Sean “Diddy” Combs has officially chosen not to testify in his own sex trafficking trial, opting to rest his defense without presenting any witnesses. The Bad Boy mogul stood before the court and confirmed his decision directly when questioned by the judge on June 25.
“Is it your decision not to testify in this case?” asked the judge.
“That is my decision, Your Honor. It is solely my decision,” Diddy replied.
With both sides having rested, closing arguments are scheduled for tomorrow (June 26), after which the case will be handed over to the jury for deliberation. If convicted, Diddy could face up to life in prison.
The trial, which has drawn national headlines, has included disturbing allegations and graphic evidence, including what prosecutors referred to as “freak off tapes.” Despite the gravity of the charges, Diddy’s defense team opted not to present any counter-testimony or evidence.
Speculation has swirled around the possibility of a presidential pardon should Diddy be convicted. Former President Donald Trump previously said he would “consider” such an action after reviewing the case.
Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight—currently incarcerated himself—has also voiced confidence in Diddy’s fate. In a recent NewsNation interview, Knight stated:
“I think he’s got some favors with the government… If he gets convicted, Trump’s gonna pardon him.”
Knight, who has a well-known history of rivalry with Diddy, went so far as to say he does not believe Diddy belongs in prison at all:
“We’re not friends, but Puffy should definitely walk free… It’s a sad day for Hip Hop when he’s the only one taking the fall.”
The outcome now rests in the hands of the jury, whose decision could mark one of the most consequential moments in Diddy’s long and controversial career.
Tag: Diddy
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50 Cent Addresses Rivalries with JAY-Z and Diddy Amid Legal Issues
50 Cent has been making quite the buzz by posting some not-so-candid comments on the legal entanglements that both JAY-Z and Diddy are entangled in. Even with the taunting he indulges in, the rapper maintains that he doesn’t really have anything personal against both hip-hop moguls.
Recently, JAY-Z is named in a suit charging him and Diddy with raping a 13-year-old girl, even though he is not formally facing any criminal charges at the moment; at this moment, both deny the claims.
In a recent interview with Big Boy, 50 Cent acknowledged that those social media comments shouldn’t be construed as personal hatred. “I mean, I wouldn’t call it personal hatred. I see my issues with Diddy as arising from things he did that made me uncomfortable; that said, we never had any physical confrontation, and oh, as for JAY-Z, there is really no beef on that level. I would just call whatever he and I have competition.”
Amidst this, 50 went on to comment on JAY-Z’s statement regarding rape allegations, especially the effects the lawsuit has caused on his family. -
Bobby Shmurda seemingly blames Diddy & Meek Mill’s gay allegations on Jay-Z
Shmurda weighs in on Diddy & Meek accusations
Bobby Shmurda has made the questionable statement that Diddy’s former associate Roc Nation has been the one feeding information regarding the alleged affair between him and Meek Mills. Shmurda, who was also previously signed by Roc Nation, attacked the company in its appearance on The Danza Project claiming that the offensive stories about Meek and Diddy were created after the Meek resigned from Roc Nation in 2022.
“I’ma tell you what’s going on with Meek. I left the team that Meek was on. Meek left that team. [If] you leave that team, they come for you,” he alleged.
“It’s like a relationship with these labels. It’s like leaving a girl with a lot of power. She’s gonna try to make your life a living hell. She’s like, ‘We own the internets, we’re gonna spread all the rumors about you. I’m gonna pay for 3,000 comments making jokes.”
Shmurda continued: “They tried to call me gay. I fuck the most bitches ever. Like, come on, for real? I’m not even mad at them doing it; it be the n-ggas that believe it.” -
50 Cent discusses his past relationship with Diddy: ‘It was mostly work’
Fif’ says he had no personal relationship with Puff
50 Cent has been on the forefront of blasting Diddy on social media amid his scandalous sexual assault accusations. During a recent interview on The Hollywood Reporter, 50 opened up about his early interaction with the disgraced mogul when they worked together on tracks like “Victory 2004” and “Get Money Remix.”
“It was mostly work. I wouldn’t call it a friendship because there wouldn’t be disappointment between us if we didn’t speak to each other,” he explained. “[Diddy’s ex] Jennifer Lopez actually told him he should work with me as songwriter in the beginning.” -
50 Cent recalls ‘weirdest shit’ that made him ‘uncomfortable’ around Diddy
Fif’ explains what made him start avoiding Diddy
50 Cent has been brutally trolling Diddy on social media since his sexual assault accusations against multiple women and a male producer have been making headlines. According to Fif’, he once got a bizarre offer from the Bad Boy mogul that steered him away from him for good.
“He asked to take me shopping,” 50 recently told The Hollywood Reporter. “I thought that was the weirdest shit in the world because that might be something that a man says to a woman.
“And I’m just like, ‘Naw, I’m not fucking with this weird energy or weird shit,’ coming off the way he was just moving. From that, I wasn’t comfortable around him.” -
Dame Dash says Biggie & Diddy were biting his & JAY-Z’s style
Dame says Big & Diddy admired their lifestyle
Dame Dash believes that during his upcoming days with Jay-Z, Biggie and Diddy admired and copied their moves. The Roc-A-Fella co-founder explained the early relationship between their camp and Bad Boy Records during an interview on PDB Podcast.
“Big was the only person I used to smoke with. I didn’t smoke before at all; we used to drink. Supposedly, Jay and Big went to school together but Jay didn’t know him,” Dame recalled.
“Because we were getting the money and popping the bottles and all that, in that moment, we had always felt that Biggie and Puffy were copying us. They’d see us in the club and it seemed like the next day, a record would be made.”
He went on, “We was really getting money. No disrespect to Biggie but it was a different hustle. We weren’t on the streets pitching work. We were [about] connects, connects, connects.
“But that lifestyle of [a] hustler, that was us. That was them copying us, for sure. So we kinda had problems. I was run up [on] sometimes. I was confrontational with Biggie and them at first, but we finally got cool.” -
Usher says he, Jay-Z, Diddy, Pharrell were close to making a supergroup
Usher almost banded with Hov, Puff, Skateboard P
Usher reveals that he almost once teamed up with Jay-Z, Diddy and Pharrell. While chopping it up with Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay podcast, the iconic singer explained that the potential group had already started engaging in “secret meetings” to discuss how to bring it into life.
The dream never came to fruition as they all became “caught up” in their lives.
“JAY-Z, Pharrell, Diddy and me were supposed to be a group,” Usher began. “Yeah, that’s crazy. I didn’t say ‘No.’ I didn’t say ‘Yeah.’ I think that we just got caught up. I think we all got caught up in the moment.
“We was talking about it and having secret meetings about it. We were talking about music and how we gon’ flip it and the business of it. And somehow, man, we just got distracted and it never happened.”
He continued, “That’s the one I actually wish would have happened.” -
Diddy is reportedly interested in buying BET’s majority stakes
Diddy plans to expand his business empire
Hip-hop billionaire Diddy has joined the race to buy BET’s majority stakes, according to Variety. Diddy is competing with Tyler Perry and Byron Allen to purchase stakes of the Paramount Global-owned media giant.
Per sources familiar with the situation, the mogul is “exploring the opportunity to purchase BET as a part of his strategy to build a Black-owned global media powerhouse.”
To this point, Paramount hasn’t started negotiations with any of the bidders.