NEW YORK CITY — A federal judge in New York on Wednesday allowed Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to wear something other than jail garb when he goes on trial for sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy next week, starting with jury selection.
At the request of Combs’ lawyers, Judge Arun Subramanian said Combs “will be permitted to receive non-prison clothing at the MDC to wear for his trial scheduled to begin on May 5, 2025.
The judge allowed up to five button-down shirts, up to five pairs of pants, up to five sweaters, up to five pairs of socks and up to two pairs of shoes without laces to wear to court.
Combs wore the shirt and pants he was arrested in to his first court appearance, but has since appeared in jail-issued clothing.
Jury selection in the sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs begins on May 5.
Lawyers for the entertainer had requested a two-month delay, citing a need for more time to gather information about trial witnesses and to cope with late additions to the indictment against their client.
But the judge, noting that Combs has at least four attorneys, said the defense has sufficient time to be ready for trial next month. He said he would not grant a delay and allow a “fishing expedition” to seek more evidence.
Prosecutors say Combs coerced and abused women for two decades, using his “power and prestige” as a music star to silence victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
They say the Bad Boy Records founder induced female victims into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances with male sex workers in events dubbed “Freak Offs.”
Defense lawyers have said the government is mischaracterizing the relationship Combs had with former long-term girlfriends to criminalize consensual sexual conduct.
ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
