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When Donald Trump finally visits the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center next month to attend his first-ever show at the beloved Washington, D.C. cultural institution he will be treated to a performance of the musical Les Misérables that will be missing a number of key players. According to CNN, at least 10-12 of the show’s performers are expected to skip the June 11 performance Trump will reportedly attend on the same night as a high-dollar fundraiser at the Center.
CNN reported that the cast was given the option to not be on stage the night Trump is in the house, with both unnamed “major cast members and members of the ensemble” opting to take a night off in the midst of the Trump administration’s aggressive makeover of the venue. As part of his government-wide slash-and-burn effort to remake Washington his image, Trump installed himself as the chairman of the Kennedy Center with the help of a rebooted board made up entirely of his hand-picked appointees at the institution that has traditionally had a bipartisan mix of board members.
The Les Miz performance will coincide with the fundraiser featuring sponsorship levels selling for as much as $2 million according to ABC News, with the invitation noting that Trump will appear that night as “a special guest and friend of the Kennedy Center”; at press time it was not clear what the funds were being raised for as Trump is constitutionally barred from running for a third term. Trump played songs from the musical about the plight of the impoverished underclass during the French Revolution on stops of his 2016 presidential campaign, upsetting the co-creators of the stage musical, who requested that he stop blasting “Do You Hear the People Sing?” at his rallies.
In a statement to EW, Trump confidant and the Center’s new director, Richard Grenell, said of the reported boycott, “We haven’t heard this rumor. But the Kennedy Center will no longer fund intolerance. Any performer who isn’t professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won’t be welcomed. In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn’t hire — and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience.”
The cast boycott is the latest in an unfolding culture war between the Trump administration and some artists who were slated to perform at the Kennedy Center, a number of whom canceled shows in the wake of the Trump takeover. Among those who pulled gigs or resigned from their leadership roles at the Kennedy Center in protest were: Ben Folds, Renee Fleming, Shonda Rhimes, Low Cut Connie, Rhiannon Giddens, Issa Rae, as well as a performance of the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Hamilton, the lauded show Trump subsequently criticized, saying “I never liked Hamilton very much.”
Trump raged against the programming at the Center in February in a Truth Social post in which he wrote, “No more drag show, or other anti-American propaganda — Only the best.” In another post, Trump said he wanted to make sure the Kennedy Center “runs properly. We don’t need woke at the Kennedy Center. Some of the shows were terrible. They were a disgrace that they were even put on.”
Days after federal prosecutors dropped Lil Durk’s rap lyrics from his murder-for-hire case, his lawyers say the new “watered-down” charges support his push to be released from jail ahead of trial.
In a court filing Tuesday (May 6), attorneys for the Chicago drill star (Durk Banks) argue that last week’s superseding indictment — which removed not just Durk’s lyrics but also allegations that he ordered a “bounty” payment — has dramatically weakened the case against him.
By removing those elements of the case, Durk’s lawyers say the feds have “effectively conceded” that they presented “false and/or misleading information” in court — both to get the rapper charged in the first place, and to persuade the judge to deny bail.
“With the issues of the lyrics and the payout of a ‘bounty’ altogether abandoned, what remains of the indictment is a weak patchwork of unsupported and non-specific allegations against Mr. Banks,” writes defense attorney Drew Findling. “This watered-down new indictment, coupled with the robust bond package proposed here, tips the balance in favor of Mr. Banks’ release pending trial.”
Durk was arrested in October on murder-for-hire and gun charges over allegations that he ordered members of his Only the Family (OTF) crew to carry out a 2022 attack on rival rapper Quando Rondo that left another man dead.
To back up that claim, the indictment cited lyrics from a song called “Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy” in which Durk allegedly referenced the shooting: “Told me they got an addy (go, go)/ Got location (go, go)/ Green light (go, go, go, go, go),” Durk raps in the track. “Look on the news and see your son/You screamin’, ‘No, no’ (pu–y).”
