Brooklyn Beckham has declared he has no interest in reconciling with his parents, David and Victoria Beckham, accusing them of trying to “endlessly ruin [his] relationship” with wife Nicola Peltz, sabotaging their wedding, and attempting to control the media narrative around the family’s fallout. 

“I have been silent for years and made every effort to keep these matters private,” Brooklyn wrote in a series of Instagram Stories on Monday. “Unfortunately, my parents and their team have continued to go to the press, leaving me with no choice but to speak for myself and tell the truth about only some of the lies that have been printed. I do not want to reconcile with my family. I’m not being controlled, I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life.”

Brooklyn’s candid post is the latest escalation in the now very public feud between the 26-year-old and his superstar British parents, which has seen the family members noticeably absent from each other’s milestone events, blocked on social media, and rumors of legal notices being fired off. 

Rolling Stone has reached out to a representative for the Beckhams for comment. 

The aspiring chef seemed to tie the start of their astonishing rift to his Palm Beach wedding to Peltz in April 2022. Weeks ahead of the over-the-top affair, which was estimated to have cost upwards of $3 million, Brooklyn claimed his parents “repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name … they were adamant on me signing before my wedding date because then the terms of the deal would be initiated. My holdout affected the payday, and they never treated me the same since.” 

Brooklyn also claimed his mother, Victoria, who rose to fame as Posh in the iconic girl group the Spice Girls and has since become a celebrated fashion designer, “cancelled” making Peltz’s dress “in the eleventh hour … forcing her to urgently find a new dress.” On the day of the wedding, Brooklyn claimed Victoria further “humiliated” the newlyweds by “hijacking” his first dance with Peltz. 

He also accused his father, David, of ignoring a week’s worth of the couple’s attempts to spend “quality time” with the soccer legend to celebrate his 50th birthday last May. “He refused all of our attempts, unless it was at his big birthday party with a hundred guests and cameras at every corner,” Brooklyn wrote. “When he finally agreed to see me, it was under the condition that Nicola wasn’t invited. It was a slap in the face. Later, when my family travelled to LA, they refused to see me at all.” 

“My wife has been consistently disrespected by my family, no matter how hard we’ve tried to come together as one,” Brooklyn added. “My family values public promotion and endorsements above all else. Brand Beckham comes first. Family ‘love’ is decided by how much you post on social media, or how quickly you drop everything to show up and pose for a family photo opp, even if it’s at the expense of our professional obligations.”

Brooklyn said he’s lived with overwhelming anxiety for a majority of his life, but after “stepping away from my family, that anxiety has disappeared,” saying he has since found “peace and relief.” 

From Rolling Stone US.

The post Brooklyn Beckham Accuses Parents of Trying to ‘Ruin’ His Marriage: ‘I Do Not Want to Reconcile With My Family’ appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

A$AP Rocky ditched plans to hold an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit ahead of the release of his new album Don’t Be Dumb after moderators indicated they were having difficulty approving his account.

“WAS GON DO AMA , FUK IT NOW,” Rocky posted on the Q&A thread Monday. “YALL MODS ARE CLOWNS.” 

One of the subreddit’s moderators apologized to Rocky and blamed the snafu on having problems granting Rocky access to the page, acknowledging they “fucked up” the AMA. “We sent you a mod invite so this doesn’t happen again,” a moderator explained. “Shit got caught in the reddit spam filter even tho we approved your account. Everyone feel free to roast us in the comments, we goofed up, nobody is gonna get banned.”

Rocky is currently rolling out promotion for his fourth studio album, which drops Friday. His first single, “Punk Rocky,” premiered earlier this month, along with a music video featuring Winona Ryder, Thundercat, and Danny Elfman. On Monday, he released a chaotic and trippy music video for his second single, “Helicopter.” 

The rapper teamed up with creative visionary Tim Burton for the long-awaited album, with Burton designing parts of the cover artwork and directing a film that accompanies the record. 

Speaking to Perfect magazine about what’s taken him nearly eight years to follow up 2018’s Testing, Rocky said he’s in the pursuit of perfection and is focused on building a legacy for himself. “That’s why I’m not so eager to just drop, drop, drop,” he explained. “I don’t do things to just try and stay relevant, or keep my name in the conversation. I try to do natural things, creative, ambitious things that really satisfy me.”

