Sean “Diddy” Combs remains in custody awaiting his criminal trial, and legal experts say he’s likely to remain in custody for some time to come after his appeal for bail was denied.
The controversial music mogul was indicted on three felony counts of extortion, sex trafficking and transportation for the purposes of prostitution on September 17. Diddy has pleaded not guilty and has denied any wrongdoing amid multiple lawsuits alleging sexual abuse over the past 10 months.
The latest lawsuit, filed on Sept. 24, comes from a woman who claims she was drugged, raped, and held captive by the Bad Boy Entertainment founder and his former bodyguard in 2001. She claims she learned the alleged rape was recorded and sold as pornography in November 2023. She is the 11th person to accuse Diddy of sexual assault.
While we have yet to hear directly from Diddy himself about his “erratic behavior,” old videos of him talking about his infamous partying have resurfaced on the Internet.
How much damage will these resurfaced videos do to Diddy’s case? Is a plea deal possible? And what happens next? Yahoo Entertainment spoke to legal experts about these big questions.
Do these old viral Diddy videos matter?
In the court of public opinion, yes. In the court of law, no.
Since Diddy’s arrest, several resurfaced videos of him have gone viral, including a 2002 interview on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” in which he said that locking a “beautiful woman” in a room made for “the best party ever.” Ashton Kutcher’s claims of partying with Diddy made waves, as did various videos of a young Justin Bieber and Diddy. It won’t mean much unless any of these people come forward to file charges against Diddy to back up the government’s case.
“Students’ statements outside of court are hearsay and therefore not admissible evidence,” criminal defense lawyer Lauren Johnson-Norris told Yahoo Entertainment, “but if a witness actually witnessed[the alleged crimes related to the indictment]that witness could be called in court to testify against Combs about what he or she actually saw.”
There are a lot of unconfirmed rumors floating around on X (formerly Twitter), but “rumors are not evidence.”
“The government will be focused on proving the charges they assert and putting the pieces of the puzzle together,” Johnson-Norris explained.
Where is Diddy now?
Didi remains in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, but NBC News reports he has been moved from a suicide watch area to an area reserved for detainees with special needs, along with convicted fraudster Sam Bankman Freed, one of 18 to 20 other inmates held in the same area.
Diddy has been denied bail twice, and Johnson-Norris doesn’t think he’ll be released: “Unless there’s a major change in circumstances, which I don’t think will happen, it seems likely Combs will remain in jail until his trial.”
The rapper reportedly had a brief chat with the kids, who were “shocked.”
Will anyone else be charged?
Diddy has been accused of running a criminal enterprise, but former federal prosecutor Jenny Wang VonCannon told Yahoo Entertainment that she doesn’t believe anyone else will be charged at this time.
“Mr. Combs is described as a ‘leader of Combs Enterprises,'” she said, referring to language in the indictment. “Based on the allegations, it appears the government already has the evidence it needs to indict those who Mr. Combs allegedly directed in his leadership of Combs Enterprises. The fact that only Mr. Combs has been indicted indicates that it is likely that no other lower-level individuals will be charged with the conduct described in the indictment.”
Does the government have a reason to offer a plea bargain?
“The short answer is yes,” said VonCannon, a partner at the Crowell Law Firm.
“There are real victims who have been (sexually) abused who will face years of trial,” she said, calling Didi a “well-funded defendant.”
“If the defendant pleads guilty, it will result in a quicker resolution without the need for victims and witnesses to testify at trial,” she added. The plea deal “significantly limits” Didi’s right to appeal, which could also favor prosecutors.
But for that to happen, Diddy would have to plead guilty – and apart from issuing a public apology after security footage of him assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura was leaked, he has continued to maintain his innocence.
Can Ventura testify?
Diddy was sued by his longtime ex-girlfriend, Ventura, for sex trafficking, rape, and physical abuse in November 2023. The case was quickly settled out of court, and terms were not disclosed, but legal experts agree that a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) was likely involved.
But the NDA “does not invalidate a court subpoena or an order to testify in a criminal case,” Johnson-Norris said, paving the way for Ventura to testify.
“NDAs usually contain exception clauses. If they don’t, courts will find it against public policy to prevent a witness from testifying,” she says. “A court order will always take precedence over contractual provisions about who can and can’t testify, which means we should hear Kathy’s testimony in this criminal case.”
Ventura appears to be closely involved in the federal case against Diddy, as language in her 35-page civil lawsuit matches some of the allegations against Diddy in the government’s indictment.
Will Diddy insist on “consent”?
Sexual abuse cases can be difficult to prosecute because defense lawyers often argue the acts were consensual, but VonCannon said this isn’t a typical “he says, she says” case.
“While a consent defense is often used when the alleged conduct occurs behind closed doors between two people, this case is much broader in scope than that and includes organized crime charges involving non-sexual conduct, such as kidnapping, arson, bribery, witness tampering, forced labor and distribution of narcotics and controlled substances,” she explained. “All of the predicate acts in the RICO conspiracy combined make it extremely difficult for Combs to successfully raise a ‘consent defense.'”
What happens next?
Johnson-Norris said federal cases of this nature typically “take two years from indictment to verdict.”
“Because the defense has filed a motion, we expect there will be periods when we hear about the case and periods when we don’t hear about it at all,” she explained.
The next status conference on this case will be held on Wednesday, October 9th at 2pm ET.
