “very significant concerns” about Combs’ substance abuse and “what appears to be anger issues.”
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Tarnofsky said she considered alternatives but doesn’t think it’s sufficient because so much of what’s alleged happened behind closed doors.
Earlier, Combs offered to post a US$50 million bond to be released from custody and also offered to wear a GPS monitor while limiting travel to New York City and Miami, according to a proposed bail package filed by his defence team.
Detailing allegations dating back to 2009, the indictment accuses him of abusing, threatening and coercing women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, whose office is bringing the case, spoke about the allegations against Combs at a news conference Tuesday morning, mentioning the “freak offs” at least five times in under 20 minutes.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs arrested after grand jury indictment
“Combs allegedly planned and controlled the sex performances, which he called ‘freak offs’ and he often electronically recorded them,” Williams told reporters, saying that federal prosecutors claimed they seized more than 1,000 bottles of personal lubricant and baby oil from Combs’ property and that these were used in the sex acts.
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“The ‘freak offs’ sometimes lasted days at a time, involved multiple commercial sex workers, and often involved a variety of narcotics such as ketamine, ecstasy and GHB, which Combs distributed to the victims to keep them obedient and compliant,” Williams explained.
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Combs is also accused of hitting, kicking and throwing objects at victims, causing injuries that often took weeks to heal. It’s also alleged that he choked his victims, dragged them by their hair and threw people around.
Marc Agnifilo, lawyer for Sean “Diddy” Combs, centre, speaks to members of the media while arriving at court in New York, US, on Tuesday, Sep. 17, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Standing in front of a display board, Williams also shared images of some of the items authorities say were recovered in the searches, including AR-15s and a drum magazine containing dozens of rounds of ammunition.
Williams said two of the three AR-15s were taken from Combs’ bedroom closet in his Miami home, and had been broken down into parts. He said the serial numbers on the guns had been obscured.
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“To carry out this conduct, Sean Combs led and participated in a racketeering conspiracy that used the business empire he controlled to carry out criminal activity, including sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and the obstruction of justice,” Williams said in remarks that echoed the three-count indictment.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs faces another lawsuit over alleged rape, sexual assault
The indictment alleges that, unbeknownst to his victims, Combs would sometimes keep videos he filmed of the women engaging in sex acts. Combs used the recordings “as collateral to ensure the continued obedience and silence of the victims,” the indictment said.
As the threat of criminal charges loomed, Combs and his associates also pressured witnesses and victims to stay silent by attempting to bribe them and providing them with a false narrative of events, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors also said that Combs’ employees and associates were witness to the violence and depraved acts, but often worked with the rap star to help cover up his crimes, including preventing victims from leaving, or tracking down those that attempted to flee.
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They also allege that Combs’ employees helped their boss pull off the “freak offs” by booking hotel rooms, arranging travel and stocking the rooms with lubricants, linens and lighting, IV fluids and illicit drugs. Prosecutors said employees would clean the rooms when the sex acts, which could last days, were finished.
Christian Combs, son of Sean Combs, arrives at U.S. District Court on September 17, 2024 in New York City. Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested in Manhattan on September 16 in a sex trafficking probe following a federal indictment.
John Lamparski/Getty Images
In one such 2012 incident, held inside a Manhattan hotel, Combs had to pay more than “$46,000 to cover damages to a penthouse room following a freak off,” the prosecution said.
Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, addressed the indictment and arrest of his client earlier Tuesday, telling reporters that Combs would not plead guilty and insisted upon his innocence.
“Obviously, he’s going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers,” said Agnifilo. “And I expect a long battle with a good result for Mr. Combs.”
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Over the past year, Combs has been sued by multiple people who say he subjected them to physical or sexual abuse.
— With files from The Associated Press
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If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
After being arrested in the lobby of a hotel in Manhattan on Monday, September 16, in the wake of numerous allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking, the charges against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs have been unsealed. He is charged on three counts, including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs had been accused of abusive behavior in at least nine lawsuits as of August 2024.
In response to the arrest, Combs’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo shared a statement to Vulture: “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person but he is not a criminal. To his credit, Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Homeland Security Investigations — which routinely probes sex-trafficking allegations — raided Combs’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami in March 2024 as claims against the hip-hop mogul continued to grow. During the searches, Combs was at the Miami–Opa Locka Executive Airport in South Florida, where federal officers questioned him. During this encounter, Brendan Paul, a former college basketball player, was arrested by local police for suspected cocaine and marijuana possession, USA Today reported. Paul has been accused of acting as Combs’s drug mule in civil filings.
