<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



Sean &#8220;Diddy&#8221; Combs appeared in court Wednesday for what is likely to be his last court appearance for several months in his federal sex trafficking case that will see him spend the Christmas holidays in prison despite several attempts by his attorneys to have him released to house arrest. (Here is a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/10/22/all-major-allegations-against-sean-diddy-combs-rape-sexual-abuse-cassie-ventura-tony-buzbee-lil-rod/">complete list of the allegations</a>&nbsp;against Combs.)


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2171912226-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64025" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2171912226-1.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2171912226-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2171912226-1-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">King Combs, son of Sean &#8220;Diddy&#8221; Combs, right, exits court in New York. (Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Timeline</h2>



December 18Combs&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/sean-diddy-combs-back-court-wishes-spectators-happy/story?id=116924609" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">appeared in court</a>&nbsp;for a brief hearing in his federal case at which federal prosecutors said they plan to disclose all available evidence to his defense team by the end of the year in preparation for a May trial date. One court&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/diddy-sean-combs-case-jail-appearance-update-2003100" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reporter</a>&nbsp;described Combs as appearing “thinner” and “grayer” than when he was last seen in public, and the music mogul wished spectators a &#8220;Happy Holidays&#8221; as he left.



December 2<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ghislaine-maxwell-prosecutor-joins-sean-diddy-combs-trial-1235190051/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Maurene Comey</a>, former FBI director James Comey&#8217;s daughter who litigated the case in which Maxwell was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-20-years-prison-conspiring-jeffrey-epstein-sexually-abuse" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">convicted</a> for her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein, on Monday notified the federal court in the Southern District of New York that she has joined the prosecution against Combs.



November 27Federal judge Arun Subramanian <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628424/gov.uscourts.nysd.628424.92.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">denied</a> Combs’ request to be released on bail citing “compelling evidence of Combs’s propensity for violence.” Subramanian’s ruling also stated that there was evidence supporting “a serious risk of witness tampering,” along with evidence that he “violated Bureau of Prisons regulations during his pretrial detention to obscure his communications with third parties.” The judge also wrote the government prosecutors have shown “by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community.”



November 25Attorneys for the federal government argued against Combs’ push to get released on $50 million bail and a laundry list of other conditions, telling Judge Arun Subramanian in a letter the package “does not come close to ensuring the security of the community” or to ensuring Combs won&#8217;t interfere with the case or try to flee before the trial—citing an alleged “pattern of violence” toward women and his own staff. In their own letter, defense attorneys argued Combs has been unconstitutionally held in jail and silenced since he was first arrested in September, that the government has launched a campaign against him to keep him from getting a fair trial and that Combs “is not required to sit idly by and acquiesce to all of this.” Subramanian is expected to make a decision on bail by Thanksgiving.



November 22Subramanian heard arguments from attorneys on both sides but punted a decision to the following week on whether Combs should be released on bail. Subramanian rejected the idea Combs be kept under house arrest at a home with a boat dock in Miami but seemed open to potentially releasing him to confinement with around-the-clock security at a three-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. He asked lawyers to submit further arguments in writing by Monday, Nov. 25.



November 19Subramanian told prosecutors to “get rid of” their copies of handwritten notes taken by Combs in jail, making the decision as he considers legal arguments from Combs’ lawyers that the notes were subject to attorney-client privilege and counter arguments from prosecutors who accused Combs of writing about a witness tampering plot.



November 15In a filing opposing Combs’ request to be released on bail, prosecutors claim Combs has attempted to “corruptly influence witness testimony” by asking his family members to reach out to victims and potential witnesses and create “narratives” to affect their opinion, while also asking his children to post a video to social media in celebration of his birthday and ensuring the video had “his desired effect on potential jury members in this case.”



November 12In &#8220;The Downfall of Diddy: Inside the Freak-Offs,” Ray J claims high-profile celebrities are &#8220;reaching out to victims&#8221; and offering them money in exchange for avoiding any public exposure, and aspiring singer-songwriter Tanea Wallace described her experience at a 2018 party where she said she saw minors “dressed up like Harajuku Barbies, red lipstick, looking like real sexy.”



November 8Combs’ attorneys again requested the mogul be released on bail with a $50 million bond with a laundry list of new conditions, including home detention in Miami or New York City, security lockdown and no internet access, which is scheduled to be heard at a hearing on Nov. 22.



