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Sean “Diddy” Combs was found guilty on Wednesday of prostitution-related offenses, but cleared of more serious charges after a criminal trial in which two of the music mogul’s former girlfriends testified that he physically and sexually abused them. Combs was convicted of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking, a partial win for the former billionaire known for elevating hip-hop in American culture. After the jury read its verdict, defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo asked Subramanian to release Combs on bail. “This is his first conviction and it’s a prostitution offense, and so he should be released on appropriate conditions,” Agnifilo said. Combs faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence on each of the two prostitution counts. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian will determine Combs’ sentence at a later date. The acquittals on the sex trafficking counts means he will avoid a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence. He could have faced life in prison if he were convicted on sex trafficking or racketeering conspiracy. Prosecutors say Combs for two decades used his business empire to force two of his romantic partners to take part in drug-fueled, days-long sexual performances sometimes known as “Freak Offs” with male sex workers in hotel rooms while Combs watched, masturbated and occasionally filmed. During raids of Combs’ homes, authorities found drugs and 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant that he would use in the performances, prosecutors said. Combs, 55, had pleaded not guilty to all five counts. His lawyers acknowledged that the Bad Boy Records founder, once famed for hosting lavish parties for the cultural elite in luxurious locales like the Hamptons and Saint-Tropez, was at times violent in his domestic relationships. But they said the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual. The seven-week trial in Manhattan federal court exposed the inner workings of Combs’ business empire and gave the 12-member jury an intimate look into his volatile romantic relationships with the rhythm and blues singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a woman known in court by the pseudonym Jane. Ventura sued Combs in November 2023 for sex trafficking, the first of dozens of civil lawsuits accusing him of abuse. Combs, also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy and once feted for turning artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, settled with Ventura for $20 million. He has denied all wrongdoing. At the trial, jurors saw surveillance footage from 2016 showing Combs kicking and dragging Ventura in the hallway of an InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles, where she said she was trying to leave a “Freak Off.” Jane later testified that Combs in June 2024 attacked her and directed her to perform oral sex on a male entertainer, even though she told him she did not want to. That alleged attack took place a month after Combs apologized on social media for his 2016 attack of Ventura, footage of which had been broadcast on CNN. According to prosecutors, physical violence was just one way Combs compelled Ventura and Jane to take part in the performances – an act of coercion they say amounts to sex trafficking because the male escorts were paid. Both women testified that he threatened to withhold financial support and to leak sexually explicit images of them if they refused to comply. “The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” prosecutor Christy Slavik said in her closing argument on June 26. “He doesn’t take no for an answer.” Combs’ defense lawyers argued that while Combs may have committed domestic violence in the context of volatile romantic partnerships, his conduct did not amount to sex trafficking. They argued that Ventura and Jane were strong, independent women who voluntarily took part in the sexual performances because they wanted to please Combs. Both women testified they spent time with Combs and took part in sexual performances after he beat them. Defense lawyers argued that Ventura and Jane were retrospectively accusing Combs of forcing their participation in the performances because they were jealous he was seeing other women. “If he was charged with domestic violence, we wouldn’t all be here,” Combs’ defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said in his closing argument on June 27. “He did not do the things he’s charged with.” RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY Besides Ventura and Jane, jurors also heard testimony from Combs’ former personal assistants who said their jobs included setting up hotel rooms for “Freak Offs” and buying their boss drugs. An InterContinental security guard testified that Combs, in the presence of his chief of staff, paid him $100,000 to hand over what he thought was the only copy of the surveillance tape of his attack on Ventura. And Scott Mescudi, the rapper known as Kid Cudi, told jurors Combs was likely involved in an arson on his car after Combs found out he was romantically involved with Ventura. According to prosecutors, those were all acts Combs and his associates undertook in furtherance of a racketeering conspiracy whose aim was, in part, to facilitate his abuse and keep evidence of his wrongdoing under wraps. The defense argued Combs was a successful entrepreneur who used drugs recreationally, but kept his professional and personal lives separate. Combs has been held in federal lockup in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest. Luc Cohen and Jack Queen, Reuters
