THE BIG STORY: Sean “Diddy” Combs was convicted on Wednesday (July 2) of illegal prostitution but acquitted of more severe sex-trafficking and racketeering charges, a significant legal victory for the disgraced rap mogul who faced up to life in prison if found guilty on all counts.
The jury deliberated for two days before finding Combs guilty of transporting girlfriends and male escorts across state lines for drug-fueled sex marathons called “freak-offs.” But they were not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that this conduct occurred as part of a criminal enterprise or that Combs’ alleged victims – singer Cassie Ventura and an anonymous woman known as “Jane” – were coerced into the sex parties.
The verdict came as a shock to many who’ve been following Combs’ stunning fall from grace that began when Ventura brought a bombshell civil lawsuit against him in 2023. Combs quickly settled with Ventura for $20 million, but a deluge of similar lawsuits followed. The civil litigation onslaught then turned into a criminal investigation, and Combs was indicted and arrested last year.
We at Billboard have been all over the story, covering everything from how Combs nabbed this partial victory to what comes next.
Hours after the verdict was reached, Judge Arun Subramanian rejected Combs’ request to go home on bail while he awaits sentencing. The judge said Combs is still a danger to society despite his acquittal on the more serious charges, relying on the fact that the defense admitted the rapper’s history of domestic violence throughout the trial. The next step for Combs is sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 3. He faces up to 20 years for the two prostitution counts, but court papers estimate that the recommended guidelines range will come out to somewhere between two and five years in prison. If he’d been convicted on all charges, he would have faced a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life behind bars. Combs’ lawyer Mark Agnifilo celebrated the verdict in no uncertain terms, calling it “a victory of all victories for Sean Combs and our legal team.” Agnifilo also hinted that his team will appeal the counts of conviction after sentencing, telling reporters, “We are not nearly done fighting.” Legal experts told Billboard that factors influencing the jury’s partial acquittal verdict may have included prosecution errors, like trumped-up charges and missing witnesses, as well as the defense’s shrewd decision to admit domestic abuse from day one.You’re reading The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday, go subscribe here.
Other top stories this week…
CAR SEX CLAIMS – A federal judge denied a motion by Megan Thee Stallion and her management company Roc Nation to dismiss claims that the rapper forced cameraman Emilio Garcia to watch her have sex in a moving car while on tour in Ibiza, Spain. The judge said Garcia, who is gay, sufficiently alleged that Megan wouldn’t have subjected a straight employee to the same treatment. Megan and Roc Nation, who’ve vehemently denied the claims and called Garcia a “con artist,” did get a small win in trimming some ancillary claims from the lawsuit.
DOLL DO-OVER – A federal judge reduced T.I. and Tameka “Tiny” Harris’ $71 million jury verdict over claims that toymaker MGA’s line of “O.M.G.” dolls copied their real-life teen pop group OMG Girlz, saying the rapper and his wife didn’t prove they deserve $53 million in punitive damages. The judge said that while a jury correctly found that MGA’s dolls stepped on protected properties of the OMG Girlz, there was no evidence that the infringement was deliberate. The long-running dispute is now on track for a retrial — the whopping fourth time the case will go before a jury.
BIG TIME BRAWL – Sony Music Entertainment was hit with a lawsuit from Scott Fellows, creator of the Nickelodeon series Big Time Rush. The complaint alleged that when the TV show’s eponymous boy band, Big Time Rush, reunited four years ago and struck a deal to go independent from Nickelodeon and Sony, the label deliberately structured the agreement so that Fellows would not receive a 3.75% cut of touring profits he’d gotten in the band’s original heyday.
TAX TRIUMPH – The Help Independent Tracks Succeed (HITS) Act, the long-in-the-works legislation that would allow musicians to deduct 100% of their production expenses in the year they’re incurred, was finally passed by Congress and signed into law as part of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The milestone was quickly celebrated by longtime bill supporters, including Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr., A2IM president/CEO Dr. Richard James Burgess and NITO president Wayne Forte.
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