November 4In a video <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DB9lgi1tXiF/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">posted</a> by his son, Combs spoke to his children on the phone on his 55th birthday Monday and said, “I can’t wait to see y’all. I just want to say that I’m proud of y’all, especially the girls. I mean, all y’all just for being strong.”



November 3Comb&#8217;s lawyers sent a letter to Subramanian asking he place all potential witnesses under a gag order until a federal trial scheduled for May, claiming a &#8220;deluge of improper pretrial publicity that is undermining Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial.” (The request comes after a friend of Comb&#8217;s late girlfriend Kim Porter <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sean-combs-urges-court-to-issue-widespread-gag-order-1235152185/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spoke</a> outside a courthouse in Manhattan, saying he’d testified before a grand jury and has footage of Combs raping and sexually assaulting several people, including minors).



October 31Ty Stiklorius, John Legend&#8217;s manager, wrote in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/31/opinion/p-diddy-sean-combs-music-business-reform.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Times piece</a> that she herself experienced a &#8220;terrifying situation&#8221; in which she says she was locked in a bedroom while attending a party hosted by Combs in St. Barts in the late 1990s and &#8220;managed to talk her way out&#8221; of what she assumed was an abnormal experience, but later realized &#8220;what happened that night was no aberration—it was an indicator of a pervasive culture in the music industry.”



October 28Federal authorities said they&#8217;d carried out an “interagency operation” at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn where Combs is awaiting trial, but did not provide specific details about what was done inside the facility, which has been the target of rampant criticism from the Combs team and the location of several crimes in recent months, including a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/federal-inmate-mdc-brooklyn-charged-orchestrating-murder-hire-using-contraband" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">murder-for-hire </a>plot and the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/federal-jail-brooklyn-diddy-bureau-of-prisons-afd6aebdfacd70286955f8c1bbf1cd6e" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stabbing deaths</a> of two inmates.



October 25In a letter submitted to the court Friday, Combs&#8217; attorneys requested a gag order be implemented for all federal officials involved <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/09/17/sean-diddy-combs-charged-with-sex-trafficking-racketeering/">in his case</a>, specifically citing a <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/10/25/us-news/diddy-mixed-a-list-parties-with-freak-off-sex-shows-tapes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Post article</a> that quotes a &#8220;federal law enforcement source who is involved in the investigation&#8221; as proof the Department of Homeland Security is purposefully interfering with Combs&#8217; right to a fair trial (in October, Combs&#8217; legal team claimed DHS <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/10/lawyers-for-sean-combs-allege-us-government-leaked-assault-footage-to-cnn" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">leaked</a> an incriminating video of Combs to CNN, which the agency denied). A judge later called the quotes in the article “plainly improper” but rejected the gag order request.



October 22Two of Combs’ seven children—Quincy Brown, Combs&#8217; adopted 33-year-old son, and Chance Combs, his 18-year-old daughter with Sarah Chapman—made a joint&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DBbIxQHPOjn/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">post on Instagram&nbsp;</a>calling the last month &#8220;devastating&#8221; for their family and defending their father from what they called &#8220;accusations, conspiracy theories and false narratives.”



October 15Combs returned to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diddy/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a> for the first time since his arrest in September with a post marking the second birthday of his youngest daughter, named Love Sean Combs (he’d previously <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/06/20/all-of-diddys-instagram-posts-and-videos-including-cassie-apology-are-deleted/">deleted every post </a>on the social media account as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/10/22/all-major-allegations-against-sean-diddy-combs-rape-sexual-abuse-cassie-ventura-tony-buzbee-lil-rod/">allegations</a> piled up against him, but has posted a total of three times since July, each time with photos of his children).



October 11A U.S. Appeals court referred Combs&#8217; latest request for bail to a panel of three judges, but ruled he will remain behind bars until a decision is made.



October 10Combs appeared in court for the first time since his arrest, where a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/10/10/sean-diddy-combs-will-face-sex-trafficking-trial-in-may/">trial date</a> of May 5 was set for him to face federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.



October 9Combs’ team filed a memo alleging that the Department of Homeland Security<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/10/lawyers-for-sean-combs-allege-us-government-leaked-assault-footage-to-cnn" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> leaked</a> a surveillance video that showed him abusing his ex-girlfriend, Casandra &#8220;Cassie&#8221; Ventura, though prosecutors have denied the allegations and said they did not obtain that video until it was made public by CNN.