But Durk’s lawyers sharply pushed back, arguing that “Wonderful Wayne” could not have referenced the Rondo shooting for a simple reason: That the rapper wrote and recorded those verses “seven months before the incident even happened.” Though prosecutors defended the inclusion of the lyrics, an updated version of the indictment released Thursday (May 1) removed them entirely.
In Tuesday’s new court filing, Findling says the lyrics were a “hotly contested” issue at a December hearing in which the judge denied to release him on bail. Now that they’ve been removed entirely, he says the judge must reconsider whether Durk can be released.
“The government absolutely intended that section to illustrate direct involvement in the alleged murder-for-hire and more importantly, the knowledge of Mr. Banks of the alleged offense through some sort of musical confession,” Findling says. “The government has now been proven wrong and has removed the reference, substantially depreciating the weight of the allegations.”
The removal of the bounty claim presents an “even greater” blow to the government’s case, Durk’s lawyers say, and should also help persuade the judge that bail can now be granted: “With the payment of the ‘bounty’ allegation withdrawn from the indictment, the foundation for this court’s conclusions has been materially undercut.”
In previous court filings, prosecutors denied that the removal of elements from the new indictment had weakened or substantially altered the case against Durk: “Just like every iteration of the indictment before it, the [new indictment] contains significant allegations that show defendant’s alleged role in the execution-style murder of [the victim] on a busy street corner in Los Angeles.”
The judge will decide whether to reconsider Durk’s bail in the weeks ahead, potentially holding a court hearing next month. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday (May 7).
Smokey Robinson and his wife have been hit with an explosive new lawsuit that seeks $50 million in damages over claims that the legendary Motown singer repeatedly raped four housekeepers over nearly two decades.
In the suit, filed on Tuesday (May 6) in Los Angeles County Superior Court, four anonymous women say William “Smokey” Robinson Jr. had a habit of forcing housekeepers to have sex with him in the bedroom of his residence, located in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles, between 2007 and 2024.
“Plaintiffs did not consent to defendant Smokey Robinson’s sexual contact or touching,” wrote John W. Harris, an attorney representing the four housekeepers. “Plaintiffs explicitly told defendant Robinson on numerous occasions that they were not interested in his advances and objected to his forceful, physical, sexual and harmful conduct.”
The four women — called Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, Jane Doe 3 and Jane Doe 4 in the lawsuit — claim Robinson followed a consistent pattern of assault over the years. The complaint alleges that the 85-year-old R&B singer and record executive would regularly get housekeepers alone in his blue bedroom wearing only his underwear, put a towel down on the bed, and force them to have oral and vaginal sex without a condom.
Jane Doe 1 says Robinson assaulted her in this manner at least seven times while she worked for him between 2023 and 2024. Jane Doe 2 claims she was raped at least 23 times in Robinson’s bedroom, as well as in the house’s laundry room and garage, during her employment with him between 2014 and 2020.
Jane Doe 3, who says she worked as Robinson’s housekeeper from 2012 to 2024, alleges she was assaulted at least 20 times. Jane Doe 4 does not specify how many times she was allegedly raped but says Robinson “would often create a situation” to get her alone and abuse her between 2007 and 2024.
Each of the four women claim they did not report Robinson’s conduct to law enforcement “due to her fear of losing her livelihood, familial reprisal, public embarrassment, shame and humiliation to her and her family, the possible adverse effect on her immigration status, as well as being threatened and intimidated by defendant Smokey Robinson’s well-recognized celebrity status and his influential friends and associates.”
The housekeepers say Robinson’s wife, Frances, shares the blame for these assaults. According to the plaintiffs, Frances Robinson did nothing to protect them, even though she knew her husband had a history of sexual misconduct and that he’d previously struck settlements with alleged assault victims.
The women say Frances also created a hostile work environment by “regularly screaming” and using racial slurs, and that they were paid below minimum wage and did not receive overtime or legally-mandated work breaks.
