On July 2, 2025, when Diddy verdict was announced in a packed Manhattan courtroom, the news shook more than just the hip-hop scene.
American rapper and music mogul Sean Combs, better known as Diddy, P. Diddy, or Puff Daddy, is now at the center of one of the biggest sex trafficking scandals since Jeffrey Epstein. Unlike Epstein’s abrupt end, Combs’ story has unfolded on the world stage. Diddy trial revealed horrifying details, from the infamous “freak-offs” to the unsettling “baby oil Diddy” stories.
What started as hushed rumors about wild parties and hidden secrets has now turned into one of the darkest scandals in American entertainment history.
The disgraced music mogul was arrested in New York in September last year after months of speculation and disturbing rumors. He was indicted on multiple charges including sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy under RICO, extortion, and transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
Since 2023, so much has unfolded in the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs scandal that it’s almost impossible to sum it all up in a single piece. Now that the jury announced their verdict on July 2, 2025, here’s a look at what has happened so far in the Diddy case.
Freak Offs, Secret Tapes, and a Hidden Empire
Long before prosecutors built their case, rumors swirled about Diddy’s Freak Offs or Wild King Nights gatherings. These secret sex parties mixed models, influencers, up-and-coming musicians, and sex workers.
According to testimony, these parties took place in penthouses in Miami, luxury lofts in Los Angeles, hidden mansions in Atlanta, and even overseas spots in London and Paris. Guests often received private invites that seemed like exclusive perks of the celebrity world. Instead, they found themselves in rooms stocked with piles of drugs — MDMA, ketamine, cocaine — and endless bottles of baby oil and lube.
The infamous baby oil Diddy story. It sounded so absurd it almost didn’t feel real until multiple witnesses swore under oath that the hip-hop artist liked to cover women in baby oil at his private parties while filming what happened next.
But the drugs weren’t the only trap. Prosecutors showed evidence that Diddy’s homes were rigged with hidden cameras and secret rooms. Witnesses testified that the mogul kept a vast collection of recordings. It included video blackmail of politicians, celebrities, athletes, and influencers caught in compromising acts they didn’t consent to being filmed doing.
Those tapes weren’t just trophies; they were leverage, ensuring victims stayed silent or cooperated out of fear that the footage would ruin their careers or families.
Women and former employees described secret parties nicknamed “freak-offs” or “Wild King Nights.” Prosecutors told the jury these weren’t just wild celebrity bashes. They were carefully orchestrated, phones confiscated at the door, hidden cameras rolling, NDAs waiting to be signed.
Some described Diddy as the ultimate puppeteer — charming, generous, then terrifying. He would promise fame, favors, and money to lure people in, then use threats and physical violence to keep them under control.
The Cassie Ventura Testimony Changed Everything
For years, the house of cards stayed up. Then Cassie Ventura testimony shattered it. Cassie had been Diddy’s on-again, off-again girlfriend for a decade starting when she was just 19. She was the first to put her name on allegations that had only been whispered behind closed doors.
In November 2023, Cassie filed a civil suit claiming Diddy groomed, drugged, and assaulted her, forced her into violent sex acts with other men, and filmed it. Within 24 hours, Diddy paid her off in a secret settlement.
But instead of silencing the storm, the hush money did the opposite. Dozens of other women and men came forward. By the start of 2024, more than 70 civil suits had been filed.
When CNN leaked a hotel security tape from 2016 showing Diddy violently attacking Cassie in an LA hallway, public opinion turned. The video was impossible to spin — it showed Diddy pinning her to the ground, dragging her by her hair and kicking her. Diddy scrambled to post an apology video, but Cassie’s legal team called it “damage control” and “a self-serving lie.”
The number of alleged victims keeps growing. Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee announced he is representing 120 victims, including 25 minors. Some reports mention victims as young as nine. The victims’ hotline, set up by feminist lawyer Gloria Allred, reportedly received 12,000 calls in just 24 hours.
One male sex worker told prosecutors he was flown from Atlanta to Miami for one of Diddy’s “Freak Offs.” He provided law enforcement with copies of videos that show sex acts, as well as details about drugs used at the parties. The scandal has now crossed borders. Scotland Yard is investigating reports that similar parties took place in the UK and Europe.
Celebrities Pulled into Diddy Scandal
When the trial started in May 2025 at the Southern District of New York, the list of names tied to Diddy read like a Hollywood guest list. During jury selection, over 100 names were revealed to jurors to make sure they could remain impartial.
