What's Next for Sean Combs After Trial Verdict?

After two months in a Manhattan courtroom, the federal trial of hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, also known as Diddy or Puff Daddy, has come to an uneasy close. On Thursday, Combs received a mixed verdict from the jury: not guilty on the more serious charges, one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking; guilty on two lesser counts, of transportation to engage in prostitution. With the trial over, it feels as if the nearly two-year saga around Combs has reached a temporary impasse, as those who tuned in to its twists and turns wonder what comes next.

Though the verdict is ultimately a win for the defense, Combs' image has been forever changed. The man who took rap corporate, routinely one of the top earners in hip-hop, had already taken a hit to his diverse business interests from the snowballing civil lawsuits that preceded the federal trial — beginning with a head-turning November 2023 suit by Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, his former girlfriend and industry protégé.

There has also been significant damage to his personal brand. A proposed Hulu reality series was scrapped. Howard University revoked his honorary degree. He had to return the key to the city of New York, just months after receiving it. Combs' homes were raided by Homeland Security officials in March 2024. That May, a 2016 hotel surveillance video of him and Ventura, showing him hitting and kicking her and attempting to drag her down a hallway, leaked to the public. More lawsuits poured in after his arrest in September 2024.

Even without guilty verdicts on the counts of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, the trial has furthered that damage. The more salacious aspects of 'freak-offs' that made it into public view will sadly remain the headline for many onlookers, but beyond those details are patterns of violence too disturbing to be disregarded.

The case can also be seen as a lesson in the public's murky understanding of consent, and the ways that the stories of alleged victims can be undermined. The prosecution built its case around two key witnesses, Ventura and a woman testifying under the pseudonym 'Jane,' both ex-girlfriends of Combs.

At no point did the defense dispute the domestic violence claims levied by the witnesses — in fact, it often owned those accusations of abuse. Instead, its primary strategy was establishing Combs as not guilty of the specific major crimes for which he was on trial.

This judgement allows for a potential misreading of Combs' culpability more broadly going forward. He has not been charged criminally for everything he has been accused of. The allegations in the many civil lawsuits against him were not on trial here, and as a result were not proven or disproven.

All of which leaves things in a nebulous place, with the mixed verdict lacking in any sense of finality. The trial remains an unignorable blemish on one of the defining careers in hip-hop history, with Combs' reputation as a magnate and entertainer undeniably tainted.

Still, in the course of his long career, Sean Combs has shown a consistent resilience to scandal, and a knack for strategic rebranding. It's too early to tell, but the not-guilty verdicts on conspiracy and trafficking may yet leave the door open for a return.