In response to an amended indictment that now includes fresh claims of forced labor, Sean “Diddy” Combs entered a not-guilty plea.
With his hands folded in front of him, the 55-year-old Combs, whose beard had turned noticeably grayer in recent weeks, informed Judge Arun Subramanian that he had read the indictment and was aware of the charges against him.
The rap mogul allegedly coerced at least one employee into having sex with him and made them work long hours under threat of physical and reputational harm, according to the indictment.
According to the New York Times, Mr. Combs’s attorneys have denied that the rap mogul has ever coerced anyone into engaging in sex acts and that the case is about his girlfriends’ consenting relationships.
All of the charges against him in the federal case and the numerous civil lawsuits that have been brought against him in recent months have also been “vehemently” denied by his attorneys.
“He looks forward to his day in court when it will become clear that he has never forced anyone to engage in sexual acts against their will,” his lawyer Marc Agnifilo has said.
The racketeering charge includes the new accusations listed in the amended indictment.
Separately, Mr. Combs faces dozens of lawsuits accusing him of r@pe and ass@ult. His lawyers have dismissed the lawsuits as “clear attempts to garner publicity.”
On Friday, Mr. Combs, who has a beard and overgrown grey hair, was escorted into a wood-paneled courtroom in the southern district federal court of New York. He was dressed in a greenish-tan prison jumpsuit.
He decided to enter his not guilty plea while standing. “Yes, sir,” he said when asked by a judge if he had seen and read the indictment.
His daughter Chance, son Christian, mother Janice Combs, who was wearing big sunglasses, and friend Marvet Britto, a publicist, joined him on the public benches behind him. Two other men who identified as members of the family’s “support system” also joined them.
Mr. Combs was smiling inD court, waving and blowing kisses to his family and hugging his lawyers.
Along with the new accusations, a video that CNN released last year that seemed to show CCTV footage of Mr. Combs kicking his ex-girlfriend Cassandra Ventura on a hotel hallway floor in 2016 also caused a lot of debate in court between the defense and prosecution’s attorneys.
The lawyers for Mr. Combs reiterated their assertions that the video was “deceptive” and that a visual expert had discovered that timestamps were omitted, actions were sped up, and portions of the video were out of order.
Prosecutors on the other hand described it as “critical” and “direct evidence” of their case that they will submit as an exhibit in the trial. The judge urged them to reach a compromise.
CNN and a lawyer for Ms. Ventura have denied what Mr. Combs’ lawyers said about the video.
“I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” Mr. Combs said in his apology following the release of the video in 2024. When I did it, I was disgusted. Now I’m repulsed.”
The judge announced on Friday that opening statements would be made on May 12 and jury selection would begin on May 5.
