Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

After eight weeks of trial and 34 witnesses, Sean "Diddy" Combs' criminal case is drawing to a close.

A verdict has been reached: Combs is guilty of transportation for prostitution of ex-girlfriends Cassie and Jane, and not guilty on the more serious charges on racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.

Judge Arun Subramanian denied him bail.

Supporters waiting to see him walk out of court were left disappointed, and he will be returning to a Brooklyn jail.

He now faces 20 years in prison, and he's expected to be sentenced on 3 October.

The last few weeks, we have witnessed the gradual undoing of one of hip hop’s biggest icons. Taking the stand were his ex-girlfriends, Cassie Ventura and an anonymous “Jane” who said they were physically brutalised and forced into sex acts by Combs.

We also heard from celebrities like Kid Cudi and Dawn Richard. Others still, hotel workers, assistants, and makeup artists, say they found themselves wrapped up in his world - one they say was fuelled by drugs and violence.

The rapper had admitted to domestic violence, but always denied any non-consensual sexual encounters or a larger racketeering scheme.

We’re closing this page now, but we will continue to cover the proceedings in this case, including the sentencing.

Read about how today unfolded day here.

Nomia Iqbal
Reporting from New York

A 12-person jury in New York found hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs not guilty of the most serious charges against him, which could have carried a life sentence.

Still, Combs will not immediately walk free after a judge blocked his bail request - and the rap star could still face up to 20 years in prison after being convicted on two counts of transportation to commit prostitution.

But several legal experts say he may not serve that full length. .

The judge cited the defence's own admission that Combs had committed domestic violence in his personal relationships as the main reason to deny him.

Even though he was cleared of the most serious charges, the trial was filled with evidence submitted by former girlfriends, who described graphic scenes of violent domestic abuse.

Diddy's lawyers accepted that he was violent, but denied that this made him guilty of running a criminal sex trafficking enterprise.

Gasps have been heard all around the courthouse today, as the news broke that Combs had escaped the most serious charges, and again when the crowd gathered outside heard that his bail request had been denied.

Combs, who has been in a Brooklyn jail since last September, will remain there until his sentencing hearing on 3 October.

There has been huge interest in this case. Diddy is one of the most iconic hip-hop artists in this country, and had shown no signs of retiring before he was arrested. For now, his immediate future, and his rap legacy, remain unclear.

Sean Combs' lawyers are speaking to the media outside of court.

Following today's verdict, the rapper is "thankful" and "relieved", defence lawyer Mark Geragos tells reporters.

Jurors "saw through the...overzealous and kind of crazy prosecution and did the right thing" by acquitting him on the two most serious charges, Geragos says.

"This was a colossal failure by the prosecution," he adds.

Combs has had "a lot of time to reflect" while in jail, he says, and is "in a good place mentally".

Despite the two convictions on transportation to engage in prostitution, today is a "victory", lawyer Marc Agnifilo adds.

Image source, Reuters

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Live reporter

How long Sean "Diddy" Combs spends behind bars will be up to Judge Arun Subramanian, after a jury convicted him on two out of five charges.

For the two prostitutions convictions, Combs faces a maximum 10 year prison sentence for each count. But that doesn't necessarily mean he will spend 20 years in prison, says Jennifer Beidel, a criminal defence attorney at Dykema Gossett law firm and a former federal prosecutor in New York.

"If you're convicted of two similar charges, the judge will run them together usually unless there's some aggravating factor", Ms Beidel tells the BBC.

The judge has a lot of discretion that will likely take into account any relevant criminal history, a presentencing report compiled by probation officers, and Combs' conduct while he has been in jail.

So what could be the sentence?

"If I had to guess, it would be in the neighbourhood of two years that would run concurrently with each other," Ms Beidel says, assuming Combs doesn't have any relevant criminal history.

Combs has been in jail since 16 September 2024 and the time spent in detention will be subtracted from the final sentence imposed by the judge. If Combs is deemed to behaved while he was in jail, he could get "good time credit" which will result in a further 15% of his sentence being shaved off.

Ultimately, Beidel says, "no one can accurately estimate at this point obviously because it all rests with the judge who hasn't made the decision yet so I think it's premature."

Image source, NBC via Getty Images

Sean Combs' federal criminal trial may be over, with the hip-hop mogul found not guilty of the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.

But that does not mean his legal battles are entirely finished. The rapper faces a slew of civil lawsuits filed across the country. Tony Buzbee, a Houston-based personal injury lawyer, says he is representing over 150 clients in lawsuits against the rap star. His clients were not named as victims in Combs' criminal trial.

Buzbee's clients accuse Combs of a wide range of offenses, including allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting them. Some of the allegations date back to the 1980s. Combs denies the allegations.

"Our cases instead focus on discrete wrongful conduct allegedly committed by Mr Combs that would be considered state law crimes if proven," Buzbee said in a statement shortly after today's verdict.

"Now that this spectacle is over, we look forward to aggressively pursuing these civil cases to obtain justice for these alleged victims."

Civil cases generally involve monetary compensation if a defendant is found liable, and are not criminal proceedings.

Members of Diddy's family, including his mother and multiple children, have just walked out of the courthouse in Manhattan. The family, alongside other supporters, have been in court for nearly every day of this eight-week trial.

