The federal sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, whose wildly successful career has been dotted by allegations of violence, began on Monday in New York City with jury selection that was briefly paused when the hip-hop entrepreneur said he was “a little nervous” and needed a bathroom break.

The 17-page indictment against Combs reads like a charging document filed against a Mafia leader or the head of a drug gang, accusing him of engaging in sex trafficking and presiding over a racketeering conspiracy.

The indictment says that with the help of people in his entourage and employees from his network of businesses, Combs engaged in a two-decade pattern of abusive behavior against women and others.

Women were manipulated into participating in drug-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers that Combs called “Freak Offs,” prosecutors say.

To keep women in line, prosecutors say Combs used a mix of influence and violence: He offered to boost their entertainment careers if they did what he asked — or cut them off if they didn’t.

  • RamblingPanda@lemmynsfw.com
    151·
    4 days ago

    In 1999 he was charged with bursting into the offices of an Interscope Records executive with his bodyguards and beating him with a champagne bottle and a chair.

    Later that same year, Combs was stopped by police after he and his then-girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, fled a nightclub where three people were wounded by gunfire.

    Then in 2015, Combs was charged with assaulting someone with a weight-room kettlebell at the University of California, Los Angeles, where one of his sons played football.

    I have this suspicion he’s not a good person. But he got off easy every time, so in probably wrong. The law is the same for everyone, right?

  • aesthelete@lemmy.world
    151·
    4 days ago

    Remember when he briefly tried his hand at a solo career and he was on stage on SNL going “uh huh, yeah! COME WITH ME!!!” over a Led Zeppelin song and that was supposed to be music? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

  • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    111·
    4 days ago

    Haa Sean been dying his hair this whole time, and this is his actual gray…

    … Or is he dying it gray to appear older and thus less threatening?

  • falkerie71@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    9·
    4 days ago

    I’ve been following this on an ABC news podcast called Bad Rap. Their previous podcast on the Theranos case called The Dropout was excellent, and I highly recommend giving both of these a listen.