October 8Lawyers for Combs filed paperwork <a href="https://www.billboard.com/pro/diddy-appeals-bail-ruling-sex-abuse-case-witness-tampering/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">asking</a> he be allowed to await trial outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center where he resides, claiming the initial decision to deny him bail was unfairly “distorted” by the attention on the case (the initial judge, who has since been replaced, ruled Combs should stay in jail so he can’t use his money and influence to interfere in the government&#8217;s case against him).



October 6Janice Small Combs, Sean Combs&#8217; mother, said in a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DAzDBw7p2pL/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;ig_rid=937fbcc4-1950-477e-9bef-89c73dccc13a&amp;img_index=2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a> through her family&#8217;s attorney she is &#8220;devastated and profoundly saddened&#8221; by the allegations against her son, adding those accusing him of misconduct are &#8220;seeking a financial gain&#8221; and likened Combs to &#8220;many individuals&#8221; who have been &#8220;wrongfully convicted due to their past actions or mistakes&#8221;—though she also said Combs “may have been not entirely truthful” when <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/17/entertainment/sean-combs-cassie-ventura/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">denying assault allegations</a> raised by his ex-girlfriend Ventura.



September 30Lawyers for Combs filed a notice asking the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the Southern District of New York to overturn the decision to hold him in prison while he awaits trial, a choice Judge Andrew Carter made <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/30/entertainment/sean-combs-lawyers-appeal-detention/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">citing concerns</a> Combs had allegedly tampered with witnesses who had been contacted as part of the investigation against him (the request was not granted).



September 26A <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/09/27/sean-diddy-combs-lawyer-says-violent-video-of-cassie-not-evidence-of-sex-trafficking/">documentary</a> was released for streaming on Tubi and featured an interview with Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo—who addressed a leaked <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/05/19/sean-diddy-combs-apology-video-of-him-beating-cassie-2016-lawsuits-sex-trafficking-rape-abuse-assault/">surveillance video</a> of Combs shoving and kicking ex-girlfriend Ventura—in which he called the <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628425/gov.uscourts.nysd.628425.2.0_2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">indictment</a> a takedown of a “successful Black man&#8221; and said he doesn&#8217;t expect Combs to accept a plea bargain.



September 24Combs is sharing a unit with disgraced<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2024/03/28/sam-bankman-fried-speaks-my-useful-life-is-probably-over-as-hes-sentenced-to-25-years/"> Bankman-Fried</a> at the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/09/18/sean-diddy-combs-reportedly-complains-about-horrific-jail-conditions-what-to-know-about-notorious-metropolitan-detention-center/">Metropolitan Detention Center</a>, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/24/arts/music/sean-combs-sam-bankman-fried-jail.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimes#" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The New York Times</a>, as the former crypto mogul serves out a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2024/03/28/sam-bankman-fried-speaks-my-useful-life-is-probably-over-as-hes-sentenced-to-25-years/">25-year sentence</a> in prison for counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering linked to a scheme that lost former FTX customers, lenders and investors several billion dollars.



September 18Combs&#8217; lawyers cited &#8220;horrific&#8221; conditions at the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/09/18/sean-diddy-combs-reportedly-complains-about-horrific-jail-conditions-what-to-know-about-notorious-metropolitan-detention-center/">Metropolitan Detention Center</a> in Brooklyn, New York in a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/09/18/sean-diddy-combs-loses-bail-denial-appeal-after-pleading-not-guilty-to-sex-trafficking-racketeering-charges/">request for bail</a>—which included a $50 million bond offer, GPS monitoring and strict limitations on visitors—that was denied by U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter, who said the conditions weren’t enough to ensure the safety of the community.



September 17A federal court in Manhattan <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/09/17/sean-diddy-combs-charged-with-sex-trafficking-racketeering/">unsealed charges</a> against Combs for racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, alleging he “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”



September 16Combs was arrested in Manhattan after being indicted by a grand jury.



May 29<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/29/entertainment/sean-diddy-combs-federal-investigation/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sources told CNN</a> federal investigators were getting close to filing charges against Combs, and that plaintiffs who had filed individual civil lawsuits against him had been interviewed as part of the case.



March 25Federal agents <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2024/03/25/feds-search-sean-diddy-combs-la-and-miami-homes-reports-say/?sh=d8b69e15d52c">raided Combs’ homes</a> in Florida and California in relation to a federal sex trafficking investigation.