Michael B. Jordan (The Creed, Black Panther) was dragged into the spotlight because of his brief, past relationship with Cassie. Their relationship made the 55-year-old rapper furious. Witnesses testified Diddy once threatened to have Jordan “destroyed.”
Rapper Kid Cudi was also named. Cassie’s suit claimed Diddy found flirty emails between her and Cudi. In a fit of jealousy, he threatened to blow up Kid Cudi’s car. A few months later in 2012, Cudi’s car mysteriously blew up in his driveway, a story Cudi confirmed in an interview.
Ye (Kanye West) was the most headline-grabbing name linked to Diddy trial. While Ye defended Diddy on X (formerly Twitter) in February 2025 and even dropped a controversial song, Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine, featuring Diddy and his daughter North West. Rumors swirled that Kanye West might have been blackmailed with unseen tapes.
None of his supporters were louder than Kanye West. He defended Diddy early on by launching a “Free Puff” campaign on social media, selling shirts, and posting videos calling the charges a witch hunt. But as the trial progressed, even Kanye fell silent, reportedly ignoring subpoenas and ducking interviews.
Names like Mike Myers popped up too, though his only tie appears to be a scene in Austin Powers that mocked Diddy back in the day. Former Destiny’s Child star Michelle Williams was mentioned in documents seen by jurors, though no connection was detailed in open court.
Other names feel more sinister. Dawn Richard, a former Danity Kane member from Diddy’s reality show Making the Band, sued him for sexual assault. Choreographer Laurieann Gibson, also a Making the Band regular, was close to Diddy for years.
Rapper Young Miami, who dated Diddy between 2021 and 2023, was dragged in too after a separate lawsuit claimed she harassed a woman into an abortion while pregnant with Diddy’s child. Young Miami insists she knows nothing about the allegations.
Harvey Pierre, the former Bad Boy Records president, has been accused of trafficking minors and gang rape, charges he dismisses as “fiction.” Grammy-winning producer Dallas Austin, who dated Kim Porter, Diddy’s late ex and mother of three of his kids, has also found himself caught up in the swirling allegations.
Usher, Justin Bieber and Elon Musk’s Connection to Diddy Sex Scandal
Diddy’s former bodyguard, Gene Deal, has often shared troubling claims about his old boss. According to Deal, Diddy once bought a large stash of sex toys at an adult shop in Amsterdam, then showed up unannounced at Ja Rule’s hotel room.
Deal says he got worried when the Bad Boy Records founder stayed inside for over an hour. When he knocked, Ja Rule opened the door wearing only a towel and told him, “It’s better if you don’t know what happened here.”
Deal has also repeated a shocking claim he says he heard from a music industry executive — that Diddy sexually exploited Usher so violently that he bled. It’s important to note, though, that this is just an unverified story with no credible evidence behind it.
A separate clip shows comedian Kevin Hart at one of Diddy’s house parties, which made the rounds on TikTok after it showed a candle catching fire in a woman’s hair while she sat in a bathtub. Kevin reportedly told the cameraman to stop filming, but they kept rolling. Another old video of Kevin interviewing Diddy and Usher in Diddy’s bedroom resurfaced too.
Usher, who was discovered and mentored by Diddy and even lived with him as a teen, has spoken about that chaotic time.
In a radio interview with Howard Stern, Usher recalled walking in on orgies when he was just 13, saying, “I didn’t know what was going to happen. I had the curiosity of a 13-year-old, but I didn’t understand everything. It was just wild and crazy.” Notably, days after Diddy’s arrest, Usher wiped all 7,000-plus posts from his X (Twitter) account, which many found suspicious.
Justin Bieber’s name has come up too. At just 15, he filmed a YouTube video where he spent 48 hours with Diddy — a “dream world” for a kid at the time, as Diddy described it then, but one that looks far more unsettling now.
Bieber, who was discovered by Usher and signed to his label, was also spotted at Diddy’s parties when he was around 20, just as he was stepping into his sex-symbol era. While Justin Bieber has stayed silent about the scandal, many wonder what he may have seen or experienced.
According to the Daily Mail, Elon Musk used to brag about emailing Diddy, even telling Revolt’s CEO that “Puff is an investor in Twitter and I text him a lot.” But once Diddy’s scandals surfaced, Musk quickly flipped sides, posting on X, “Did the music industry know about this?”
