AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Sean Diddy Combs is going on trial in federal court. It's scheduled to start this week in Lower Manhattan. He's charged with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. He's pleaded not guilty. Combs has used many different names through his career - Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Love, Puffy and just Diddy. But he's remained one of the most notable and powerful figures in hip-hop since the mid 1990s. Many in the music industry and hip-hop at large will be paying close attention to his trial. NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael has been following the case and Combs' career and joins us now. Hi, Rodney.
RODNEY CARMICHAEL, BYLINE: Hey, Ayesha.
RASCOE: Before we get into the allegations against Sean Combs - and a warning, these allegations are disturbing - tell us about the impact that he's had on hip-hop and pop culture up until now.
CARMICHAEL: Well, really, Ayesha, more than any music mogul of the last 30 years, Diddy - he's really responsible for making hip-hop pop. I mean, he brought champagne to the campaign. He dressed grimey East Coast rap up in shiny suits. Then, you know, there's the roster of talent he turned into stars as their producer. I'm talking Mary J. Blige, Biggie, Mase, Faith Evans, The Lox, 112, on and on and on. More than any one brand that he built - from Bad Boy Records to Sean John Clothing to Ciroc liquor deals and even Revolt TV - Diddy really mastered the art of reinvention. He made "Can't Stop, Won't Stop," the hustle metric that all of hip-hop aspired to. And he really came to define this idea of Black excellence for the hip-hop generation.
RASCOE: But this indictment argues that his image and his empire is exactly what allowed Combs to operate with impunity for so many years. So what are the accusations at the heart of this case?
CARMICHAEL: Well, this federal case - it alleges that he used his money, his power and his entire business empire as a criminal enterprise to carry out and cover up a habitual pattern of sex crimes, including trafficking women across state lines to engage in commercial sex acts. And this case goes back as far as 2008, in terms of the incidents that it covers. It also alleges that he conspired with his own employees, security staff and personal assistants to facilitate extended sex acts that he called freak offs. Now, that was sometimes secretly filmed, and the drugs, violence, career promises and threats and other forms of coercion were used to lure, intimidate and even force nonconsenting female victims into having sex with male sex workers.
RASCOE: So these allegations go back years. Why is he coming to trial now?
CARMICHAEL: So the federal case came together in the months following a civil suit filed by Combs' former artist and longtime partner, Cassie Ventura, in November, 2023. Now, Ventura's lawsuit - it includes allegations that were later corroborated by the release of some really horrific hotel surveillance footage from 2016 that showed Combs kicking and dragging Ventura back into their suite after she had tried to escape. Now, he quickly settled that suit with Ventura a day after it was filed, but not before it opened the floodgates for what now amounts to more than 60 civil suits filed against him by women and men, all alleging various forms of sexual, physical or emotional abuse, assault or rape.
RASCOE: What will you be watching for as the trial begins this week?
CARMICHAEL: Well, I think the main thing that a lot of people will be watching for is who will be called to the witness stand against Sean Combs. Like we've said, he's a powerful figure. And federal prosecutors have already said four accusers will testify, but they remain unnamed for now.
RASCOE: Do you think this trial could be the beginning of a #MeToo reckoning in hip-hop?
CARMICHAEL: Yeah, that's the real question. And honestly, I think there's a bit of a reluctance within hip-hop to view his case and all the allegations of sexual abuse he's facing as a product of hip-hop. I mean, the more these lawsuits have piled up, along with the disturbing video footage, details about the drug-induced sex acts and the suggestion of homosexual acts, the easier it's become for men in hip-hop to distance themselves from what Sean Combs is accused of.
I mean, look, hip-hop is guilty of espousing a lot of shameful and misogynistic treatment of women, and artists in the industry have always really defended it as just music. But Combs' alleged crimes, to the extent that they're true, have been happening in real life for years behind all the gloss and sheen of his public image. I mean, clearly, it's an indictment of Sean Combs's character. Whether hip-hop, by and large, will accept it as a cultural indictment - that remains to be seen.
RASCOE: That's NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael. Thank you so much for getting us up to speed on this.
CARMICHAEL: Thanks for having me, Ayesha.
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