Louder: The Sean Combs verdict
Live coverage, podcasts, analysis and more
Louder
July 3, 2025

After eight weeks of testimony and arguments — 34 witnesses for the prosecution, 0 for the defense — the Sean Combs trial ended on Wednesday. The verdict: the music mogul was found guilty of transporting prostitutes, but not guilty of the most serious charges against him (sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy). Each of the two convictions carries a maximum term of 10 years, and the judge could set lesser sentences to run concurrently. He had faced the possibility of a life sentence.

We’ve been covering the trial daily since May (you can catch up on everything in a digest version here), though of course our coverage dates back to November 2023, when Casandra Ventura, the R&B singer Cassie, filed the lawsuit that sparked the federal investigation.

Yesterday our reporters and editors worked on 12 hours of live coverage (!); Jon Caramanica, one of our pop critics, wrote a notebook about the verdict and discussed it with Joe Coscarelli on Popcast. This morning, Julia Jacobs and Ben Sisario offered a dissection of Combs’s largely successful defense and explained the case further on The Daily and in a reporter video.

There’s still a lot more to come — including sentencing and further analysis — but here’s what happened as the trial concluded this week.

CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK

Sean Combs, in a white shirt and black jacket.

Robyn Beck/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Critic’s Notebook

Sean Combs’s Nine Lives

For decades, he occupied a special stripe of the celebrity stratosphere. Now the man who helped turn rap into a global concern has escaped a sex-trafficking conviction.

By Jon Caramanica

PODCASTS & VIDEO

The Daily

The Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Verdict

After a lengthy and highly publicized trial, the music mogul was found not guilty of the most serious charges against him.

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28 MIN LISTEN

Popcast

Reacting to the Sean Combs Verdict

A conversation about how and why the music mogul was acquitted of the most serious charges at his sex trafficking trial.

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32 MIN LISTEN

Cannonball With Wesley Morris

The Diddy Trial Is Over.

But my mind is still racing.

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47 MIN LISTEN

Sean Combs Acquitted of Sex Trafficking but Found Guilty on Lesser Charges

Sean Combs, the hip-hop mogul who built a business empire around his personal brand, was convicted on Wednesday of transporting prostitutes to participate in his drug-fueled sex marathons, but acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking, the most serious charges against him. Julia Jacobs, a New York Times culture reporter, explains the verdict.

By Julia Jacobs, Karen Hanley, Melanie Bencosme, Gabriel Blanco and James Surdam

A group of people outside a large building.

Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times

Sean Combs’s Winning Defense: He’s Abusive, but He’s Not a Racketeer

In defusing much of the government’s case, lawyers for the music mogul did not dispute that he did bad things. They disputed that they matched the crimes he was charged with.

By Julia Jacobs and Ben Sisario

Sean Combs wearing a dark jacket.

What’s Next for Sean Combs?

The music mogul remains in custody after he was convicted on two counts of transporting prostitutes. A judge will determine his prison sentence at an unspecified date.

By Julia Jacobs and Ben Sisario

READ THE FULL VERDICT DAY LIVE COVERAGE

Sean Combs, in a gray shirt with a band collar, sits before a microphone.

Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Sean Combs Acquitted on Top Charges, but Awaits Sentencing for Transporting Prostitutes

A judge ordered the hip-hop producer detained until his sentencing, citing his history of domestic violence. He was found not guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

A woman wearing large hoop earrings and a white and black jacket.

After Sean Combs Verdict, the Testimony of Cassie and ‘Jane’ Lingers

Two of Mr. Combs’s former girlfriends gave days of harrowing testimony of abuse, but jurors weren’t convinced those experiences with escorts were sex trafficking.

By Matt Stevens

Barricades line the entrance of a large stone building with gold doors.

Combs Was Convicted Under the Mann Act, a Law With a Long History

The law, passed in 1910, prohibits the interstate or foreign transportation of an individual for sex. It has at times been used as a tool for political persecution.

By Ashley Ahn

Sean Combs wearing a white shirt, yellow sweater and sunglasses.

Cassie’s Lawyer and Women’s Groups React to Sean Combs Verdict

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Ms. Ventura, said, “He’s finally been held responsible for two federal crimes, something that he’s never faced in his life.”

By Matt Stevens

Sean Combs appears wearing a white tuxedo with an oversized black bowtie and sunglasses.

Experts Say Judge Has Wide Latitude in Sentencing Sean Combs

Judge Arun Subramanian can consider federal guidelines and aspects of the music mogul’s character and history when determining Mr. Combs’s sentence.

By Daniel Victor

Sean Combs wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses.

Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images

8 Key Text Exchanges at the Sean Combs Trial

The words sent between the mogul and his girlfriends have been cited as crucial evidence by both sides in a case that turns on whether sex marathons he directed were coercive.

By Julia Jacobs and Anusha Bayya

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