November 20-23A $30 million lawsuit filed by Ventura kicked off a series of criminal complaints against Combs that have included rape, sexual assault, sex trafficking and other claims (<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/10/22/all-major-allegations-against-sean-diddy-combs-rape-sexual-abuse-cassie-ventura-tony-buzbee-lil-rod/">see all of the allegations here</a>).

Sean “Diddy” Combs Fulfills $1 Million Pledge To Howard University At Howard Homecoming – Yardfest

Diddy Wishes Courtroom ‘Happy Holidays’ At Hearing: Here Is The Latest On Sean Combs

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested Monday and pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges including sex trafficking and racketeering and will remain in custody until his trial, provoking a range of sharp reactions from rapper and longtime critic 50 Cent, and other celebrities in the hip-hop and R&amp;B communities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



Combs was indicted on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, cause or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution, with prosecutors alleging he engaged in physical abuse, coercion and obstruction of justice when organizing sex parties he described as “Freak Offs.”



50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson III,&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/50cent/status/1836075843371618663" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">tweeted</a>&nbsp;a photo of him and actor Drew Barrymore captioned, “Here I am keeping good company with [Barrymore] and I don’t have 1,000 bottles of lube at the house,” referencing investigators’ findings while they&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2024/03/25/feds-search-sean-diddy-combs-la-and-miami-homes-reports-say/">searched Combs’ homes</a>&nbsp;in March, when law enforcement recovered more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to Combs’ indictment.



Radio host Charlamagne Tha God said during a Monday segment on “The Breakfast Club” if Combs is convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking “<a href="https://youtu.be/IykOj8rhUgQ?si=bT3VlGDQBNogiVIp&amp;t=390" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">there will be others involved</a>” who will be “probably going to jail.”



Singer Audrey O’Day, who has been&nbsp;<a href="https://people.com/aubrey-oday-reacts-sean-diddy-combs-home-raids-8620791" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">outspoken about Combs</a>, said Monday she felt “<a href="https://x.com/AubreyODay/status/1835881050347843665" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">validated</a>” after the rapper’s arrest, following up the tweet by saying she “chose to speak to people who could move justice in the way I needed to see it.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-50-cent-s-yearslong-feud-with-combs">50 Cent’s Yearslong Feud With Combs</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/03/27/50-cent-says-diddy-done-after-feds-raid-sean-combs-homes-but-their-beef-has-lasted-decades/">50 Cent has long criticized Combs</a>&nbsp;in the leadup to his indictment. In May, 50 Cent reshared a post from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office condemning a video showing Combs assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. The attack took place beyond the statute of limitations, provoking 50 Cent to say the office released the video knowing “they can’t charge him with what we saw, but they know we can’t [unsee]



what we saw.” 50 Cent also chimed in on the raids conducted on Combs’ residences, saying in a tweet “they don’t come like that unless they got a case.” 50 Cent put out a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.digitalspy.com/music/a36761/50-cent-attacks-p-diddy-in-new-song/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">diss track</a>&nbsp;against Combs in 2006 and announced last year his production company would produce a documentary about the numerous allegations against Combs titled, “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/12/07/50-cent-says-hell-make-documentary-about-diddys-sexual-assault-allegations-as-fourth-woman-comes-forward/?sh=aec0bbb18728">Diddy Do It?</a>”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">Tangent</h2>



O’Day is a former member of R&amp;B girl group Danity Kane, which was signed to Combs’ record label, Bad Boy Records, in 2005.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



Combs was denied bail Tuesday and will remain in federal custody until his trial over the three charges, which carry a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Prosecutors accused Combs of engaging in “verbal, emotional, sexual and physical abuse” and manipulating women into engaging in “extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers.” The charges against Combs follow&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/09/17/sean-diddy-combs-arrested-on-racketeering-sex-trafficking-charges-a-complete-timeline-of-allegations-against-him/">months-worth of allegations</a>&nbsp;made by women against the rapper accusing him of rape, sexual assault and abuse dating back several years. The allegations, which mainly materialized from late last year to this summer, were denied by Combs’ attorneys, who told Forbes some of the lawsuits against the rapper were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/britneynguyen/2023/11/24/rapper-sean-diddy-combs-accused-of-rape-and-sexual-assault-in-two-new-separate-lawsuits/?sh=359589f26558">money grabs</a>, “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/11/16/rapper-sean-diddy-combs-accused-of-rape-and-sex-trafficking-by-singer-and-former-partner/?sh=2d57663bb351">baseless</a>” or “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/12/06/sean-combs-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-17-year-old-in-latest-lawsuit/?sh=4e745e308e92">sickening</a>.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/09/17/sean-diddy-combs-pleads-not-guilty-t0-sex-trafficking-racketeering-charges/">Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Denied Bail After Pleading Not Guilty To Sex Trafficking, Racketeering Charges</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/09/17/sean-diddy-combs-arrested-on-racketeering-sex-trafficking-charges-a-complete-timeline-of-allegations-against-him/">Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Arrested On Racketeering, Sex Trafficking Charges: A Complete Timeline Of Allegations Against Him</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)

