On the first Monday in May of any given year, musician Sean Combs, known as Puff Daddy, would most likely be in New York arriving through the front doors to walk the star-studded red carpet at the Museum’s gala. Metropolitan of New York. Even more so in 2025, when the theme will revolve around black men’s tailoring and style. This one, however, will be very different for him. He will be in New York, but behind bars, preparing to be tried for sex trafficking, illicit association and transportation for prostitution. This Thursday, Judge Arun Subramanian – assigned to the case last week after Magistrate Andrew Carter recused himself from the case for having worked with some of the lawyers – has set that day, May 5, 2025, for his trial.
It’s been almost a month since musician Sean Combs, known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, was arrested in New York on a series of charges that could make him spend the rest of his life in prison. However, after hearing the accusations from Magistrate Robyn Tarnofsky and pleading not guilty, he had not set foot in court again. He did it for the first time this October 10. He has not been seen entering the courthouse, but cameras and onlookers have been able to see his mother, Janice Combs, 84, and four of his seven children in Manhattan federal court: Justin, 30, Christian (called King), 26, and the twins Jessie and D’Lila, 17. Janice argued precisely on Sunday in a letter to the media Page Six that it was “heartbreaking” to see Combs being judged “not by the truth, but by a fabricated narrative of lies,” and spoke of the “unbearable pain” of watching his son experience “a public lynching before he had the opportunity to prove his innocence”
The musician has arrived from Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, the center where he is awaiting trial, and has gone through a side door. He was dressed in a tan shirt and had shackles on his ankles. According to the AP news agency, when he entered the room he smiled and hugged his lawyers and chatted with them, and he also smiled at his children when he saw them.
At the hearing, the assistant attorney general of the United States, Emily Johnson, explained that the trial could last about three weeks but that, as was said in a previous hearing, the prosecution could add more charges or new people sued, which which could also affect its duration. Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, has assured that they will try to present the case so that it lasts only one. Johnson has also revealed that during the federal investigation that took place in March, 96 electronic devices were found both in Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles and at an airport in Florida, and that another four were seized after the arrest of September. In eight of them there was a huge amount of information, around 90 terabytes, which he described as “extraordinary.” Furthermore, he explained that technologically it has not been easy to extract the information from them, which has led to certain delays.
At Thursday’s hearing, Judge Subramanian has also set another date, December 18, in case Combs wishes to appear then, but his attorneys can decide not to, and has set deadlines for lawyers for both sides to present their arguments. . He has also announced that he is issuing an order restricting public statements by both sides about the investigation, the charges, secret grand jury material or anything related to the trial. The order comes after the artist’s defenders complained about the leak last May of a video on CNN where the musician is seen hitting and attacking his then partner, Casandra Ventura, known as Cassie. The rapper’s defenders believe that it was a leak from the State Department and that it has led to “damaging and highly prejudicial pretrial publicity that can only taint the jury and deprive Combs of his right to a fair trial.” Hours later, federal investigators responded to the defense in a letter, assuring that “the Government was not in possession of the video before its publication by CNN” and that therefore “there is no real basis for these accusations. The chain has preferred not to comment on the matter.
In addition, Combs’ lawyers are seeking to get him out of jail on bail of $50 million, keeping him at home with an electronic bracelet, but two judges have concluded that he is “a danger to the community” if he is released and they fear they will be put in danger. contact with victims or witnesses. At the end of the hearing, the defenders stopped to chat with reporters, giving details that for their client, in prison, “the hardest thing is probably the food.”
Combs is charged with sex trafficking, conspiracy and transportation for prostitution. Between November 2023 and September 2024, nine women and two men filed complaints against him individually. On October 1, when he was already in preventive detention, the case took a turn when it was learned that another 120 victims, including 25 minors, had filed new complaints. Lawyers in the case announced that there were another 3,285 people who claimed they had been victims of Combs.
