Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Pleads Not Guilty To 2 New Counts: Here’s The Latest On His Federal Charges
Timeline
Combs, who has been in jail for seven months, pleaded not guilty to new charges of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, meaning he has pleaded not guilty to all five of his federal charges.
Prosecutors filed another superseding indictment against Combs in New York federal court, adding two charges to bring his total to five—with new counts including an additional charge of sex trafficking and another count of transportation to engage in prostitution, both concerning an unnamed victim referred to as “Victim-2,” whom prosecutors allege Combs “recruited, enticed, harbored, transported and maintained” to “engage in commercial sex acts.”
U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken said Jones—a former producer for Combs who sued the rap mogul last year for allegedly forcing him to engage in sex acts with sex workers and accused him of sex trafficking—did not show sufficient damage to “business or property” to bring claims against Combs under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, but ruled his sex trafficking allegations could proceed.
Combs pleaded not guilty to a new indictment prosecutors in Manhattan had filed a week prior, accusing the rap mogul of using force and threats to coerce employees to work long hours, with U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian noting jury selection for Combs’ trial will begin May 5 for a tentative trial date of May 12.
Prosecutors filed a new indictment against Combs in New York federal court, which did not add new charges but accused him of maintaining control over employees by forcing them to “work long hours with little sleep” by subjecting them to, or threatening them with, “physical force, psychological harm, financial harm, and reputational harm,” causing them to believe they may lose their jobs if they did not comply with his demands, with Combs allegedly forcing one employee to engage in sex acts with him through threats and force.
Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifolio told multiple news outlets Combs “vehemently denies the accusations,” stating “many former employees stand by his side, prepared to attest to the dedication, hard work, and inspiration they experienced” while working for Combs, who “looks forward to his day in court when it will become clear that he has never forced anyone to engage in sexual acts against their will” (Forbes has reached out to Agnifolio for comment).
Lawyer Anthony Ricco said in a motion filed Friday that "under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs." He didn't cite any specific reasons he couldn't stay on the case, but said they d0 exist and are protected by attorney-client privilege. Combs' other attorneys, Marc Agnifilo and and Teny Geragos, are expected to continue representing him.
Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs asked a judge to dismiss one of the charges brought against him in a superseding indictment last month—transportation to engage in prostitution—claiming “no white person has ever been the target of a remotely similar prosecution. Combs was charged with transportation to engage in prostitution under The Mann Act, which in 1910 made it illegal to transport women for prostitution and human trafficking. Combs’ attorneys argued in a memorandum filed Tuesday that the statute has racist origins, and that Combs “has been singled out because he is a powerful Black man, and he is being prosecuted for conduct that regularly goes unpunished.”
A high-profile suit accusing Combs and fellow rapper Jay-Z of raping a 13-year-old in 2000 was dropped by the plaintiff’s lawyers, after both Combs and Jay-Z denied the allegations (Read more about it here).
Combs claimed NBCUniversal and Ample Entertainment allowed claims they knew were false to be broadcast in the documentary “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy," which released last month. The lawsuit claims executives knew several allegations made in the film were false—including that there are videos of Combs sexually assaulting inebriated celebrities and minors and that Combs was responsible for several murders—but allowed them to air anyway with “reckless disregard” for the truth.
In the documentary, several people interviewed make a wide variety of allegations about Combs and those close to him, including that Combs had threatened people. Representatives for NBCUniversal, Peacock & Ample Entertainment did not immediately respond to Forbes request for comment Wednesday.
Prosecutors filed a superseding indictment that accuses Combs of using force, threats and coercion to cause at least three unnamed, female victims into commercial sex acts, and further accuses him of abuse that included throwing things at people, hitting, choking, pushing and, at one time, dangling a victim over an apartment balcony. His lawyer denied the new allegations in a statement to the Associated Press.
Combs was reportedly transported from prison to the Brooklyn Hospital Center at around 10 p.m. for an MRI after complaining of pain in his knee. He returned hours later.