Image source, Reuters

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Live reporter

In his reasons for denying Combs bail, Judge Arun Subramanian agreed with a key prosecution argument - his convictions under the Mann Act prohibit his release.

Those relate to the two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution relating to his former girlfriends Cassie Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym "Jane".

Formally known as the White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910, the Mann Act is named after the Illinois Republican congressman James R Mann, who championed its passage.

The 115-year-old law prohibits "the transportation therein for immoral purposes of women and girls". It was passed at a time of moral panic about increased immigration to the US. Some were concerned about foreign men kidnapping girls for prostitution and women travelling to the US to engage in prostitution.

In the past, "immoral purposes" was broadly defined, says Jennifer Beidel, a former federal prosecutor at the Southern District of New York where Combs' case was heard. "That is definitely a dated word...There are some early cases that talk about premarital sex, extramarital sex and interracial relationships and things that obviously would not apply now."

Despite the Mann Act conviction, Combs was acquitted by the jury of the more serious sex trafficking charges.

The difference between the two, Ms Beidel tells the BBC, is that the Mann Act count doesn't require any evidence of coercion or fraud or any other ill-intent.

"It's just simply the act of transporting people for prostitution results in a conviction."

Attention is now shifting to what sort of sentence Combs could be facing.

Former federal prosecutor Faith Gay gave her analysis to BBC News Channel.

Watch the video above.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

His arguments led to a fiery response from prosecutor Maureen Comey, who said “the only thing exceptional about this defendant are his wealth and his violence and his brazenness”.

She called Combs “an extremely violent man” with “an enormous temper” who continued to use drugs even though he knew he was being investigated.

Her speech did not please Agnifilo, who told the court: “Listening to Ms Comey makes me appreciate that we have juries”.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We can bring you more now on how the bail hearing unfolded.

Defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo also argued that Combs had not gotten into any fights in jail and was on his best behaviour despite being in a “difficult” part of the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn.

He said Combs attended a “batterers' programme” (for people who perpetrate domestic violence) even before he was arrested to try to reform his conduct.

Agnifilo acknowledged that he did not see a “glimmer of light” in the judge’s eyes when it came to the issue of bail.

At one point, he even tried to have Combs speak, telling the court he wanted to say something, though he ultimately did not.

The hearing has now ended and Combs will return to jail.

The parties will meet again next week remotely to discuss the sentencing schedule.

Stay with us as we unpack how the bail hearing played out.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

It was a heated 45-minute hearing as Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo made an impassioned argument for the judge to release his client, even though the judge said from the beginning that he would not do so.

Agnifilo cited other cases where people had been convicted of the same crimes but were released on bail.

He attempted to argue that Combs was a changed man, and that he hadn’t been violent since 2018, responding to the judge’s argument that Combs had many instances of violence that meant he was a danger to others.

“This is a man who has lived up to his obligations … I just think we should trust him,” Agnifilo says.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Image source, reu

There’s still a massive crowed outside the courthouse, but the mood has mellowed out.

“Put away your baby oil,” one influencer said on her livestream as she was coming out of court following the bail news.

The judge proposes 3 October as the sentencing date, as reported by the BBC's US partner CBS News.

Combs' legal team requests an expedited sentencing schedule, to which the judge agrees.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

When Subramanian said the words “bail is denied”, audible gasps erupted in an overflow room filled with Diddy fans and supporters.

Many looked stunned and disappointed.

It has been a day of celebrations for them outside the New York courthouse where just earlier, Combs was acquitted on three of his five charges.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Judge Arun Subramanian has denied bail to Sean Combs, saying the defence has not cleared the bar to warrant his detention be lifted.

Citing previous court cases, he said he disagrees with Combs’ attorneys that the crimes he’s been convicted of, transportation for prostitution, do not trigger mandatory detention.

He also cited Combs’ history of violence.

“The defence conceded violence in his personal relationship,” Subramanian said.

He pointed to defence lawyer Mark Agnifilo’s closing arguments, when he said: "We own the domestic violence".

He said the court saw that violence on display in the 2016 video from the Intercontinental Hotel, where Combs beats Cassie Ventura and drags her by the hair.

Outside the court, where a large crowd is behind barriers, there have been some shouts and repeated calls of "free Diddy".

A large group of journalists and camera crews are surrounding the front of the courthouse.

News is filtering through that Combs has been denied bail. The scene is relatively calm, a contrast to earlier when we saw scuffles and shouting.

Sean "Diddy" Combs has been denied bail by Judge Arun Subramanian, the BBC's US partner CBS News is reporting.

This means that the rapper will remain in custody while he awaits sentencing on his two convictions of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Sean "Diddy" Combs is back in court, once again surrounded by his lawyers at the defence table.

His family were seen arriving just before him.

Stay tuned as we bring you the outcome of the bail hearing.

Court is expected to resume at 17:00 local time (22:00 BST), where we'll learn whether Combs will be allowed to go free on bail or remain in prison as he awaits sentencing.

If the judge is convinced by arguments presented by Combs' lawyers, he could walk out of court today.

Our reporters are in court, so stay with us as we bring you the latest developments.