Danity Kane’s Aubrey O’Day, who has spoken out about Diddy for years, shot back, “Ask your friends,” but Musk ignored her.
The Star-Studded “White Party” Guest List
Beyond those directly named in court documents, people are asking how deep the rabbit hole goes. Diddy’s infamous White Party, thrown annually from 1998 to 2009, drew A-list guests like Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Leonardo DiCaprio, and countless others. The question on everyone’s mind is: who else knew what really happened when the doors closed?
Adding to the mystery are unconfirmed but persistent rumors that Diddy’s secret tapes include compromising footage of world leaders, royal family members, billionaires, and other mega-celebrities who might have unknowingly walked into a trap. Conspiracy theories claim Diddy’s alleged blackmail operation was an open secret that people in the industry whispered about but were too scared to expose.
Other unexpected names raised eyebrows. Mike Myers was listed, possibly because of a joke about Diddy in Austin Powers. Michelle Williams, formerly of Destiny’s Child, appeared in the documents too.
Dawn Richard, who rose to fame on Diddy’s MTV show Making the Band, testified that he assaulted her too. Rapper Young Miami, who dated Diddy until 2023, was named in a separate suit by an anonymous woman who claimed Young Miami harassed her into having an abortion while pregnant with Diddy’s child — accusations Miami flatly denies.
There were more: choreographer Laurieann Gibson, music exec Harvey Pierre, who is now facing separate trafficking charges. He calls the claims “fiction.” Grammy-winning producer Dallas Austin, who dated Kim Porter, Diddy’s late ex and mother of three of his kids, was another familiar face dragged into the swirling rumors.
Testimony From Recent Ex-girlfriend ‘Jane’
Testifying under the name “Jane”, Sean “Diddy” Combs’s recent ex-girlfriend told the New York court she regrets taking part in sex acts with male sex workers at Combs’s request, saying she felt it would make him love her.
Under cross-examination, Jane said she felt “under a lot of emotional pressure” to join what she called “hotel nights” with other men. She told the jury: “I resent him for leading me into the lifestyle he led me to.”
Jane said she stayed in the relationship because she was “hooked on love” and only wanted to sleep with Combs. She described researching the word “cuckold” online and realizing the term matched what she experienced — where “a man known as a ‘cuck’ derives pleasure seeing his woman receive pleasure from another man.”
Earlier in the trial, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura spent four days on the stand. She claimed Combs abused her and pushed her into taking part in hundreds of “freak off” sex parties during their almost 11-year relationship, which ended in 2018.
The Diddy Verdict
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ dramatic downfall reached a turning point on July 2, 2025, when the Diddy trial verdict was read out in a packed Manhattan courtroom. After nearly two months of testimony and 34 witnesses, the jury found Diddy guilty on two counts of transporting women for prostitution under the 115-year-old Mann Act. These convictions involve his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, and another woman referred to in court only as “Jane.”
He was found not guilty of the more serious racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have sent him to prison for life.
The trial began back on May 5, the same day Diddy might have walked the Met Gala red carpet in a designer tux if he hadn’t been fighting for his freedom. Instead, he sat quietly in court wearing a plain grey suit and sweater.
Cassie Ventura and “Jane” testified that Diddy abused and forced them into sex acts. Hotel workers, former employees, male escorts, federal agents, and celebrities like Kid Cudi and Dawn Richard described a world fuelled by drugs, violence, and threats.
When the jury declared Diddy guilty, gasps filled the courtroom, with the rapper praying with his children beforehand. His kids, Quincy, Justin, Christian, Chance, and twins Delilah and Jessie, were there for almost every hearing and were seen in tears during closing arguments, according to TMZ.
During jury selection, potential jurors were even warned they might hear big celebrity names like Michael B. Jordan, Mike Myers, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Destiny’s Child’s Michelle Williams, and Diddy’s ex Yung Miami. None were accused of crimes, but it showed how deeply Diddy was connected in Hollywood and hip-hop.
Despite beating the most serious charges, Diddy still faces over 150 civil lawsuits accusing him of drugging, sexual assault, and abuse dating back to the 1980s, all of which he denies. Prosecutors described him as “an extremely violent man” with an uncontrollable temper who kept using drugs even while under investigation.
Judge Arun Subramanian denied his bail, pointing out that Diddy’s own legal team admitted in court that he had a history of domestic violence. He has been locked up in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre since September 2024, when federal agents raided his Miami and Los Angeles homes after a months-long investigation. He will stay there until his sentencing on October 3.
