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Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial has been delayed.
The trial was originally scheduled to start May 5, but it has been pushed to one week later. It is now set to begin on May 12.
The news comes a week after Diddy was accused of using physical violence and forced labor against his employees in a new superseding indictment.
Diddy has pleaded not guilty to the new charges.
The superseding indictment alleges that Diddy and his associates “maintained control over certain employees of the Combs Business, whom he forced to work long hours with little sleep, through use of, among other things, physical force, psychological harm, financial harm, and reputational harm, and/or threats of the same.”
According to the indictment, the employees felt they would be threatened with job loss and harm if they didn’t comply with his demands.
The indictment alleges that physical force and threats were used to coerce an employee to “engage in sexual acts” with the rap mogul.
In response to the superseding indictment, Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a statement to “Extra,” “Mr. Combs has said it before and will say it again: he vehemently denies the accusations made by the SDNY. He looks forward to his day in court when it will become clear that he has never forced anyone to engage in sexual acts against their will. Many former employees stand by his side, prepared to attest to the dedication, hard work, and inspiration they experienced while helping build groundbreaking, award-winning businesses.”
In January, prosecutors filed an indictment alleging that Combs and his associates used his “power and prestige” to intimidate and lure victims “under the pretense of a romantic relationship” before coercing them to engage in sex acts.
The indictment accused Combs of reacting violently with “multiple” acts of kidnapping when his authority was challenged by employees, witnesses, or other people.
The indictment added, “On multiple occasions, Combs threw both objects and people, as well as hit, dragged, choked, and shoved others.”
Agnifilo responded to that indictment, telling “Extra,” “The latest indictment contains no new offenses. The prosecution’s theory remains flawed. The government has added the ridiculous theory that two of Mr. Combs’ former girlfriends were not girlfriends at all but were prostitutes. Mr. Combs is as committed as ever to fighting these charges and winning at trial.”
In a federal indictment from September, Diddy was charged with racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The docs claimed that Diddy “used force, threats of force, and coercion, to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers that Combs referred to as, among other things, ‘Freak Offs.’”
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
While awaiting trial, Combs’ team has accused CNN of destroying the original surveillance video of Diddy’s physical attack on ex Cassie Ventura at a hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
According to Combs’ team, the video was altered, telling TMZ, “Our written and oral communications with CNN’s counsel were clear – they destroyed the original video file they received from their source.”
CNN has denied the allegations, saying, “CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source. CNN aired the story about the video several months before Combs was arrested.”
In response to the claims, federal prosecutors told the judge on Friday that they have two videos of the beatdown, including a recording of the original footage and the CNN version.
The video could play a crucial part in the trial, so it’s no surprise that there’s some back and forth about whether it can be shown to jurors.
