Sean “Diddy” Combs was found not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking but convicted of less serious offenses, a blow for prosecutors who had targeted the music mogul in a sprawling case that alleged he ran a criminal enterprise for over two decades.
While Combs, 55, was acquitted of the most serious charges against him, the jury convicted Combs on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Combs had been accused by federal prosecutors of committing a litany of offenses as part of the alleged enterprise: kidnapping, bribery, sex crimes and subsequent coverups. The music mogul, who spent the past nine months in jail, held his lawyers’ hands as the verdict was read. Afterward, he pumped his fists and made prayer hands toward the jury.
During the trial, jurors grappled with thorny issues surrounding consent, power and love. They viewed images and video from the sex parties, which he called freak-offs, and heard from his former girlfriends and staff who detailed the elaborate steps he took to organize the events, from having employees procure drugs to stocking hotel rooms with baby oil and Gatorade. The government witnesses also gave graphic accounts of Combs using violence, financial leverage and the threat of releasing videos of the parties to control his victims.
But Combs’s defense team poked holes in much of the testimony, recasting his accusers as willing participants in the sex parties. The lawyers confronted the women with loving texts they sent to Combs and got them to admit they were at times open to the parties.
The lawyers also took a surprising stance at the start of the trial—acknowledging Combs had a temper and had been violent in his relationships. They couched the violence as domestic abuse stemming from drug addiction and jealousy, rather than a purposeful attempt to coerce women into sex acts. “We own the domestic violence,” Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Combs, told the jury.
Janice Combs, mother of Sean “Diddy” Combs gives thumbs-up after the jury reached a verdict in the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial at U.S. federal court in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
The jury began its deliberations late Monday morning. On Tuesday afternoon, they told the judge they had reached a verdict on four counts, but were stuck on the racketeering conspiracy charge. The judge instructed the panel to continue its deliberations.
Combs had faced a minimum sentence of 15 years on each count of sex trafficking and up to life in prison if convicted on the racketeering conspiracy count.
Combs was arrested in September, following a monthslong investigation and a series of lawsuits filed by women accusing him of sexual abuse. His trial kicked off in May in a federal courthouse in lower Manhattan, garnering worldwide attention and attracting throngs of journalists, social-media influencers and his supporters.
The trial gave the public a glimpse into Combs’s glamorous lifestyle , one involving yachts, private jets and jaunts to the Caribbean. But witness testimony took many dark turns and depicted him as an exacting boss who demanded his staff cater to his every whim at all hours of the day. There were also occasional celebrity cameos, including one by Kanye West , a friend of Combs, who showed up one day to try to get a seat in the courtroom.
Justin Combs, son of Sean “Diddy” Combs, walks outside the courthouse, as the jury continues deliberations in the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial at U.S. federal court in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Prosecutors argued that Combs’s high-ranking employees, including bodyguards, aided his criminal activity. Some of these employees who testified at trial were granted immunity to do so.
The prosecution’s star witness, singer Cassie Ventura , told jurors that she had an on-again, off-again relationship with Combs for more than a decade. The relationship was complicated, she said, because she loved Combs and valued the time she was with him, including during drug-fueled sex parties dubbed “freak offs.”
But as time went on, Ventura and other witnesses testified, Combs became violent, assaulting her in a hotel hallway and attempting to hit her on the head with a skillet. Prosecutors showed jurors photos of her bruises and other injuries. She said she stayed with him because of the power he exerted over her, including by threatening to release sex tapes, maintaining influence over her career and keeping tabs on her location.
Two other accusers, who testified under the pseudonyms Mia and Jane, recounted similar incidents of sex and violence. Mia, who worked as Combs’s personal assistant, told jurors he had brainwashed her. “He was my authority figure, the only authority figure,” she testified.
Other witnesses testified that they saw Combs commit criminal acts, including one personal assistant who said Combs kidnapped her at gunpoint and took her to break into the home of musician Kid Cudi, who had a relationship with Ventura.
Combs’s lawyers declined to call any witnesses , and the hip-hop mogul didn’t take the stand.
During cross-examination, his defense attorneys sought to portray the witnesses as inconsistent and unreliable. They argued that all sex was consensual, and showed jurors messages in which the accusers indicated they wanted to have sex with Combs.
In one BlackBerry message, Combs asked Ventura when she wanted to schedule a sex party. “I’m always ready to freak off,” Ventura replied.
They also suggested some accusers were financially motivated. Ventura filed a 2023 civil lawsuit accusing Combs of rape and abuse, which she subsequently settled for $20 million.
Combs, a rapper who found more success as a producer, shepherded the careers of artists including the Notorious B.I.G. and Faith Evans. He spun his fame into a business empire selling alcohol, clothes and cologne.
He released his fifth studio album, “The Love Album: Off the Grid,” in 2023.
Write to James Fanelli at james.fanelli@wsj.com and Corinne Ramey at corinne.ramey@wsj.com
