Sean “Diddy” Combs to Stand Trial on Federal Sex Trafficking Charges in May 2025

A Manhattan judge has set a trial date in the federal government’s case against Sean “Diddy” Combs, The Associated Press reports. The trial is set to begin on Monday, May 5, 2025, Judge Arun Subramanian determined.

Diddy faces charges of racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty, and he remains in federal custody as multiple judges have denied him bail, ruling that he presents a risk of threatening or harming witnesses.

In a new development in the case, Diddy’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, has accused the federal government of leaking the harrowing 2016 video of Diddy attacking his then-girlfriend, Casandra Elizabeth “Cassie” Ventura, to CNN. In a motion for a hearing, Diddy’s lawyers allege that the government wanted “to damage Mr. Combs’ reputation without remuneration—a motive held by federal agents.” Federal prosecutors, in response, denied possessing the surveillance video before CNN released it publicly.

In addition to the criminal charges, Diddy faces several lawsuits that accuse him of abuse. One of the lawsuits, filed last year by a woman named Liza Gardner, also has a new development, as reported by Rolling Stone. Gardner first filed her complaint in a New York state court last November. In her lawsuit, she accused Diddy the singer Aaron Hall of raping her in 1990. Gardner, in July, re-filed her lawsuit in a New Jersey federal court, and, earlier this week, she amended her complaint to name Jodeci’s DeVanté Swing as a defendant, alleging that the R&B singer aided and abetted the assault.