On Oct. 3, rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced to four years and two months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000.
The 55 year old rapper, known for hit songs like “I’ll Be Missing You” and “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” had his career overshadowed by allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking even before his arrest on Oct. 3.
In Sept. 2024, Combs was charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of force, fraud, or coercion—both of which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. He also was charged with one count of transportation for prostitution purposes, which carries of a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. He then spent 13 months at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center awaiting trial.
In a 2024 press release article, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York stated, “from at least 2008 through the present, [Combs] led a criminal enterprise that existed to facilitate his abuse and exploitation of women, to protect his reputation, and to conceal his conduct.”
According to prosecutors, Combs’ sexual abuse included causing the victims to engage in days-long sexual activity with male commercial sex workers. These events, which Combs called ‘Freak Offs,” were sex performances that he arranged, directed, and often electronically recorded. These ‘Freak Offs’ were non-consensual; to ensure participation from the women, Combs used violence and intimidation, the distribution of narcotics, exploited his financial support and was even in control of their careers. He also threatened to release sensitive recordings of the ‘Freak Offs’ if the women did not comply with his demands.
During the trial, R&B singer Cassie Ventura, Combs’ former girlfriend, claimed that he subjected her to a decade of abuse. Though she first agreed to these sexual encounters to make Combs “happy,” she admitted to feeling humiliated and “worthless” throughout the acts. In addition to her testimony, another girlfriend of Combs’ testified under the pseudonym “Jane,” recounting the drugs she was given and orgies she was forced to participate in.
Combs’ federal trial began in May and continued for eight weeks until its culmination in early October. Some were surprised at the punishment, since Combs was acquitted of his racketeering and assault charges, he was only charged with two counts of transportation for prostitution or the violation of the Mann Act.
To many, however, the verdict was underwhelming for someone with his past actions, status and influence: 50 months (four years and two months) in prison, 5 years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000.
Entertainment reporter, Eboni Boykin Patterson, expressed her disgust at the trial’s dropped charges. She wrote, “the oversimplified lesson from this trial to much of the public will be that Combs didn’t do anything wrong.”
In an era of the ongoing #MeToo movement, Boykin Patterson isn’t the only one expressing frustration. On platforms like Reddit and Instagram, users have criticized the outcome, calling out the unequal resources—like better legal teams— that celebrities have, creating challenges to fair and impartial justice.
This phenomenon isn’t new, unfortunately. During the O.J. Simpson murder trial, the defense used O.J.’s fame and image as a beloved sports figure to sway public sympathy. The case’s intense media coverage turned it into a spectacle; jurors were under immense pressure from public opinion, especially in a racially charged environment, leading to a favorable outcome for Simpson.
R. Kelly was another figure that benefited from an unfair trial. Though sentenced to prison for child pornography and exploitation in 2023, investigations and charges against Kelly spanned about six years (2017-2023), allowing public interest to fade and his career to continue.
During his trial, a juror later admitted that he didn’t believe the women who accused Kelly of abuse, saying that “the way they dressed, the way they acted—[he] didn’t like them. . . [He] disregarded all what they said” (“Surviving R. Kelly”, 2019). This, once again, shows how biased legal proceedings caused a six-year delay in justice for his victims.
Diddy’s trial not only reminds us of the faults of the justice system, even in the 21st century, but also brings into question the advancement of the sexual assault movement, #MeToo. If the words of sexual abusers hold more weight than those of their victims, have we really come far? Have we moved at all?
