Diddy faces jury as sex trafficking trial kicks off Monday

Jury selection is scheduled to commence Monday in New York for the high-profile federal trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, whose storied career has unravelled amid serious accusations of sex trafficking and organized criminal activity.

The 55-year-old hip-hop entrepreneur is facing federal charges stemming from what prosecutors describe as a coordinated criminal enterprise that manipulated individuals into participating in drug-laced, exploitative sex gatherings through intimidation and violence.

Combs, who has been detained since his arrest in September 2024, denies all charges, maintaining that all encounters were consensual.

At a recent hearing, Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, hinted at a defence centred on the artist’s open lifestyle, characterizing it as that of a consensual “swinger.”

Prosecutors disclosed that a plea deal had been offered but rejected by Combs.

A conviction could mean a life sentence for the man who helped bring hip-hop to mainstream audiences and built a business empire spanning music and alcohol brands.

Notably, jury selection falls on the same day as the annual Met Gala, an event Combs once graced regularly.

This year, however, instead of posing on the red carpet, he will be seated in a federal courtroom downtown as prospective jurors undergo scrutiny by both legal teams.

The jury selection process is expected to last about a week, with opening arguments anticipated by May 12.

Combs is currently housed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a facility known for its poor conditions and once home to other disgraced figures like R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Sam Bankman-Fried.

He has reportedly appeared significantly aged during court appearances, with visibly greying hair and an unkempt appearance.

A critical figure in the case is Combs’s former partner, singer Cassie Ventura. She is expected to testify, with the prosecution emphasizing her importance to the overall narrative.

One piece of video evidence, aired by CNN, shows Combs attacking Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016.

The footage reportedly followed what prosecutors describe as one of Combs’s “freak-offs”, coercive sex parties involving drugs, sex workers, and filming, according to the federal indictment.

While there is debate over how much of the surveillance video will be shown to the jury due to quality concerns, Judge Arun Subramanian has ruled that parts of it are admissible in court.

Though Combs has no major criminal convictions, he has faced a long history of assault accusations dating back to the 1990s.

The wave of allegations resurfaced after Ventura filed a civil lawsuit in 2023 alleging more than ten years of abuse, including a 2018 rape.

The suit was settled quickly, but it opened the door to further claims from others — both men and women — and ultimately led to raids on Combs’s properties in Miami and Los Angeles.

The federal case hinges on a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) conspiracy charge, a powerful legal tool originally crafted to dismantle the mafia.

It enables prosecutors to link multiple crimes under a broader pattern of criminal behaviour. Similar charges were used in 2021 to convict R. Kelly of sex crimes, resulting in a 30-year sentence.

Legal observers are closely watching the Combs trial, viewing it as a potential turning point for the music industry, which has so far largely escaped the wave of accountability seen in Hollywood under the #MeToo movement.