Sean Combs Partially Acquitted: A Return to the Era of Impunity for Stars?
Acquitted of nearly all charges against him, including sex trafficking, Sean Combs appears to have emerged victorious from his trial. In The New York Times, music critic Jon Caramanica analyzes the implications of this court decision.
For two months, Sean Combs [also known as P. Diddy, among other stage names] – former boss of US rap and one of the greatest international ambassadors of American cool – has been confined to the dock.
Tried for sex trafficking, organized racketeering [a US criminal category somewhere between extortion and criminal conspiracy], and transporting people for prostitution, he seemed to have fallen from grace: a powerful man brought down by his alleged victims, proof that even the highest echelons of celebrity may not guarantee impunity. His life, his career, his public image would be forever changed, it was believed. He had himself signed the end of his career.
Yet on Wednesday [July 2, 2025], Sean Combs was acquitted of all charges against him, except for transporting people for the purpose of prostitution, the least serious of all.
The investigative work carried out since the end of 2023 – when the rapper's ex-partner, singer Cassie (real name Casandra Ventura), filed a complaint against him , a case settled by settlement in just one day – suggested Sean Combs' downfall. Wednesday's verdict proved the opposite. The numerous testimonies
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