Lawyers for Sean "Diddy" Combs submitted a letter to federal judge Arun Subramanian demanding prosecutors produce videos mentioned in the indictment against him of his so-called "freak off" parties, claiming they show his sexual activity with one of his alleged victims was consensual and that they’ll prove the government is trying to “police non-confirming sexual activity.” Combs’ lawyers claim the nine videos possessed by prosecutors will show "adults having consensual sex, plain and simple" and contain no evidence of violence, coercion, threats, sex trafficking or other claims made against Combs.
Combs appeared in court for a brief hearing in his federal case at which federal prosecutors said they plan to disclose all available evidence to his defense team by the end of the year in preparation for a May trial date. One court reporter described Combs as appearing “thinner” and “grayer” than when he was last seen in public, and the music mogul wished spectators a "Happy Holidays" as he left.
Maurene Comey, former FBI director James Comey's daughter who litigated the case in which Maxwell was convicted for her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein, on Monday notified the federal court in the Southern District of New York that she has joined the prosecution against Combs.
Subramanian denied Combs’ request to be released on bail citing “compelling evidence of Combs’s propensity for violence.” Subramanian’s ruling also stated that there was evidence supporting “a serious risk of witness tampering,” along with evidence that he “violated Bureau of Prisons regulations during his pretrial detention to obscure his communications with third parties.” The judge also wrote the government prosecutors have shown “by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community.”
Attorneys for the federal government argued against Combs’ push to get released on $50 million bail and a laundry list of other conditions, telling Judge Arun Subramanian in a letter the package “does not come close to ensuring the security of the community” or to ensuring Combs won't interfere with the case or try to flee before the trial—citing an alleged “pattern of violence” toward women and his own staff. In their own letter, defense attorneys argued Combs has been unconstitutionally held in jail and silenced since he was first arrested in September, that the government has launched a campaign against him to keep him from getting a fair trial and that Combs “is not required to sit idly by and acquiesce to all of this.” Subramanian is expected to make a decision on bail by Thanksgiving.
Subramanian heard arguments from attorneys on both sides but punted a decision to the following week on whether Combs should be released on bail. Subramanian rejected the idea Combs be kept under house arrest at a home with a boat dock in Miami but seemed open to potentially releasing him to confinement with around-the-clock security at a three-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. He asked lawyers to submit further arguments in writing by Monday, Nov. 25.
Subramanian told prosecutors to “get rid of” their copies of handwritten notes taken by Combs in jail, making the decision as he considers legal arguments from Combs’ lawyers that the notes were subject to attorney-client privilege and counter arguments from prosecutors who accused Combs of writing about a witness tampering plot.
In a filing opposing Combs’ request to be released on bail, prosecutors claim Combs has attempted to “corruptly influence witness testimony” by asking his family members to reach out to victims and potential witnesses and create “narratives” to affect their opinion, while also asking his children to post a video to social media in celebration of his birthday and ensuring the video had “his desired effect on potential jury members in this case.”
In "The Downfall of Diddy: Inside the Freak-Offs,” Ray J claims high-profile celebrities are "reaching out to victims" and offering them money in exchange for avoiding any public exposure, and aspiring singer-songwriter Tanea Wallace described her experience at a 2018 party where she said she saw minors “dressed up like Harajuku Barbies, red lipstick, looking like real sexy.”
Combs’ attorneys again requested the mogul be released on bail with a $50 million bond with a laundry list of new conditions, including home detention in Miami or New York City, security lockdown and no internet access, which is scheduled to be heard at a hearing on Nov. 22.
In a video posted by his son, Combs spoke to his children on the phone on his 55th birthday Monday and said, “I can’t wait to see y’all. I just want to say that I’m proud of y’all, especially the girls. I mean, all y’all just for being strong.”
Comb's lawyers sent a letter to Subramanian asking he place all potential witnesses under a gag order until a federal trial scheduled for May, claiming a "deluge of improper pretrial publicity that is undermining Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial.” (The request comes after a friend of Comb's late girlfriend Kim Porter spoke outside a courthouse in Manhattan, saying he’d testified before a grand jury and has footage of Combs raping and sexually assaulting several people, including minors).