Scrutiny of Diddy started to unfold on November 16, 2023. Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, Diddy’s ex-girlfriend, filed a bombshell federal lawsuit on that day, accusing him of rape and a decade of abuse beginning when she was just 19. The singer, who was signed to Diddy’s label, said that he wielded complete control over her life, such as her apartment, clothing, medical records, and car. Diddy also went after rapper Kid Cudi — who went out with Cassie during a rough patch in her and Diddy’s relationship — the lawsuit claims. One day after Cassie sued Diddy, they settled out of court. But Cassie’s claims didn’t just go away. On May 17, disturbing surveillance video obtained by CNN showed Diddy physically attacking Cassie at a hotel in 2016. He apologized two days later on Instagram, claiming he was “truly sorry” for attacking her.
Federal authorities, understandably, pay particular attention to allegations involving minors — and there are two allegations that could particularly imperil him as proceedings progress. Liza Gardner sued Diddy on November 23, 2023, alleging that Diddy and Aaron Hall forced the 16-year-old to have sex with them without consent. Gardner’s suit states that she met the duo at a record-release event. Following a post-event dinner, Diddy invited her and her friend to Hall’s apartment for an after-party. There, Diddy “coerced” her into sex. While she was dressing, Hall then burst into the room and forced her into sex. One day after the abuse, Gardner claims that Diddy came to her house and then assaulted her until she was unconscious. After “being violently and statutorily raped by Combs and Aaron Hall, Ms. Gardner’s life has been overwhelmed by depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and strained relationship with men,” the suit claims.
A December 2, 2023, lawsuit, filed by a Jane Doe, claims that Diddy and a former Bad Boys Records president Harve Pierre raped her when she was just 17 and enrolled in the 11th grade. Doe claims that she met Pierre at a Detroit lounge and that the music honcho told her that he was “best friends” with Diddy. She alleges that Diddy convinced her to ride on a private jet — with him, Pierre, and another accused abuser — to go to his New York City studio. When she arrived, Combs, Pierre, and his associates got the teen girl high and drunk and then “gang-raped” her, per the lawsuit. She claims that Diddy looked on as a third perpetrator raped her and that Pierre then attacked her, the suit says. Combs and Pierre deny her allegations.
A Michigan inmate known for his long history of challenging the judicial system with civil lawsuits has been awarded a $100 million default judgment against embattled entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The award was issued Monday by Lenawee County Circuit Court Judge Anna Marie Anzalone following a temporary restraining order granted to Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, 51, against Combs in August. Combs, who has become the target of multiple lawsuits and criminal investigations in 2024, drugged and sexually assaulted Cardello-Smith in 1997 at a party in Detroit, according to court records.
Cardello-Smith, who crossed paths with Combs while Cardello-Smith worked as a Detroit-area restaurant and hospitality industry employee, is a self-taught student of civil and criminal statutes, and is serving an unrelated sentence at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights.
Cardello-Smith goes “way back” in history with Combs, he recently told Metro Times.
Cardello-Smith produced prison facility information revealing Combs’s name logged into the visitation record, and says the founder of Bad Boy Records offered him $2.3 million dollars to dismiss the lawsuit, but Cardello-Smith rejected the offer. Anzalone’s Aug. 7 order was established to prevent Combs from selling assets that could potentially be used to compensate Cardello-Smith for possible damages. He is one of a mounting number of recent plaintiffs against Combs, alleging violence or sexual assault.
In the August hearing Cardello-Smith told the court of a conversation in which he says he and Combs directly discussed the lawsuit.
“You know how we get down” was Combs’s alleged response to Cardello-Smith’s threat to proceed with the action instead of accepting an out-of-court settlement, Cardello-Smith told Anzalone.
Cardello-Smith told the judge he said, “I disagree with how you get down.”
The virtual hearing and excerpts of it, in which Anzelone reads the complaint identifying Combs “also known as ‘Sean P. Diddy, also known as Diddy’” and “Diddy Run the City,” among other nicknames, has generated hundreds of thousands of social media views. Some in the comments sections of the videos express doubt about Cardello-Smith’s claim. A social media user known as @jenniferwyllie4033 notes the widely circulated hotel hallway footage in which Combs is shown kicking and dragging his then-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura.
“Just remember… they made Cassie look crazy until she produced receipts,” @jenniferwyllie4033 posts.
Combs issued a social media apology after the footage of the assault was revealed this summer.
A default judgment is awarded to a plaintiff when the defendant in a civil suit fails to formally respond to legally filed proceedings. Combs did not appear for the Sept. 9 virtual hearing, which caused the default.
Cardello-Smith’s judgment could be the largest awarded to a non-attorney and a currently incarcerated inmate in history.
Combs is known as the record label founder and producer who launched the careers of legendary recording artists Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, and others.