“Despite having full knowledge of defendant Smokey Robinson’s conduct, defendant Frances Robinson would further perpetuate hostilities towards plaintiffs instead of preventing further harassment and assaults,” writes the housekeepers’ lawyer. “Instead, defendant Frances Robinson, throughout plaintiffs’ employment, berated plaintiffs with derogatory, racially-charged epithets, assign[ed] additional arduous tasks, and forbid plaintiffs from exercising their rights to meals and rest periods.”
The lawsuit brings a total of 16 claims, including sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence and negligence. The four housekeepers are seeking at least $50 million in damages from Smokey and Frances for economic, emotional and physical harm.
Representatives for Smokey Robinson did not immediately return requests for comment on Tuesday.
Jay-Z has filed an unusual new allegation in his legal war with attorney Tony Buzbee, accusing the lawyer of ordering employees at his law firm to edit Wikipedia pages in an effort to damage the rapper’s reputation.
The new claim is the latest salvo in a bitter fight that started when Buzbee filed a shocking lawsuit accusing Jay-Z of raping an unnamed girl decades ago. Jay-Z vehemently denied the allegation, which has since been voluntarily dropped, and has blasted Buzbee for allegedly trying to extort him.
In an updated version of an earlier case against Buzbee and his client filed Monday (May 5), Jay-Z is adding an eyebrow-raising new claim: That the lawyer made sneaky edits to Wikipedia as part of his alleged plot to harm the rapper.
“In violation of Wikipedia’s rules, Buzbee directed his employees to edit Wikipedia pages to enhance Buzbee’s image and damage Mr. Carter’s and Roc Nation’s reputations,” Jay-Z’s attorneys write in the amended complaint. “Users with an IP address directly linked to the Buzbee Firm made over 100 positive edits to Buzbee’s Wikipedia page.”
The lawsuit does not elaborate on what exact edits were allegedly made to Wikipedia. Reps for Jay-Z did not immediately return a request for comment.
In a statement to Billboard on Tuesday, Buzbee strongly denied the new allegation and the rest of Jay-Z’s claims: “Most of the pleading is nonsensical. All of it is meritless.”
The case against Jay-Z, filed in December, claimed that he and Sean “Diddy” Combs drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl at an after-party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Jay-Z forcefully denied the allegations, calling them a “blackmail attempt.” After just two months of heated litigation, Doe dropped her case without a settlement payment.
Weeks after the case was dropped, Jay-Z sued both Doe and Buzbee, accusing her of defamation and accusing both of malicious prosecution and other wrongdoing. The lawsuit called it an “evil conspiracy” against the rapper: “The extortion and abuse of Mr. Carter by Doe and her lawyers must stop.”
Buzbee and his client have denied the lawsuit’s allegations and moved to dismiss the case — arguing, among other things, that she cannot be sued for defamation over allegations made as part of a lawsuit.
Beyond the Wikipedia claims, Monday’s new complaint makes several other notable changes to the earlier lawsuit.
The new version of the case now also targets Antigone Curis, a New York attorney who served as co-counsel in the original rape lawsuit against Jay-Z. Naming Curis as a co-defendant, Jay-Z alleges that Buzbee “used Curis” because he himself was not admitted to practice law in Manhattan federal court — an issue that has since come to light in several of Buzbee’s cases against Combs in New York.
“It is clear that Curis joined the conspiracy to extort Mr. Carter, which was hatched in Alabama, and quickly became an integral part of the scheme by using her admission to the [Southern District of New York], weaponizing the civil justice system,” Jay-Z’s attorneys write in the new case.
The lawsuit also includes new claims about the alleged harm caused to Jay-Z by the rape accusation. It says Roc Nation lost contracts in the sports and entertainment space that would have generated at least $20 million; that Jay was personally denied a $55 million personal credit line; and that a company he’s associated with was denied a $115 million loan.
“At trial, plaintiff will present evidence demonstrating how the extortionate scheme, and the false complaint filed in New York, resulted in the loss of business opportunities to Mr. Carter [and] have served to preclude him from new business opportunities,” his attorneys write, before later adding: “Buzbee, Doe, and their co-conspirators must answer for all of this.”