Ty Stiklorius, John Legend's manager, wrote in a New York Times piece that she herself experienced a "terrifying situation" in which she says she was locked in a bedroom while attending a party hosted by Combs in St. Barts in the late 1990s and "managed to talk her way out" of what she assumed was an abnormal experience, but later realized "what happened that night was no aberration—it was an indicator of a pervasive culture in the music industry.”
Federal authorities said they'd carried out an “interagency operation” at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn where Combs is awaiting trial, but did not provide specific details about what was done inside the facility, which has been the target of rampant criticism from the Combs team and the location of several crimes in recent months, including a murder-for-hire plot and the stabbing deaths of two inmates.
In a letter submitted to the court Friday, Combs' attorneys requested a gag order be implemented for all federal officials involved in his case, specifically citing a New York Post article that quotes a "federal law enforcement source who is involved in the investigation" as proof the Department of Homeland Security is purposefully interfering with Combs' right to a fair trial (in October, Combs' legal team claimed DHS leaked an incriminating video of Combs to CNN, which the agency denied). A judge later called the quotes in the article “plainly improper” but rejected the gag order request.
Two of Combs’ seven children—Quincy Brown, Combs' adopted 33-year-old son, and Chance Combs, his 18-year-old daughter with Sarah Chapman—made a joint post on Instagram calling the last month "devastating" for their family and defending their father from what they called "accusations, conspiracy theories and false narratives.”
Combs returned to Instagram for the first time since his arrest in September with a post marking the second birthday of his youngest daughter, named Love Sean Combs (he’d previously deleted every post on the social media account as allegations piled up against him, but has posted a total of three times since July, each time with photos of his children).
A U.S. Appeals court referred Combs' latest request for bail to a panel of three judges, but ruled he will remain behind bars until a decision is made.
Combs appeared in court for the first time since his arrest, where a trial date of May 5 was set for him to face federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs’ team filed a memo alleging that the Department of Homeland Security leaked a surveillance video that showed him abusing his ex-girlfriend, Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, though prosecutors have denied the allegations and said they did not obtain that video until it was made public by CNN.
Lawyers for Combs filed paperwork asking he be allowed to await trial outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center where he resides, claiming the initial decision to deny him bail was unfairly “distorted” by the attention on the case (the initial judge, who has since been replaced, ruled Combs should stay in jail so he can’t use his money and influence to interfere in the government's case against him).
Janice Small Combs, Sean Combs' mother, said in a statement through her family's attorney she is "devastated and profoundly saddened" by the allegations against her son, adding those accusing him of misconduct are "seeking a financial gain" and likened Combs to "many individuals" who have been "wrongfully convicted due to their past actions or mistakes"—though she also said Combs “may have been not entirely truthful” when denying assault allegations raised by his ex-girlfriend Ventura.
Lawyers for Combs filed a notice asking the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the Southern District of New York to overturn the decision to hold him in prison while he awaits trial, a choice Judge Andrew Carter made citing concerns Combs had allegedly tampered with witnesses who had been contacted as part of the investigation against him (the request was not granted).
A documentary was released for streaming on Tubi and featured an interview with Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo—who addressed a leaked surveillance video of Combs shoving and kicking ex-girlfriend Ventura—in which he called the indictment a takedown of a “successful Black man" and said he doesn't expect Combs to accept a plea bargain.
Combs is sharing a unit with disgraced Bankman-Fried at the Metropolitan Detention Center, according to The New York Times, as the former crypto mogul serves out a 25-year sentence in prison for counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering linked to a scheme that lost former FTX customers, lenders and investors several billion dollars.
Combs' lawyers cited "horrific" conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York in a request for bail—which included a $50 million bond offer, GPS monitoring and strict limitations on visitors—that was denied by U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter, who said the conditions weren’t enough to ensure the safety of the community.
