Sean “Diddy” Combs rejected a plea deal from federal prosecutors at a hearing on Thursday in his sex trafficking case, which is set to begin on May 5.
After asking Diddy to confirm if he was of sound mind and not on any drugs, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who is overseeing his trial in New York, asked the rapper about the plea deal.
“Have you rejected the government’s offer?” Subramanian asked him, according to NBC News.
“Yes, your honour,” Diddy replied.
Maurene Comey, a prosecutor with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, said the rejected deal would have allowed for reduced prison time, but other details of the deal were not shared.
Diddy has previously pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. If he’s convicted on all counts, he has the potential to remain behind bars for life.
He wore olive-coloured clothing over a white thermal shirt as he entered the courtroom and waved at his supporters in the gallery before hugging his lawyers.
During the hearing, Subramanian also denied the request from Diddy’s counsel to exclude the security camera footage CNN obtained of Diddy violently attacking former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
The ruling will allow prosecutors to show the jury the video, which Diddy’s lawyers previously claimed was altered and non-admissible in the trial.
Ventura is expected to testify at the trial under her own name. Jury selection begins on May 5 and opening statements for the trial are scheduled for May 12. The trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks.
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Subramanian said he wanted to seat a jury of 12 and six alternates in three days.
The court is set to call 50 jurors each day to the courtroom in Manhattan. Each juror will be either excused for cause or asked to return for further questioning.
Subramanian is aiming to narrow the group to 45 people, who will each be interviewed separately with two lawyers from each side of the case present. There have been 600 potential jurors requested.
In Thursday’s hearing, Diddy’s lawyer Teny Geragos took aim at Lisa Bloom, a lawyer representing a John Doe and Dawn Richard, who was a member of two music groups formed by Diddy, called Danity Kane and Dirty Money.
Geragos said Bloom had appeared on the BBC to try and strengthen her client’s credibility.
“It is deeply disturbing to us and could violate the rules of judicial conduct,” Geragos said.
Bloom said it was “hypocritical” that Diddy and his lawyers “have made public statements many times” and now “want to silence me.”
“Accusers and their attorneys have every right to speak out. I am very proud to represent my brave clients, Dawn Richard and John Doe, in litigation against Mr. Combs,” Bloom added Thursday.
“I look forward to attending Mr. Combs’ upcoming criminal trial in New York and continuing to advocate for my clients consistent with the law and the ethical rules.”
In September 2024, Richard sued the music producer, describing years of psychological and physical abuse, including groping, that she says she suffered as he helped launch her career.
Richard, who became more widely known after appearing on the reality show Making the Band, is suing for unspecified damages as well as millions of dollars in income that she says she was denied.
She argues that damages, including punitive, are warranted because she suffered economic harm, physical injury, pain and suffering, and serious psychological and emotional distress.
Diddy’s representatives said in a statement that he was “shocked and disappointed” by the lawsuit.
They said Richard was making “an attempt to rewrite history” by manufacturing “a series of false claims all in the hopes of trying to get a payday — conveniently timed to coincide with her album release and press tour.”
They added that if her experience was so negative, Richard would not have continued working directly with Diddy for so long, including returning in 2020 for a Making the Band reboot and agreeing to be featured on The Love Album last year.
“It’s unfortunate that Ms. Richard has cast their 20-year friendship aside to try and get money from him, but Mr. Combs is confidently standing on truth and looks forward to proving that in court,” they said.
According to the lawsuit, Richard witnessed Diddy repeatedly abusing his girlfriend and endured threats that caused her to fear for her life as Richard worked on songs, often with no food or sleep for a day or two at a time, while becoming known in music circles as a member of Danity Kane and later as a member of Combs’ band Diddy — Dirty Money.
She says in the lawsuit that Combs regularly exploded in rage, hurling cellular phones, laptops, food and studio equipment across the room or at people. At other times, the lawsuit says, Richard witnessed him choking and strangling his protege and longtime girlfriend, Ventura. The events occurred from 2004 through 2011, according to the suit.
In her lawsuit, Richard says she “now adds her voice to the growing chorus of victims bravely sharing their harrowing stories. Together, they seek justice and stand in solidarity, as the latest victims of the #MeToo movement in the music industry.”
In court papers, she accused Diddy of asking: “You want to die today?” And she alleges that he bragged that “I end people” as he withheld her earnings, stole her copyrighted works and subjected her to groping, assault and false imprisonment by locking her in a car for hours at one point.
Richard says in the lawsuit that between 2009 and 2011 while she did recordings, rehearsals and performances, Diddy repeatedly demanded that she strip down to her underwear and made demeaning remarks about her body, sometimes calling her “lazy, fat, ugly and skinny,” even in front of his friends, producers and bodyguards.
She included those around Diddy and music companies that supported him as defendants, alleging that he carried out so much of his abuse in public settings and with record company employees around that they could be found liable.
Diddy has pleaded not guilty to the sex trafficking charges lodged against him after his September 2024 arrest. He remains incarcerated without bail.
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If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
— with files from The Associated Press