‘Diddy’ Arrest: 50 Cent, Charlamagne Tha God And Other Celebrities React

Forethought CEO Deon Nicholas knows you’re probably sick of hearing about chatbots. Once promised to provide human-like customer service at much faster speeds, the software’s lost much of its hype through head-scratching, rote answers and dead ends that can make you dream of speaking to a human being again.



At his three-year-old startup, however, Nicholas says that the tools are built differently from the ground up. These ones, he insists, really help. The difference: real artificial intelligence software versus basic automated decision trees. “We know you’ve been burned,” Nicholas says. “But that wasn’t artificial intelligence. It was a lot more artificial than it was intelligent.”



San Francisco-based business Forethought offers a tool called Agatha that it believes can actually work, with a product for service agents, triaging support tickets and resolving them on its own using natural language processing and AI software that gets smarter at anticipating solutions over time. The company says it’s resolved more than 500,000 claims automatically so far.



Investors have noticed: Forethought announced on Wednesday it’s raised $17 million in a Series B funding round from previous investor NEA, Sound Ventures, Neo, Geodesic Capital and Operator Collective, alongside high-leverage individuals including Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith, Sean “Diddy” Combs and LL Cool J.



A former engineer at Dropbox and Pure Storage, Nicholas launched Forethought with ex-LinkedIn engineer Sami Ghoche in 2018, both appearing on the Forbes 30 Under 30&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/pictures/5be5b8d54bbe6f78bda781d9/deon-nicholas-25-l-sami-g/#166c47d95c36">list</a>&nbsp;for enterprise tech&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/igorbosilkovski/2018/11/13/30-under-30-in-enterprise-tech-drone-school-ai-accountability-and-buying-cars-from-home/#7f09407a55c9">for the following year</a>&nbsp;at the ages of 25 and 24. (Three other team members are also alumni of the list.) Later that year, Forethought won TechCrunch’s Disrupt Battlefield startup contest before&nbsp;<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/04/forethought-snares-9m-series-a-in-wake-of-battlefield-win/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">raising</a>&nbsp;a $9 million Series A led by NEA.



What has made Forethought resonate with customers—nameable ones are mostly in tech, too, like Carta, Gusto and Masterclass—is software that plugs into a company’s sales and customer service software to learn how past issues were resolved and better predict what an individual ticket might be about. That can lead to much higher accuracy and faster resolution times, Nicholas says: “Agatha is able to figure out when new problems start to arise and how to respond to them by listening to how [human] agents are responding.”



At Sound Ventures, investor and actor Ashton Kutcher says he was initially skeptical about backing another customer service tool. Digging in, Kutcher says the Sound team was impressed by how Forethought’s tech really worked. “It’s a headache so many of our portfolio companies have, because with everything becoming 24/7, customer service has to be 24/7. And it gets more complicated when everything is on-demand and everything is at your fingertips,” Kutcher says.



“There’s a lot of folks who are working on different AI things, but no one really has a front door to it,” adds Qualtrics’ Smith. “Watching what Deon is doing, they are making every organization way more intelligent.”



Term sheets for Forethought’s Series B arrived just as the killing of George Floyd set off Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S. That made closing the round “a tough time” for Nicholas, a still too-rare Black startup founder in tech. Over the following weeks, Kutcher and Forethought’s investor base worked to bring in prominent Black entrepreneurs to join the round, leading to the participation of Combs and LL Cool J.



“For me, it is really important to tell a new story, change the face of what success looks like,” Nicholas says. “I’ve always been a builder, so if that’s what I can do for the world, then I’m going to do that and make waves while I’m at it.”



-By Alex Konrad, Forbes Staff

Tag: P Diddy

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