From Rolling Stone US.

The post A$AP Rocky Ditches Reddit AMA Ahead of Album Release appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

Trevor Noah will serve as this year’s Grammy Awards host, marking the sixth time the stand-up comedian has had the honor of being the master of ceremonies for music’s biggest night.

It’s also the “final” time the former Daily Show host will helm the awards show, which will be held on Sunday, February 1, airing live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. 

Noah has become the ceremony’s go-to comedian since 2021, peppering his opening monologue with some light-hearted jabs at some of the night’s honorees as well as delivering harsh critiques of the Trump administration. 

“I am beyond thrilled to welcome Trevor Noah back to host the Grammys for his sixth, and sadly, final time,” executive producer, Ben Winston of Fulwell Entertainment, told Variety. “He’s been the most phenomenal host of the show. He’s so smart, so funny, and such a true fan of the artists and music. His impact on the show has been truly spectacular, and we can’t wait to do it together one last time.”

The 2026 Grammy Awards will see Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Leon Thomas, Clipse, and Tyler, the Creator contend for Album of the Year. The ceremony has also revived the Best Album Cover category, with Tyler, the Creator and Bad Bunny also going head-to-head for the honor. 

From Rolling Stone US.

The post Trevor Noah to Host the 2026 Grammy Awards for the ‘Final Time’ appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

Sean Combs personally wrote a letter to President Donald Trump asking for a pardon after the Bad Boy Entertainment founder was sentenced to just over four years in prison, according to The New York Times. 

Trump — who used to be friendly with Combs on the social circuit of New York City in the 1990s and 2000s — didn’t seem too moved by the 56-year-old’s plight, stating he was not considering the request. 

It is not clear what Combs said in the letter nor when it was sent, but Trump floated the idea of showing the letter to a room of reporters on Wednesday. A representative for Combs declined to comment.

Combs directly reaching out to Trump is the latest escalation in the music mogul’s bid to secure his freedom after he was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution charges in July. The charges were borne out of a sprawling sex trafficking and racketeering case, in which Combs was ultimately acquitted of the most serious charges. However, a jury found him liable for paying male sex workers to travel across state lines for “freak-offs” with his girlfriends. 

Last month, Combs appealed the decision, accusing U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian of acting like a “thirteenth juror” during October’s sentencing. Combs’ legal team claimed defendants who are found guilty of the Mann Act “typically get sentenced to less than 15 months for these offenses — even when coercion, which the jury didn’t find here, is involved.” 

But Subramanian noted he was taking into consideration the “massive” amount of evidence pertaining to “the abuse in connection with freak-offs and hotel nights” when determining Combs’ prison sentence of 50 months. 

“The court rejects the defense’s attempt to characterize what happened here as merely intimate, consensual experiences, or just a sex, drugs, and rock and roll story,” Subramanian said when handing down Combs’ sentence. “A history of good works can’t wash away the record in this case, which showed that you abused the power and control that you had over the lives of women you professed to love dearly. You abused them physically, emotionally, and psychologically. And you used that abuse to get your way, especially when it came to freak-offs and hotel nights. The defense’s argument that all of this was unrelated to the offense conduct in this case doesn’t hold up.” 

Rolling Stone reported in May that Combs had been laying the groundwork for a pardon soon after his arrest in September 2024, his inner circle cozying up to people in Trump’s orbit soon after the November presidential election. And when Combs was acquitted of the most serious charges over the summer, his team ramped up their efforts. They began touching base with Trumpworld political operatives, lobbyists, and key players to try and secure their assistance in earning a pardon from Trump, floating sums in the mid-six-figure range if they agreed to help, according to Washington sources.  

“He’s willing to do anything to get out of jail,” a source who has known Combs for a decade previously told Rolling Stone. “He’s always been this way. He’s always going to do what he has to do to get out of a situation.”

This article was updated on Thursday, January 8, at 7:40 p.m. to include Combs’ team response for comment..

From Rolling Stone US.

The post Sean Combs Wrote Personal Letter to Trump Asking for Pardon: Report appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

The documentarian hired to film Sean “Diddy” Combs over the past two years has shed light on how Netflix obtained behind-the-scenes footage of Combs in the days leading up to his arrest.

