Sean “Diddy” Combs. Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution and not guilty in the remaining three racketeering and sex crimes charges, CNN reports. The 55-year-old rap mogul was charged with racketeering conspiracy and two counts each of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He now faces up to 20 years in prison.
During the federal trial in Lower Manhattan, prosecutors alleged that Diddy was the head of a criminal enterprise who engaged in “kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction” alongside an entourage of bodyguards and other employees. Diddy’s defence team, which included Young Thug’s lawyer Brian Steel, attempted to cast Diddy as an imperfect man who was being unfairly prosecuted.
Diddy was arrested and charged on September 16, 2024, and has been held without bail since. His charges came a year after his former partner Cassie Ventura filed a civil suit alleging rape and mental abuse across their decade-spanning relationship. The suit was settled a day after it was filed, but it opened the floodgates for dozens of other allegations of similar behaviour from other women.
Ventura was a key witness at the trial, with her testimony used by the prosecution in an attempt to establish Diddy’s propensity for force and violence. Over 34 witnesses took the stand including “Jane,” a woman who, like Ventura, accused Diddy of forcing her to engage in drug-fuelled orgies known as “freak offs.” The women alleged that these events were filmed and that Diddy blackmailed them with the footage, threatening to release it if they did obey him.
Dawn Richard, a singer-songwriter and former collaborator of Diddy’s also took the stand. She testified that Diddy had physically abused her during her time on the show Making the Band and in the groups Danity Kane and Diddy Dirty Money, and that she had witnessed him attacking Cassie.
In another high-profile moment, Kid Cudi was called to testify about his experiences with Diddy when he dated Cassie while she and Diddy were on a break from their relationship. He alleged that Cassie had told her that Diddy was “abusive,” and that soon after he learned of their relationship his home was broken into. After Cudi and Cassie ended their relationship, Cudi’s Porsche was seriously damaged by a Molotov cocktail; Diddy denied any role in the attack, though Cassie testified that Diddy had told her that he would “blow up [Cudi’s] car.” Cudi’s testimony was later struck from the trial at the prosecution’s request.
After the verdict was announced, Cassie’s attorney Douglas H. Widor shared a statement with the media. It begins: “This entire criminal process started when our client Cassie Ventura had the courage to file her civil complaint in November 2023. Although the jury did not find Combs guilty of sex trafficking Cassie beyond a reasonable doubt, she paved the way for a jury to find him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution.” Read it in full below.
Cassie’s lawyer has released a statement after the jury acquired Sean “Diddy” Combs of sex trafficking her and another former girlfriend and acquitted him of RICO.
He was found guilty only of transportation for prostitution. pic.twitter.com/PsMtY2LMCD
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) July 2, 2025
At a 5 p.m. hearing, Judge Arun Subramanian denied Diddy’s request to released on a $1 million bail pending sentencing. Cassie sent a letter to the judge following the verdict requesting that bail be denied, citing fears for her personal safety. In their own letter, Diddy’s attorneys argued that because the jury had found him not guilty on the most serious charges, Diddy should be immediately released.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available