In light of the controversy surrounding Kehlani‘s recently canceled performance at Cornell University, SummerStage has now pulled the plug on the singer’s scheduled performance in Central Park, under advisement from New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office.
On Monday (May 5), the festival announced that its Pride With Kehlani benefit show — which had been slated for June 26 as part of the city’s annual summer concert series — would no longer be part of this year’s programming. “We have been notified by the Mayor’s Office that they have concerns for security and safety issues,” reads a statement on SummerStage’s Instagram. “Those concerns are due to the controversy surrounding Cornell University’s decision to cancel Kehlani’s concert at the University, as well as security demands in Central Park and throughout the City for other Pride events during that same period.
“We strongly and emphatically believe in artistic expression of all kinds,” the post continues. “However, the safety and security of our guests and artists is of the utmost importance … While artists may choose to express their opinions, their views may not necessarily be representative of the festival.”
At press time, Pride With Kehlani is still listed on Central Park’s online SummerStage schedule.
The move to cancel comes just over a week after Cornell announced that it had rescinded its invitation for Kehlani to headline this year’s Slope Day, the school’s annual event for students celebrating the last day of classes. In an email from university President Michael I. Kotlikoff obtained by The New York Times, he wrote that the decision had been made after learning that the “Gangsta” singer had “espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos and on social media.”
Shortly afterward, Kehlani posted a video clarifying “for the millionth time, that I am not antisemitic nor anti-Jew.”
“I am anti-genocide, I am anti- the actions of the Israeli government, I am anti- an extermination of an entire people, I am anti- the bombing of innocent children, men, women — that’s what I’m anti,” they continued at the time.
In response to the SummerStage cancellation, Kehlani reposted the festival’s statement on Instagram Stories and wrote “lol.” The musician also snapped a selfie and revealed, “I just found that one out on instagram by the way.”
“I’m so deeply grounded in my purpose, my mission, my art, my contribution,” the “After Hours” artist added in another post on Stories. “Back to this album. See you this weekend LA!”
Kehlani has been vocal in their pro-Palestine stance throughout Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas, which began immediately after the terrorist group killed 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 others at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to CNN, which cites the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
In their 2024 “Next 2 U” visual, Kehlani wore kaffiyehs and featured dancers waving Palestinian flags. Before that, they were one of several musicians who signed the 2023 Artists Against Apartheid letter.
See the SummerStage statement below.
ABC News announced on Monday (May 5) a new show about Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial will air each day. According to the press release, the new 30-minute program, titled Burden of Proof: The Case Against Diddy and hosted by GMA3 co-host Eva Pilgrim, will offer analyses of what’s going on inside the courtroom. The series […]
Fat Joe is mourning the loss of his mother.
On Saturday (May 3), the 54-year-old hip-hop icon shared a heartfelt tribute on social media honoring his mom, Marie Del-Carmen Cartagena, who passed away at the age of 77.
“This a real one, rest in peace to the woman who brought me in this world,” Joe wrote on Instagram alongside a slideshow of family photos. “She didnt have much but she gave us everything.
In the emotional post, the Bronx-born rapper reflected on his mother’s deep love for her family and unwavering commitment to her community.
“Anyone who knows my Mom knows she had a heart of gold, she refused to move out the projects for many years even though i had money,” he wrote. “She loved her community, she loved her people,Ms Ruby the Terror Squad Queen. she was sooooooo proud of us meaning everyone in the crew.”
Joe also shared that his mother died of a “broken heart” following the recent death of his father, Ernesto Delgado, who passed away earlier this year at age 89. The couple had been married for 60 years.
“I tried everything humanly possible,” he continued. “She was happy, to the Castro family, the Cartagena family, the Delgado family i love you and thank you for the outpouring of love.”
Joe concluded the tribute with a touching message to his late mother. “Mommy till i see you again you were my world, my heart, my everything. I’ll continue to make you proud,” he wrote.
