A Manhattan jury convicted Combs on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution in relation to his ex-partners Casandra "Cassie" Ventura and "Jane," who both testified during the trial.
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| Diddy |
Sean “Diddy” Combs, the Bad Boy Records founder and music mogul who launched the careers of rap-R&B royalty in the 1990s, has been found guilty on two out of five charges in his sex-trafficking trial in New York federal court.
He was acquitted of the most serious charges: one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion.
A Manhattan jury convicted Combs on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution in relation to his ex-partners Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and “Jane,” who both testified during the trial. Combs violated the federal Mann Act by flying his ex-girlfriends and paid male sex workers around the country to engage in sexual acts.
He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Combs rejected a plea deal prior to the start of his trial and declined to testify. His defense attorneys did not call up any witnesses to prove their case. They did, however, submit two mistrial requests to the judge overseeing Combs’ trial over claims of “prosecutorial misconduct.”
Over the course of the weeks-long trial, federal prosecutors argued that Combs was the leader of a criminal enterprise who used his “fame, wealth, and power” to commit a number of violent crimes, including kidnapping, arson, forced labor and bribery. The enterprise in question was not Combs’ company, Combs Enterprises, but rather his trusted inner circle that included some of his employees.
At the heart of the trial were testimony from 34 government witnesses, including former employees, law enforcement agents and ex-girlfriends. The most memorable testimonies came from the prosecution’s star witnesses: Ventura, Combs’ ex-partner and former artist, and an anonymous woman known in court by the pseudonym Jane, whom he dated on and off from 2021 up until his September 2024 arrest.
The former girlfriends testified that Combs forced them to participate in sex marathons with male prostitutes in hotel rooms against their wishes, providing them drugs like Ecstasy and MDMA to stay awake for the encounters known as “freak-offs,” some of which he’d record.
“The freak-offs became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again,” Ventura said during her multiple days of testimony.
Ventura’s mother, Regina Ventura, took the stand during the trial to testify that Combs once demanded $20,000 from her and threatened to release explicit sex tapes of her daughter after learning she was dating someone else.
Ventura’s November 2023 bombshell civil lawsuit against Combs aided an investigation that ultimately led to a damning federal indictment against the hip-hop maven last year. It was settled within a day for $20 million, per Ventura’s court testimony.
“By coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice,” Ventura’s lawyer, Douglas H. Wigdor, said in a statement after the verdict was announced. “We must repeat – with no reservation – that we believe and support our client who showed exemplary courage throughout this trial. She displayed unquestionable strength and brought attention to the realities of powerful men in our orbit and the misconduct that has persisted for decades without repercussion. This case proved that change is long overdue, and we will continue to fight on behalf of survivors.”
During her time on the witness stand, Jane said that she told Combs she cried for three days after reading Ventura’s suit because it felt like she was “reading my own sexual trauma.” After the filing, she claimed Combs became less egotistical and cold and more apologetic, NBC News reported.
But before then, Jane alleged that Combs was a violent abuser who would ignore her signs to stop during their “dark” and “sleazy” sexual encounters. She testified that even after giving “subtle cues” to Combs — like making faces and gestures, and saying she was tired or hungry— he would still push her to continue having sex with other men as he watched, telling her to “finish strong.”
“I would really fight to block out how sad I was after,” Jane said in her testimony.
Others who offered witness testimony during Combs’ trial included Daniel Phillip, the sex worker who alleged he was paid for sexual encounters with Combs and Ventura, and Israel Florez, a former security guard at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, where 2016 surveillance footage captured Combs’ brutal hallway assault on Ventura.
A few notable celebrities were called to the stand during Combs’ trial. Dawn Richard, Combs’ former Dirty Money bandmate, testified that the music producer physically assaulted multiple women, including one 2009 incident where she claimed he tried to attack Ventura in his Los Angeles home with a skillet. Meanwhile, rapper Kid Cudi, who briefly dated Ventura in 2011, testified to multiple instances where Combs retaliated against him after learning that he and his ex were dating.
During the trial, defense attorneys for Combs acknowledged that he was violent in his domestic relationships, but said that his conduct did not amount to sex trafficking, as prosecutors argued.
Combs still faces dozens of civil lawsuits related to sexual assault and abuse allegations.
CORRECTION: This article was updated to correct the maximum sentence Sean “Diddy” Combs could face.
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