The American justice system once again rejected on Wednesday a request for conditional release from rapper P. Diddy, imprisoned in New York for a resounding sex trafficking case. Judges twice refused his release on bail.
Sean Combs, his real name, also nicknamed Puff Daddy, will appear in federal criminal trial in May 2025 for having, according to the prosecution, put his musical ’empire’ at the service of a violent system of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation and extortion. The highly influential rapper and producer has pleaded not guilty and says he is innocent.
In an order dated Wednesday and made public, a judge in Manhattan federal court ‘denied’ this third request on the grounds that ‘the conditions are not met to reasonably ensure the safety’ of the plaintiffs and civil parties.
Last week, prosecutors from America’s top prosecutor’s office said Diddy had contacted witnesses and used unauthorized communications platforms while incarcerated since September.
‘A sexual predator’
Long a key figure in the hip-hop scene and more generally in the music industry, P. Diddy appeared last Friday in prison uniform in court, in the presence of members of his family, for his request for parole. ‘Your son is a sexual predator,’ passers-by shouted at his mother.
Sean Combs, 54, has seen his star fade since the revelation in the fall of 2023 of several complaints, in particular accusations of rape emanating from the R&B singer Cassie, who was his partner, a procedure finally settled by an agreement “at the ‘amicable’, according to both parties.
Other complainants described him as a violent sexual predator who used alcohol and drugs to obtain their submission.
In parallel with the criminal proceedings, the man is also being sued in civil court by more than 120 alleged victims, including 25 minors at the time of the events, who accuse him of sexual assault, according to their lawyers. The rapper has always denied these accusations.
/ATS