The hip-hop community quickly rallied around Fat Joe, offering words of comfort and support in the comments.
“Rest peacefully Beautiful Queen,” Busta Rhymes commented in the post. Questlove added, “Condolences Joe,” along with a prayer hands emoji. And Ja Rule echoed the sentiment, commenting with prayer hands and dove emojis.
See Fat Joe’s full tribute to his mother on Instagram here.
Neil Young is ready to roll again, but not if Elon Musk‘s company logo is on the hood. On his new song “Let’s Roll Again” released Friday (May 2), the rock star briefly takes aim at the billionaire’s electric car company amid lyrics imploring auto manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors and Chrysler to build […]
At 62, Fito Páez maintains “the curiosity and desire” of the early years and an energy that doesn’t allow him to stop creating. Music above all, but also cinema and literature — passions he has been developing in parallel over the decades. And Novela, his latest album, might finally combine them all.
Created as a rock musical, the 25-song project — which Páez spent nearly 40 years writing and was finally released on March 28 under Sony Music Spain — tells the story of Villa Constitución, a town in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, where a strange circus arrives to revolutionize the lives of its inhabitants. Through songs such as “Universidad Prix,” “Cuando el Circo Llega al Pueblo,” “Superextraño” and “El Triunfo del Amor,” its unique characters are introduced: the school’s dean, Rectitud Martirius; the witches Maldivina and Turbialuz; the young lovers Loka (daughter of the circus owner) and Jimmy (singer of a rock band) and more.
“We’re already speaking with many producers to film the movie once the tour finishes next year,” Páez tells In Conversation with Billboard Español in New York. “And I’m also beginning an adaptation [to] perform Novela live in full, where the audience can go and see a show that isn’t a musical — it’s the band playing the album and everything happening at once.”
The release comes the same year as the 40th anniversary of Giros, the second studio album in his expansive discography and the one that truly launched his career, with classics such as “11 y 6,” “Cable a Tierra” and “Yo Vengo a Ofrecer Mi Corazón.”
“It’s similar to a beach, Giros. It’s like having arrived, after wandering so much in the river or the sea, and saying, ‘Ah, I’ve made it here,’” he reflects on what the 1985 set meant to him. “There are many elements there that define many things about the place where I was raised, where I learned music, where I was loved, and where I was shaped. It’s an album I care for deeply, and I think it was a strong first step in the direction of searching for a more personal voice.”
In this new installment of En Conversación, the singer of hits such as “El Amor Después del Amor,” “Tumbas de la Gloria” and “Mariposa Tecknicolor” also discusses current events such as the immigration policies that have led fans to avoid attending concerts in the U.S. out of fear of deportation (“It’s horrifying,” he says. “It reminds me of when, back in ’78, we were chased out of Serú Girán concerts during the military dictatorship, and they threw us in jail”); and the ban on narcocorridos in some states in Mexico (“It’s a cultural expression born from lived experiences … and now it’s the singers’ fault! No, guys, it doesn’t work that way”).
Watch the full interview in the video above.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is about to go on trial over accusations of sexual abuse. But what exactly are the charges he’s facing? Is Cassie Ventura testifying against him? And what in the world are “freak offs”? Before the trial starts, let’s get you up to speed.
The once-all-powerful hip-hop mogul was arrested in September, charged by federal prosecutors with running a large-scale criminal operation aimed at his own “sexual gratification.” For decades, the feds say, Diddy “abused, threatened and coerced women” into giving him what he wanted, including participating in drug-fueled sex parties.
Combs, who has denied all of the allegations, will finally head to trial next week to face a jury of his peers. Before he does, here are answers to all your Diddy trial questions.
What are the charges against Diddy?
Prosecutors have built much of the case against Diddy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the “RICO” law used against mobsters and drug cartels. RICO, which allows the feds to target an entire illicit organization over many individual crimes, was designed to target organized crime, where bosses often insulate themselves from actual illegal acts.