A federal court in Manhattan unsealed charges against Combs for racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, alleging he “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
Combs was arrested in Manhattan after being indicted by a grand jury.
Sources told CNN federal investigators were getting close to filing charges against Combs, and that plaintiffs who had filed individual civil lawsuits against him had been interviewed as part of the case.
Federal agents raided Combs’ homes in Florida and California in relation to a federal sex trafficking investigation.
A $30 million lawsuit filed by Ventura kicked off a series of criminal complaints against Combs that have included rape, sexual assault, sex trafficking and other claims (see all of the allegations here).
Contra
Combs has denied all of the allegations against him, with his attorneys characterizing some of the lawsuits and their accusations to Forbes as money grabs, “baseless” or “sickening.” In a statement in October, Combs’ attorneys said they have “full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman.” Combs’ attorneys also addressed April’s superseding indictment, telling Forbes in an email, “These are not new accusers, these are the same individuals, former long-term girlfriends, involved in consensual relationships. This was their private sex life.”
Key Background
Combs was arrested on federal charges in September and, the next day, an indictment against him was unsealed. The document alleges Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,” and also accused him of using his business empire to engage in “sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.” Prosecutors allege Combs manipulated women into engaging in “extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers” in what the mogul described as “Freak Offs,” and that he and his associates drugged women to keep them “obedient and compliant.” Prosecutors accuse Combs and his associates of using bribery, threats and violence to cover up his alleged abuse, and said he would leverage the financial support he provided to coerce women, making them feel they couldn't resist his demands "without risking their financial or job security” or subjecting themselves to abuse. Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo said at the time he was "disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the US Attorney’s Office."
Tangent
Donald Trump Jr., son of president elect Donald Trump, took to his podcast the day before the election to spread a bizarre conspiracy theory linking celebrities who have endorsed Kamala Harris to the “freak off” parties hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs, and suggested—without evidence—they received some kind of protection from the vice president in exchange for their public support. On an episode of "Triggered,” Trump Jr. baselessly claimed the rush of celebrity endorsements for Kamala Harris in the months leading up to the election were orchestrated by the vice president as part of a blackmail scheme linked to Diddy's arrest: “None of this is organic. It’s a paid influencer operation. Know that. The celebrities who aren’t getting paid are getting probably paid in another way because they’re either on an Epstein list or a Diddy party list or both,” he said. Trump supporter and billionaire Elon Musk also talked about the Diddy scandal in the days before the election. After singer and actress Jennifer Lopez endorsed Harris for president, Musk appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast to say listeners shouldn't trust her because she didn't "warn" people against her ex-boyfriend, Combs. "Now deciding she’s like warning people against Trump. How many people did she warn against Diddy, right? Oh zero, OK. Maybe we shouldn’t trust her opinion."
Forbes Valuation
Sean Combs was once on the path to becoming a billionaire thanks to his extensive music career, business ventures that included the Sean John fashion and fragrance lines and founding the Revolt TV network and since unrealized plans to become a cannabis mogul. Forbes estimated Combs’ personal wealth at $740 million in 2019 (he and his team later claimed he was a billionaire, but offered no supporting evidence). Today, Forbes conservatively estimates he is worth $400 million. Combs founded his own record label, Bad Boy Records, in 1993, which Rolling Stone has called “one of the most influential hip-hop labels of all time.” The label has signed major artists like The Notorious B.I.G., Janelle Monáe and Cassie, and has put out several of Combs' own albums, including "Press Play" and "Last Train To Paris.” Combs sold a 50% stake in Bad Boy to Warner Music Group in a reported $30 million deal in 2005. Combs has built a fortune through Bad Boy Records, several liquor brands, a fashion label and other ventures. He sold his share in the DeLeón tequila brand for $200 million earlier this year. He was ranked No. 14 on Forbes' list of the highest-paid entertainers in 2022, making an estimated $90 million that year. One of the rapper’s raided homes is located in Holmby Hills, an affluent neighborhood where Combs purchased a home for $40 million ten years ago.
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