He’s one of the most successful musical artists of all time – charting an incredible journey from childhood poverty to becoming one of the richest men in America.
But P.Diddy’s meteoric rise to stardom is now overshadowed by one of the most shocking trials the celebrity world has ever seen.
Following a civil case brought by his ex, Cassie Ventura, which was settled in 2023, the floodgates opened with a wave of further lawsuits against the Diddy – real name Sean Combs - culminating in a sensational trial that has already left his fans stunned, with more evidence yet to come amidst talk that the trial could last up to two months. Combs, 55, denies racketeering conspiracy, two charges of sex trafficking and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, he almost certainly faces life in jail.
Here we look at the most sensational goings-on so far as the trial continues to make headline news around the world… and reveal Kourtney Kardashian's upsetting memory of one of his infamous parties.
Freak offs
Horrifying details emerged in week one as the jury was given a glimpse into Diddy’s world, with seedy images emerging of his infamous ‘freak offs’ – orgies that could last for up to four days, attended by guests and hired sex workers and fuelled by drugs and alcohol. Also known as ‘wild king nights’ or ‘hotel nights’, the parties were said to involve at least 10 bottles of warmed baby oil as participants carried out sexual acts.
It was video footage of one of these parties that Diddy’s ex, Cassie Ventura, claims he used to blackmail her. She revealed how the rapper had forced her to have sex with male escorts against her will – and without protection - while he filmed them, usually while he masturbated in the background. She said these events happened on a weekly basis for ten years and recalled how he’d once ordered an escort to urinate in her mouth. In upsetting evidence, eight-months pregnant Cassie revealed she’d ‘hated’ taking part but was worried that he would ‘make me look like a slut’ if he carried out his threat to use the videos to blackmail her.
Drugs and violence
Cassie detailed how she’d used drugs – particularly Ketamine – to help her ‘disassociate’ from what she was forced to endure at the ‘freak offs’. Sometimes mixing several drugs at a time, she’d suffered gastro-intestinal issues, mouth ulcers and frequent UTIs. Even when she had ‘painful’ urinary infections, she alleged that Diddy insisted she still took part in sex acts at his ‘freak offs’.
In some of the most harrowing evidence, video footage of a brutal assault carried out by Diddy on Cassie in 2016 was played to the court. Filmed by CCTV in a Los Angeles hotel, the images showed Diddy carrying out a violent assault on her, dragging her by her hair and kicking her. She told the court how the attack happened after she’d attempted to leave a ‘freak off’ with a male escort and Diddy without the rapper’s approval. A selfie taken shortly afterwards showed her ‘busted lip’, while photos from other assaults revealed during the trial showed a deep cut above her eye after he allegedly threw her into a bed frame and severe bruising to her back and leg in 2011.
In her testimony, former Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard said she witnessed Diddy punch Cassie during an argument at a Hollywood restaurant in 2010, adding, ‘They were secretly arguing, he punched her in the stomach. [Cassie] immediately bent over and he told her to leave’.
Kourtney's shock assault
As the Diddy’s trial continued to play out, details of a shocking attack on Kourtney Kardashian at one of his infamous birthday parties re-emerged.
In a clip from her sister’s Kocktails with Khloe talk show – in which Diddy turned up in a guest slot - Kourtney revealed, 'I got socked in the face cuz I was waiting in line for the bathroom at TAO, which Diddy rented out the whole restaurant. It was for his birthday.’ The reality star explained how a girl has pushed ahead of her as she queued for the toilet and Kourtney politely told her there was a line. 'I was like, "Excuse me, I'm next." And she literally just went, like, boom right in the face. I didn't know what to do. Nobody was with me. I was by myself.'
Earlier in the chat, Kourtney had told the rapper, ‘When you think of a party or a good time you think of Puff. We've been known to party with you a few times.'
In another clip from a 2014 episode of KUWTK, Khloe revealed how she’d met Justin Bieber, then aged 20, at one of Diddy’s parties, where, ‘half of the guests were naked’.
The punisher
In one encounter described in court, a male escort known as The Punisher – real name Sharay Hayes – told how he’d been hired by a ‘married, wealthy couple’ and had sex with Cassie after covering her in baby oil while Diddy (who he’d not recognised at first as he was naked but wearing a veil) watched. Hayes, who was called to give evidence by defence attorneys, claimed that he had not suspected Cassie had been forced to take part during their ‘eight to 12’ encounters with Diddy looking on, saying, ‘I did not get any cues that there was a discomfort with what was going on.’
Diddy's 'medicine' bag
Among the pictures released by the court were images taken by investigators who raided Diddy’s hotel room in NYC after his arrest in September. Medication, prescribed to ‘Frank Black’ – an alter ego that Diddy used during his freak offs – was found, with one type known to cause sexual disinhibition. A former assistant told jurors that Combs always travelled with a medicine bag that contained around 30 tablets including Viagra and ecstasy pills stamped with a print of former President Obama’s face. He also had tablets ‘that helped increase his sperm count’. In another picture - taken just before his arrest - was a bag of bottles of baby oil that he was part of his preparations for a final freak off.
Surprise defence: 'He's a jerk'
In one of the most surprising turns, Diddy’s defence counsel used her opening statement to deliver a very unflattering description of her client. After Teny Geragos stated that Diddy ‘is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case’ she insisted the case was about ‘Sean Combs’ private, personal sex life’. And she warned the jury that during the trial there would be times when ‘you think he is a jerk, he is mean. But he is not charged with being mean. He is not charged with being a jerk.
‘The evidence is going to show you a very flawed individual, but it will not show you a racketeer, a sex trafficker or somebody transporting for prostitution.’