In Diddy’s case, prosecutors say the star served as his own kind of crime boss, exploiting the “employees, resources and the influence of his multi-faceted business empire” to carry out a decades-long campaign of sexual abuse. That operation included numerous sexual and physical assaults, the feds say, but also forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, witness tampering, drug crimes and more.
Separately, Diddy is also charged with violating a federal sex trafficking statute, which makes it illegal to use force, fraud, or coercion to compel someone to engage in commercial sex acts. He’s also accused of violating the Mann Act, an older statute that made it illegal to transport people across state lines for the purposes of prostitution.
What’s a “freak off”?
At the very center of the case against Diddy are allegations about so-called “freak offs” — drug-fueled orgies in which victims were allegedly coerced into having sex with male sex workers while Combs looked on.
Prosecutors say these “elaborate and produced sex performances,” which Combs “masturbated during,” were a regular occurrence and “sometimes lasted multiple days.” The rapper and his associates allegedly plied victims with illegal drugs, which prosecutors say was designed in part to “keep the victims obedient and compliant.”
According to charging documents, freak offs were “often electronically recorded,” sometimes without the knowledge of those being filmed — and the footage was then later used as a form of “collateral” to keep victims from speaking out.
The events were so complex that they required substantial logistical efforts by Diddy’s associates to pull off, the feds say — including booking hotel rooms, arranging travel, delivering large sums of cash to pay sex workers, cleaning up to “mitigate room damage,” and providing supplies. Among those supplies were “more than 1000 bottles of baby oil” — a headline-grabbing allegation when it was included in September’s initial indictment.
Who are the alleged victims?
Diddy has been hit with civil lawsuits by dozens of alleged victims, but the criminal charges against him formally center on just four people, identified in court documents as Victim-1, Victim-2, Victim-3 and Victim-4.
While technically still anonymous in filings, Victim-1 is strongly believed to be Cassie Ventura, Combs’ longtime girlfriend whose civil rape lawsuit in November 2023 helped to spark the rapper’s downfall. Prosecutors have said Victim-1 will testify in the courtroom under her real name, setting the stage for a potentially blockbuster moment at the trial.
The identities of the other three victims remain unknown, and prosecutors have sought to keep it that way. In a motion last month, they cited recent cases against R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell and others in which judges allowed alleged victims to remain anonymous to avoid “harassment from the media and others” amid a case that has received an “exceptional amount of media coverage.”
At a hearing last week, the judge ruled that the three other victims could testify without revealing their names.
Who are the key players in the courtroom?
Diddy’s trial will be overseen by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, a relatively new federal judge nominated by President Joe Biden in 2022 after a long stint as a litigator at a prestigious New York law firm. Subramanian, confirmed to the post in March 2023, has an understandably short track record so far — though he is also currently handling the Justice Department’s high-profile antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
Diddy’s lead attorney is Marc Agnifilo, a veteran defense attorney with an extensive background in handling the kind of complex, high-profile charges that Combs now faces. After prosecuting RICO cases against mobsters in New Jersey, Agnifilo worked for years under legendary New York criminal lawyer Ben Brafman, where he represented Martin Shkreli, the so-called “Pharma Bro” convicted of securities fraud in 2017, and Keith Raniere, the leader of the upstate New York sex cult NXIVM.
Combs is also represented by Teny Geragos, another Brafman alum (and daughter of celebrity attorney Mark Geragos) who joined Agnifilo when he left to start his own firm last year; and Alexandra Shapiro, a well-known appellate law specialist. Brian Steel, a veteran Atlanta defense attorney who rose to fame last year by winning Young Thug’s release from jail on gang charges, joined the team at the last minute last month.
On the prosecution side, the charges against Combs were filed last year by Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor for Manhattan, who is known for bringing cases against cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, former U.S. senator Bob Menendez and New York Mayor Eric Adams. Following November’s election, President Donald Trump has since appointed Jay Clayton, a longtime partner at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, to fill that post.
