AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Well, the trial of Sean Diddy Combs is over. Yesterday, a federal jury acquitted Combs of the most serious charges - racketeering, conspiracy and sex trafficking - but it did find him guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He remains in custody in Brooklyn awaiting sentencing, and each of those counts carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. So where do all the allegations - all the federal charges, all the lawsuits - where does all that leave the famed hip-hop mogul and his long-standing empire now? Well, in a nebulous place. That is, if you ask Sheldon Pearce from NPR Music. He's been writing about the trial and joins us now. Hi, Sheldon.
SHELDON PEARCE, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: So before we even get into that nebulous place, can you just give us a sense of what Diddy's empire was like, and how all those business interests were affected the last couple of years by all the allegations swirling around him?
PEARCE: So Diddy began as the Bad Boy Records exec in the '90s. He sort of pivoted to reality TV star before branching into fashion with Sean John, becoming a brand ambassador for Diageo and its Ciroc vodka. He started a media company called Revolt and has since started an ecommerce platform called Empower Global.
There's been a significant blow to his standing as an entrepreneur and brand ambassador in the nearly two years since the lawsuit started. He stepped down as chairman of Revolt TV and later sold his stake. Eighteen brands severed ties with Combs' Empower Global. And as his long-standing partnership with the liquor brand Diageo was ending, the company's lawyer wrote, Mr. Combs is well aware that these lawsuits make it impossible for him to continue to be the face of anything. So he has really seen his shifting public image affect the way that he does business.
CHANG: Yeah, and let's talk more about why, because even though Combs was acquitted of the most serious charges, the trial - it brought to light a lot of details about his personal life that are going to be hard to forget, like his violent behavior. And even though he wasn't on trial for domestic violence, his defense team did not dispute domestic violence claims from the witnesses. So where do you think Combs stands reputationally now, after this trial?
PEARCE: Yeah, even with verdicts on the counts of racketeering, conspiracy and sex trafficking, the more salacious aspects of the, quote-unquote, "freak-offs," or marathon sexual encounters Combs is accused of coercing women into, will sadly remain the headline for many people. But beyond those details are patterns of violence too disturbing to disregard, involving former girlfriends and employees. Those stories have been put onto the public record and will now sort of follow him wherever he goes.
CHANG: Yeah. And a lot of those lawsuits against him are still pending at this point, right?
PEARCE: Yes. Well, the lawsuit Cassie Ventura filed in November 2023 set this all in motion and is the one that has been settled. It was settled less than a day later for $20 million. Since then, dozens have been filed alleging rape, physical abuse and other misconduct from former artists, fans. A lot of that litigation is still pending, and he will face that in the coming months and years.
CHANG: Well, even with all that said, you wrote that the outcome of this trial may yet leave a door open for a return, which is a really curious sentence to write, Sheldon. How likely do you rate Diddy's chances of one day being welcomed back as an artist?
PEARCE: Well, I don't think it's likely. He still faces nearly 20 years on the federal charges that he was found guilty of. But not being found guilty on the more serious charges means that it's a possibility. Combs has a long history of skirting scandal, rebranding himself and taking on a new form. More broadly, there were hopes that this case would bring about a kind of #MeToo reckoning for the music industry. But now in the wake of his escape act, it seems like no such reckoning is coming.
CHANG: That is Sheldon Pearce from NPR Music. Thank you, Sheldon.
PEARCE: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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