The trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: Sex trafficking, racketeering and 'freaks-offs'
Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs faces racketeering and sex-trafficking charges in a landmark trial that echoes past cases of powerful figures abusing their position. As the trial unfolds, details of his alleged abuse have begun to unravel in court.
Listen to this article
Read time: 5 minutes
In brief:
- Sean Combs is on trial facing five serious charges including racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, with allegations spanning 20 years (2004-2024) involving abuse, coercion, and exploitation.
- His ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura is a key witness, testifying about being forced into "freak offs" - orchestrated sexual encounters with male prostitutes - with video evidence showing Combs physically assaulting her in 2016.
- The News Agents compare the case to Harvey Weinstein's trial, noting it raises critical questions about powerful people abusing their position, with the racketeering charge being particularly significant for determining whether Combs' alleged actions constitute organised criminal activity.
What’s the story?
It's a tale that's become all too familiar - a man with extreme power in a competitive industry, taking advantage of his position to control and abuse women, and others.
This time it's Sean Combs, the Hip Hop producer and rapper better known as P Diddy, or earlier in his career, Puff Daddy, who is in court this week facing a string of serious charges.
Combs is facing one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but has strenuously denied the allegations against him and pleaded not guilty to all five counts.
The indictment alleges that over the course of 20 years - between 2004 and 2024 - the 55-year-old sexually trafficked three women, controlled them via physical and emotional abuse, paid them and others to keep quiet, and supplied alleged victims with a host of drugs to keep them compliant.
The trial, which began on Monday (12 May) in New York, has so far seen Combs’ ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, as a star witness.
Ventura filed dozens of civil lawsuits against Combs, which were settled in 2023, alleging incidents of rape and physical assault between 2007 and 2018.
She described their 10-year relationship as “a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking” and said she was lured into an “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle” and forced to have sex against her will.
During the trial, Ventura described being forced to take part in alleged "freak offs" - elaborately planned, staged and often videotaped marathons of sex and drug use that often involved male sex workers.
Footage showing Combs violently attacking Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel by chasing her, throwing her to the floor and kicking her was shown in full during the trial.
The footage, which was from 2016, leaked by CNN in 2024 and triggered other women to come forward and file their own law suits accusing the rapper of sexual assault, drugging and filming the incident and showing it to others.
What’s been happening inside the courtroom?
Legal affairs journalist Meghann Cuniff has covered multiple high-profile trials and gained prominence for her coverage of rapper Tory Lanez’ 2022 conviction for shooting his then-girlfriend, rapper Megan Thee Stallion, in both feet.
Cuniff tells The News Agents that inside the courtroom, jurors learnt that Cassie, 38, who is eight months pregnant, was 19-year-old when she met Combs.
“This was a controlling relationship,” Cuniff says.“
Cassie said these freak offs were pretty elaborate performances involving prostitutes and a lot of baby oil. She said that the longest one lasted four days.“
He liked to watch her have sex with male prostitutes. There was stuff about urination. There were a lot of dirty details.“
She would pay a male prostitute who showed up, and they would have sex for hours in front of Diddy, because that's what he liked.
Cunliff says that Ventura “made clear” she didn’t want these things to happen to her but she felt “manipulated” and “coerced” by Combs.
Combs is described as being “stoic” during the trial, writing notes and talking to attorneys - but showing no reaction - and while it’s his right to testify, Cuniff says she “really doubts” that he will because of the pressure he would face in a cross-examination.
The footage of Combs beating Cassie in the Los Angeles hotel shows he is “clearly guilty of domestic violence,” but she believes it could be an “uphill battle” to get a guilty verdict on other charges.
Racketeering refers to a pattern of criminal activity or organised crime and is often associated with mafia investigations and prosecutions - not abuse by celebrities with power.
Whether this charge can be applied to combs is one of the “overarching questions in the case,” Cunliff says.
“Does a powerful celebrity organisation - in his use of his employees to protect himself when he's committing crimes like domestic violence and sexual assault - does that rise to the level of mafia level organised crime?”
The News Agents’ take
Jon Sopel describes the unfolding trial as “the biggest since Harvey Weinstein’s,” and like Weinstein’s this has a cultural resonance that goes beyond the courtroom.
“It’s about the behaviour of powerful, wealthy people who can have subordinates do more or less anything at their will."
The Combs case is unusual, because despite him offering the courts a $50 million bond, GPS monitored house arrest, his mother’s and children’s passports and the equity of his mother’s home when he was charged, he was still remanded in custody to await trial.
“In the US justice system, if you are wealthy and you can post millions of dollars for bail, you are normally not remanded in custody,” Jon explains.
The fact he was still remanded gives a sense of how at risk the courts think witnesses in the case are, and that they “need to be protected.”
Emily Maitlis says the charges of racketeering and sex trafficking will be “critical” to whether Combs spends the rest of his life in jail.
The seriousness of the charges may result in being Combs’ “best hope” of a non-guilty verdict, Jon adds.
“The threshold of finding guilt beyond reasonable doubt is much higher than not,” Jon says, adding that if it was only about whether he had beaten someone up, there wouldn’t be much of a case to defend.
“It's obvious - we've seen the video evidence of that.
“It's the racketeering charge which makes this so important, and also for what it says culturally about powerful people in high profile positions, able to do whatever the hell they like to people below them.”
If you, or someone you know, is experiencing domestic violence, you can contact Refuge on 0808 2000 247, or visit the charity's website here for advice and support.