<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

Last June, when Jay-Z and Beyoncé welcomed twins to their family, they did what many couples do in the wake of a new arrival&#8211;move to a bigger home&#8211;on quite an epic scale. Over the next few months, they shelled out $26 million for an East Hampton mansion and scooped up an $88 million Bel Air estate, adding 21,000 square feet per newborn. That&#8217;s the sort of thing you can do when one partner is a pop demigod and the other is the richest rapper on the planet.
Jay-Z upped his net worth from $810 million to $900 million over the past year, seizing hip-hop&#8217;s cash crown for the first time since Forbes started counting back in 2011. The Brooklyn-born mogul&#8217;s jump is due mostly to the rising value of his interests in Armand de Brignac champagne and D&#8217;Ussé cognac, on top of nine-figure ownership stakes in his Roc Nation empire and Tidal streaming service.
&#8220;We always complain about, &#8216;We don&#8217;t own this, we don&#8217;t own that.&#8217; … Here he is, this man who owns that,&#8221; superproducer Swizz Beatz told me in an interview for my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Diddy-Jay-Z-Hip-Hops-Multibillion-Dollar/dp/0316316539/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Diddy-Jay-Z-Hip-Hops-Multibillion-Dollar/dp/0316316539/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">3 Kings: Diddy, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z and Hip-Hop&#8217;s Multibillion-Dollar Rise</a>. &#8220;The sky is not the limit: it&#8217;s just a view.&#8221;
Jay-Z, Diddy and Dre are not only the wealthiest hip-hop acts on the planet, but the richest American musicians of any genre. Longtime Forbes Five champ Diddy ranks No. 2 this year despite increasing his fortune slightly in the past 12 months; tepid trends in the vodka and cable TV sectors have affected his interests in Ciroc and Revolt, but heady growth at DeLeón tequila, his joint venture with beverage giant Diageo&#8211;and massive annual earnings totals in recent years&#8211;have kept his net worth trending in the right direction.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2017/12/05/kendrick-lamar-conscious-capitalist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Kendrick Lamar: The Conscious Capitalist</a>
Dre ranks third with $770 million, creeping upward thanks to the market trends boosting his nine-figure windfall from Apple&#8217;s $3 billion buyout of Beats in 2014. The superproducer is also in line to receive a slug of Apple stock this summer worth well over $100 million; depending on the tech giant&#8217;s share price at the time, he could leapfrog Diddy and Jay-Z when that happens.
After the top three, there&#8217;s a long drop before the fourth and fifth names on the list: Drake and Eminem, tied at an even $100 million apiece. The youngest impresario of the bunch, 31-year-old Drake has earned more than $250 million since 2010, before taxes and spending; an equity stake in Virginia Black whiskey and pricey estates in Toronto, Canada, and Hidden Hills, California, pad his holdings. His inclusion on the Forbes Five represents yet another career goal achieved.
&#8220;If I&#8217;m not on your list this year, I&#8217;d be gravely disappointed,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2013/02/14/drake-making-the-forbes-list-is-my-objective-every-year/#a5e3a5b26c57" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Forbes back in 2013. &#8220;That&#8217;s pretty much my objective every year … other than making good music.&#8221;
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2017/10/13/dj-khaled-rolls-hip-hops-boldest-star-shows-off-major-keys/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: How DJ Khaled Rolls: Hip-Hop&#8217;s Boldest Star Shows Off His Major Keys</a>
Eminem isn&#8217;t known as a businessman like some of the other names on this list, but he&#8217;s still the best-selling rapper of all time and moved more albums in the U.S. during the 2000s than any act in any genre. Fresh off new album Revival, he makes his Forbes Five debut as former listmember Birdman&#8211;Drake&#8217;s Cash Money Records boss&#8211;slips below the $100 million mark in the wake of some <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/jose-lambiet/article190619084.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/jose-lambiet/article190619084.html">apparent</a> liquidity issues.
To compile the Forbes Five rankings, we follow the same procedures used to calculate our <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">list of the world&#8217;s billionaires</a> (our annual update arrives Tuesday): valuing major assets, poring over financial documents, and speaking with analysts, attorneys, managers, other industry players and, in some cases, the moguls themselves.
So who will be the first hip-hop star to reach the billion-dollar mark? Trends in the spirits world could continue to play a key role for Jay-Z and Diddy. After the furious rise of vodka in the first part of this decade, fueled largely by flavored variants like those of Ciroc, the market has shifted towards cognac, whiskey and tequila.
&#8220;D&#8217;Ussé fits right in there,&#8221; says Eric Schmidt, Director of Alcohol Research at Beverage Marketing Corporation. &#8220;I think DeLeón is poised for growth … it could one day be the next Patrón, but it&#8217;s a long road.&#8221;
Jay-Z, meanwhile, shouldn&#8217;t be slacking off anytime soon: though he and Beyoncé bought their East Hampton abode outright, according to public records, their $88 million Bel Air mansion comes with a $52.8 million mortgage. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Zack O&#8217;Malley Greenburg</a>, FORBES STAFF

Tag: Sean Combs

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

The Forbes Five: Hip-Hop’s Wealthiest Artists 2018