Diddy Found Guilty of Transportation to Engage in Prostitution, Dodges Sex Trafficking and Racketeering Charges.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but has dodged the three most serious charges, two counts of sex trafficking and one count of racketeering.
The charges carry a maximum of 10 years each for the two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
The jury delivered the verdict after a grueling eight-week trial that featured 34 witnesses testifying against the hip-hop mogul and Bad Boy Records founder, who was charged with two counts of sex trafficking, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and one count of racketeering.
Combs, once a titan of the music and fashion industries, was accused of coercing multiple women into having “freak-offs” — days-long, drug-fueled sex marathons with male escorts. During an intense, four-day testimony, his ex-girlfriend of 11 years, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, alleged he routinely assaulted and psychologically abused her. Photos of her injuries and videos of the “freak-offs” from across their relationship were shown to the jury. A key piece of evidence in the trial was a 2016 surveillance video that showed Combs violently beating Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel, where they were having a “freak-off.”
“Jane,” an anonymous witness who dated Combs from 2021 to 2024, accused Combs of forcing her to take drugs and have “freak-offs,” using the fact that he paid her rent as leverage. In what prosecutors called “the most clear-cut example of sex trafficking in this case,” Combs allegedly punched, kicked and dragged Jane into the house before giving her drugs and inviting over a male escort. “Is this coercion?” Combs allegedly said to Jane, mocking the federal investigation looming over him.
“Mia,” another pseudonymous witness, worked for Combs as a personal assistant and then executive. She said during her employment, he physically assaulted her and raped her. Other witnesses testified to Combs’ alleged criminal activity spanning 20 years.
A former stylist spoke of witnessing Combs’ violence toward Ventura. A fashion designer claimed Combs held her over the railing of a 17th-story balcony. A hotel security guard said Combs bribed him with $100,000 in cash to erase the surveillance footage that depicted his 2016 assault on Ventura.
The rapper Kid Cudi, who briefly dated Ventura in 2011, accused Combs of breaking into his house and, on a separate occasion, orchestrating an arson on his car.
https://variety.com/2025/(...)zV6k7UEEwTlODmwXm7LQ