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NBC's Dateline pulled back the curtain on Diddy's legal woes with their 'Sean Combs on Trial' special in May 2025. They dug through all the details – court papers, lawsuits, federal charges, even surveillance videos – to give us the full picture of the music mogul's mounting legal nightmare. The investigation spanned a period of events, from the earliest civil lawsuits to recent federal charges and raids.
Crucially, Dateline pointed out that these are still ongoing proceedings and no final judgment has yet been given in either civil or criminal court.
In the second episode, Dateline actually mentioned charges involving "guns, beatings, drugs, and s*x trafficking" — charges mirrored in civil complaints and now the foundation for federal criminal charges. The program also looked at responses from the music industry, former business partners, and law enforcement, striving to offer an objective portrait without speculation or bias.
With interviews, inside legal analysis, and first-person testimony, Dateline constructed case-by-case reporting based on what is currently publicly available, exercising care to note that Sean Combs has denied all charges and pleaded not guilty in the criminal case.
Allegations and criminal charges
As of May 2025, Sean Combs faces five serious federal charges. Two charges of s*x trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, one charge of racketeering conspiracy, and two additional charges about the transportation of individuals for prostitution are among them. These were the result of a larger investigation into suspected criminal activity by numerous people and possibly organized abuse.
Dateline and court documents explain that these charges are rooted in testimony, digital data, and statements gathered across many years. Combs has rejected all of the accusations, stating the lawsuits and criminal charges are "financially motivated," and that previous settlements were not to be taken as confessions of guilt.
The Cassie Ventura lawsuit
One of the most significant occurrences in the chronology of allegations was in November 2023, when singer Cassie Ventura made a civil lawsuit against Sean Combs. In the legal filings, Ventura had charged Combs with r*pe, physical abuse, coercive control, and forced use of drugs throughout their greater than a decade-long relationship.
The case was settled in 24 hours for an estimated $20 million, a sum later confirmed through legal testimony. While it was speedily resolved, Dateline pointed out that this case significantly prompted other people to step forward. The Ventura lawsuit catalyzed fresh federal interest and rekindled wider public scrutiny of Combs' history of conduct.
Other civil lawsuits
Dateline showed that Combs was sued civilly by several men and women after Ventura's case. In fact, many suits make allegations of, among other things, drugging, s*xual assault, wrongful detention, trafficking in persons, and intimidation. Many complaints describe patterns of habitual abuse and control that allegedly existed for several years.
Many of the suits were filed in the last days before New York's Adult Survivors Act expired, which temporarily provided a window of time for historical s*x abuse claims to proceed regardless of when the occurrence took place. All of these civil cases as of May 2025 remain pending, and no ruling by any civil court has yet been issued on the merits of these cases.
Federal Homeland Security and Investigation raids
HSI agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stormed Combs' residences in Miami and Los Angeles in March 2024. Federal warrants were employed to conduct the raids, which were conducted as part of a s*x trafficking investigation in progress. Law enforcement agencies purportedly had forensic experts review the electronic devices, documents, and digital storage devices they found during the raids federal charges had previously been formally filed when Dateline broadcast its report.
But in September 2024, Sean Combs was indicted and arrested on the findings of that federal investigation. He was subsequently released on bail and has been preparing for trial ever since.
Surveillance footage and evidence
One valuable piece of evidence featured by Dateline was surveillance footage from 2016 that purportedly illustrates Sean Combs physically attacking Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel corridor. This footage emerged publicly in 2024 and was mentioned in both civil court documents and during the Dateline television program. Ventura testified in court that it was not a singular incident but instead part of an ongoing saga of mistreatment.
About the video, Combs issued a public apology but did not comment about the larger legal claims. Legal experts who appeared on Dateline said that although the images are compelling, they are just one part of a much larger legal context.
Current legal status
As of May 2025, Sean Combs remains under federal criminal prosecution and is also the subject of several pending civil lawsuits. The federal charges are being heard in court, and the pre-trial proceedings are underway. No criminal convictions have been handed down, and legal experts have noted that trials of this magnitude may extend for many months or even years.
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Combs continues to uphold his not guilty plea and insists that all the charges are untrue. The judicial process continues, and no final decisions have been reached.
Also read: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs pleads not guilty to new accusations
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