Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ twin daughters seen arriving at court as their dad’s sex-trafficking trial date is set
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ twin daughters and other family members turned up in a Manhattan courtroom Thursday, as a judge set the disgraced hip-hop mogul’s trial date for next May and prosecutors said he could face more charges.
The relaxed looking rapper appeared to be making a show of having family support while he faces disturbing sex trafficking charges — as six of his seven kids appeared in court and he blew a kiss to his mother on his way out after the 45-minute hearing.
“I love you, I love you,” he said to her.
Twins Jessie James and D’Lila Star, both 17, held hands as they walked into the lower Manhattan courthouse just before the 2 p.m. hearing began.
At the start, the Bad Boy Records founder, sporting a goatee, entered the courtroom through a side door wearing tan jail clothes and shackled at his ankles. He flashed a smile and waved to his son King Combs, 26, who was sitting in the second row of the courtroom gallery.
Six of Combs’ seven children and his mother, Janice Combs, traveled from Florida to support him and the family members filled two entire rows of the gallery, one of his lawyers, Anthony Ricco, told the judge.
Judge Arun Subramanian set a trial for May 5, 2025 in the case accusing Combs of forcing women into days-long sex-sessions with male prostitutes.
Combs is also accused of using violence, threats of violence and secretly recorded videos of the so-called “freak offs” to force his alleged victims to endure more sexual abuse.
During the hearing, prosecutor Emily Johnson told the judge her office might bring additional charges, noting the “investigation is continuing.” Lawyers on both sides also raised the possibility of putting in place a gag order barring them from speaking to the media about the case.
Johnson also noted that her office was turning over evidence to Combs’ lawyers on a rolling basis, adding that the feds had seized 96 “electronic devices” in the March raids on his homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
Then another of Combs’ lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, asked the judge to bar Homeland Security agents from spilling details about the case to the media.
The request comes just a day after Combs’ attorneys made a motion accusing the feds of leaking an explosive video of Combs savagely beating his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway.
Johnson fired back, calling the motion “baseless,” and said the request was “simply a means to dismiss a damning piece of evidence.”
The prosecutor also said the gag order should apply to both sides as she accused Agnifilo of giving a concerning interview on TMZ accusing the feds of targeting Combs because he’s black.
“[Agnifilo] baselessly accused the government of engaging in a racist prosecution,” she told the judge.
Subramanian told both sides to try to work out the terms of a potential gag order in the case. The judge then asked Agnifilo about Combs’ jail conditions at Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center lockup, where he’s being held away from the general population in the same unit as crypto crook Sam Bankman-Fried.
“We are making a go of it at the MDC,” Agnifilo said, calling the jail “very responsive” to Combs’ needs.
After, Agnifilo told reporters Combs is in “high spirits” in jail, but noted the meals were hard to adjust to.
“I think the food is probably the roughest part of it,” the lawyer said.
In unusual treatment for people charged with crimes, Combs was allowed to stay in the courtroom to speak with his relatives for “a little bit” after marshals forced members of the public and reporters to leave, Agnifilo said.
Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has been ordered held without bail until trial.
Combs’ family walked out of the building after the hearing, holding hands before getting into a car and driving away.
The “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper is due back in court on Dec. 18.