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In a move clearly meant to celebrate a facility that has raised serious human rights and environmental concerns, online merchants are now selling merchandise that promotes the Everglades-based migrant detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz. The website for the Florida GOP is promoting a shirt, hat, and beverage cooler in support of the quickly constructed, controversial building. The shirt and cooler feature an image of a nondescript building in a swamp with an alligator and snake in front of it. [Screenshot: Florida GOP store] Alligator Alcatraz shirts and hats are also being sold by merchants on Amazon, featuring everything from a buff alligator with a gun to one behind bars for some reason. Theres even one dubbed retro vintage, which features a sunbathing alligator. Fast Company has reached out to the Florida GOP and Amazon for comment. [Screenshot: Amazon] The detention center, meant to hold up to 3,000 beds, has faced backlash from immigrant rights activists, Floridas indigenous community, and countless others, CNN reports. Trump visited the controversial migrant detention center on Tuesday, July 1, alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. A pro-Trump influencer joined the visit and posted on social media that he had received official Alligator Alcatraz merch. [Screenshot: Amazon] Treating the entire experience as amusing rather than evil, Trump emphasized the alligators and snakes surrounding the center. At one point, he stated, Were going to teach them how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison. Dont run in a straight line, according to the New York Times. Yes, thats the American president joking about alligators eating migrants.
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E-Commerce
Donald Trumps Big Beautiful Bill Act has passed through the Senate thanks to Vice President JD Vances tiebreaking vote. But alongside the late-night drama in the chamber this week, another wave of developments has unfolded online. Elon Musk, once President Trumps closest confidante during the early months of his second presidency, has broken his social media silence to criticize what he calls the insane spending bill and has even threatened to launch a competing political party to challenge both Republicans and Democrats. If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2025 The Musk-Trump relationship, once warm, soured last month and has taken a new turn. The president has now threatened to consider deporting the South African businessman over his outspoken opposition. Musk argues the utterly insane and destructive bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country! According to the SpaceX and Tesla CEO, the bill provides handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future. The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future. https://t.co/TZ9w1g7zHF— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 28, 2025 He contends that the bill removes subsidies for electric and clean-fuel vehicles, reduces the value of tax credits for new wind and solar projects, and speeds up the phaseout of existing ones. In doing so, Trump is undermining the United States energy transition toward cleaner fuelscrucial for combating climate change and keeping the American economy competitive. Putting aside the name-calling and dramatic threats that mark any clash between Musk and Trump, some experts agree with Musk. This bill is a huge setback for clean energy development in the United States, says Daniel Cohan, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University. He warns that current decisions risk stalling clean energy growth, while other countries, including China, push forward with renewables. It takes away support for the technologies that matter most for cutting emissionssolar, wind, batteries, and electric carswhile wasting money on ones that don’t, such as biofuels and carbon capture for oil recovery, explains Cohan. Beyond the environmental consequences of cutting subsidies and benefits for clean energy, the bill may have economic impacts likely to concern Trump more directly. One analysis by the Rhodium Group predicts that the bills provisions could cost 300,000 jobs and result in $220 billion in lost clean energy investment in the U.S. by 2030. Still, not everyone agrees with Musk. Musk’s faith in the economic viability and value of unconventional power, and the need to maintain the subsidies and other subventions, is wholly misplaced, says Benjamin Zycher, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank. There are some silver linings for forward-looking energy sectors. The removal of fuel sourcing restrictions and retention of PTCs confirm strong federal support for advanced nuclear technologies, says Julien Dumoulin-Smith, energy analyst at investment bank Jefferies. These provisions are expected to accelerate next-gen reactor deployment and reinforce the value of existing assets. Dumoulin-Smith calls the bill as best an outcome that could have been expected [for renewables] after direct intervention by Trump earlier on renewable credits, though he acknowledges it may still hurt the industry. Whether the bill will damage the countryor Trumps presidencymay depend on how aggressively Musk chooses to fight back. But it could also come down to employment. This bill will reverse progress on bringing clean energy manufacturing and deployment jobs to the United States at a time when China and other countries are dramatically ramping up their efforts, says Cohan, the Rice University professor. For a president fixated on putting America first, that may prove to be the most consequential outcome.
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