Unlike the case against Adams — which was controversially dropped in early April — there has been no indication that Trump or Clayton plan to back away from Combs. The same attorneys under Williams (Meredith Foster, Emily A. Johnson, Christy Slavik, Madison Reddick Smyser and Mitzi Steiner) are all still on board, and the district attorney’s office has since added Maurene Comey — one of the lead prosecutors in the sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, a top accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein.
Go read Billboard’s full story on all the lawyers involved in the Diddy litigation.
When does the trial start and how long will it take?
The proceedings will kick off on Monday (May 5) with jury selection. Jurors will be pre-screened with a questionnaire about their backgrounds and beliefs; Combs’ lawyers said in earlier filings that they want to ask their opinions of “people with multiple sexual partners.” After a broader pool is established, the two sides will spar in court over how to pick 12 jurors who can impartially decide the case.
Once a jury is selected, the trial will really get under way on May 12, first with opening statements by both sides, then with witness testimony. The trial is widely expected to last at least eight weeks, though that’s only an estimate. Back in 2021, the trial of R. Kelly — another major musical artist facing RICO charges over allegations of sexual abuse — took six weeks to complete.
How will the prosecution make its case?
If R. Kelly’s trial is any guide, prosecutors are likely to offer jurors mountains of evidence and hours of witness testimony aimed at painting a vivid picture: of an all-powerful man abusing his role at the top of an organization to coerce women into sexual activity against their will.
That will likely include not just the alleged sexual assaults, but all that happened before and after them, including threats, isolation, financial dependence and blackmail. “These are the tools of coercive control,” Nadia Shihata, one of the prosecutors in the Kelly case, told Billboard last year. “In the R. Kelly case, we called it the ‘Predator’s Playbook’.”
In court documents filed early in the case, the feds said they had interviewed more than 50 witnesses during their investigation, “many of whom saw or experienced the defendant’s abuse.” They also said they had pulled evidence from over 120 cellphones, laptops and other electronic devices.
One explosive piece of evidence that jurors will definitely see is the infamous 2016 surveillance video of him assaulting his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel. Though he initially apologized, Diddy’s lawyers have fought hard to keep it out of the trial, arguing the clip would “unfairly confuse and mislead the jury.” But prosecutors called that a “desperate” attempt to avoid “crushing” evidence, and Subramanian ruled last week that it could be played at the trial.
How will Diddy’s lawyers defend him?
Since the earliest days of the case, Diddy’s lawyers have signaled that they plan to build their narrative around the idea of consent — that the star’s sexual encounters with the alleged victims, while perhaps weird and unseemly, were ultimately still consensual.
At a bail hearing days after Combs was arrested, Agnifilo hinted at that argument, telling the judge that the star and then-girlfriend Cassie had brought sex workers into their relationship because “that was the way these two adults chose to be intimate.” And at a hearing just days ago, Agnifilo suggested that Diddy was a “swinger.”“There’s a lifestyle called swingers, call it whatever you will, that he was in, that he might have thought was appropriate,” Agnifilo said, according to Reuters. “Part of the reason people think it’s appropriate is because it’s common.”
What happens if Diddy is found guilty?
Short answer: Lots of prison.
If Combs is convicted on the racketeering charge or either of the sex trafficking charges, he’s facing a potential life prison sentence; the trafficking charges alone have a mandatory minimum of 15 years, which would leave Diddy in federal prison until he was 70 years old. The Mann Act charges carry lesser penalties, with a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Recent RICO cases against alleged sex abusers don’t offer a rosy outlook for Diddy. In the R. Kelly case, the singer was sentenced to 31 years; Raniere, the NXIVM cult leader convicted of turning vulnerable women into sexual “slaves,” was sentenced to 120 years.
Even if acquitted on all charges — and court watchers aren’t optimistic — Combs is still facing a rough future. His reputation will be difficult to repair, and much of his once-formidable business empire is already crumbling. He’s also facing dozens of civil lawsuits, where he could still be held liable for monetary damages even if he’s cleared on the criminal charges.