Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has pleaded not guilty to the allegations described in the superseding indictment at the centre of Friday’s hearing.
The superseding indictment accuses the music mogul of forcing his employees to work long hours with barely any sleep as well as using threats to get them to comply with his demands.
On March 14, the controversial rapper walked into the courtroom with greying hair and a grey beard. Judge Arun Subramanian asked him if he wanted him to read the superseding indictment, but Combs said: “I’m fine” before pleading not guilty to the accusations against him.
The judge has said the jury selection will start May 5 and the trial is set to begin on May 12. In a legal filing submitted on Thursday, Diddy’s lawyers proposed the jury selection begin on May 5 and May 6 with two written questionnaire days. It said: “We propose that the Jury Clerk summon 300 jurors on May 5, 2025 to complete written questionnaires administered and supervised by the Jury Clerk on site at the courthouse.
“We propose that the Jury Clerk summon an additional 300 jurors on May 6th, 2025, to similarly complete the written questionnaires. The parties would then collect and review the completed questionnaires, and lodge for-cause challenges between May 6 and May 8, 2025, with agreed-on challenges reported to the Court on May 9, 2025.”
Ahead of the hearing, Diddy’s children were seen walking into the building to support their dad. Chance, 18, and Christian Combs, 26, walked into the courtroom and Diddy’s mum, Janice, walked in separately.
On Friday’s hearing, the judge and the lawyers of both sides of the case discussed the hotel security camera footage of the rapper beating his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in 2016. The video was showed by CNN, with Combs’ lawyers claiming the footage was “substantially altered”.
However, CNN has denied the claim. A spokesperson for the company said: “CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source.” The judge said that both sides of the case would need to file motions if they can’t reach a decision on whether the footage can be used during the trial.
The rapper was seen in the 2016 clip, which was obtained from hotel surveillance, physically assaulting Cassie in the hallway. He later issued a public apology on Instagram in regards to his behaviour in the shocking footage, saying he was “truly sorry.”
At the time the video was released, Combs issued a since-deleted apology video on Instagram. He accepted “full responsibility” for his actions and called his behavior “inexcusable.”
The music mogul had previously denied Cassie’s allegations of physical and sexual abuse in her since-settled November 2023 lawsuit. In the lawsuit, Cassie had mentioned the hotel incident.
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