Michael Oberlies squashed online rumors of there being a “fee dispute or contract issue,” instead claiming 50 Cent and the director of Sean Combs: The Reckoning seemingly wound up with the footage because he hired a freelancer to briefly fill in for him.

“For over two years, we have been working on a project profiling Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs,” Oberlies says in a statement provided to Rolling Stone. “The footage in question was not released by me or anyone authorized to handle Sean Combs’ materials; it was by a third party who covered for me for three days while I was out of state. This incident had nothing to do with any fee dispute or contract issue. The actions of the parties involved reflect the lack of integrity every storyteller should uphold. Taking footage intended for our project to advance a narrative that was not our own is both unethical and unacceptable.”

How Netflix obtained the jaw-dropping footage for the four-episode documentary has been a dominating theme surrounding the project. Director Alexandria Stapleton and Netflix have been adamant the footage was “legally obtained,” they said in previous statements. 

Cameras show Combs at his Park Hyatt hotel room in New York City on Sept. 10, 2024 — just six days before he was arrested. (The 56-year-old was acquitted of the more serious charges in July, but was sentenced to 50 months in prison after being found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution charges.) 

Though relatively brief, the footage gives an unprecedented look into Combs’ inner sanctum. In the process of filming his own potential documentary, Combs instructs his criminal defense attorney Marc Agnifilo to forget about only appearing on CNN to pump out his narrative, but to find “somebody that has dealt in the dirtiest of dirtiest, dirty business of media and propaganda” to target potential jurors on Instagram and TikTok. 

He gives pointers to the apparent fill-in videographer, telling them to get “cutaway shots” of police officers who happen to be on a nearby roof. Combs hugs and smiles with fans at a local Harlem bar, but once back in his SUV, Combs laughs about needing hand sanitizer and wanting to take a hot bath because he’s “been out in the streets amongst the people.” 

Combs was also seen raging in real time when he learned of former Danity Kane and Diddy-Dirty Money artist Dawn Richard’s sexual harassment lawsuit against him, declaring the “gloves are off.” He directed people in his camp, including his adult son Justin, to circulate old clips of Richard praising him in interviews. He also called in a favor from Diddy-Dirty Money member Kalenna Harper, begging her to release a statement disputing Richard’s claims. During pretrial hearings, Southern District of New York prosecutors pointed to Combs’ repeated calls and texts to Harper as a form of witness tampering. (Harper eventually released a statement. Combs’ attorneys denied the accusation.) 

Oberlies has worked with Combs since at least 2019. A resident personal photographer for the music mogul, the 36-year-old captured Combs’ star-studded 50th birthday at his Los Angeles house, documented him as he recorded 2023’s The Love Album: Off the Grid, and even accompanied Combs’ adult sons to court in a show of support when Combs was arraigned on federal sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges on Sept. 17, 2024. (Rolling Stone has reached out to the freelance videographer for comment.)

Combs was seemingly caught off guard that Netflix had obtained the footage, with his team sending a cease-and-desist letter to Netflix before the documentary aired. 

Calling the project a “hit piece,” and accusing the streamer of violating copyright laws if they aired the footage, attorneys for Combs vowed he “has not hesitated to take legal action against media entities and others who violate his rights, and he will not hesitate to do so against Netflix,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by Rolling Stone. (Earlier this year, Combs sued NBCUniversal for $100 million over its documentary Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy. The case is ongoing.)

However, since the documentary aired, Combs has taken no legal action against Netflix. Director Stapleton has previously maintained she obtained the footage “legally” and had the “the necessary rights” to include it. “We moved heaven and earth to keep the filmmaker’s identity confidential,” she said in a statement. “One thing about Sean Combs is that he’s always filming himself, and it’s been an obsession throughout the decades. We also reached out to Sean Combs’ legal team for an interview and comment multiple times, but did not hear back.”

From Rolling Stone US.

The post How Did 50 Cent Get That Sean Combs Footage? Diddy’s Videographer Explains appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

After the shocking murder of the Notorious B.I.G. in March 1997, Sean Combs planned a send-off fit for a king. But once he learned of the steep cost, Combs decided to bill the entire cost of Biggie’s funeral back to his estate, the label’s co-founder alleged in a new Netflix documentary. 

Meanwhile, Combs pretended he was personally paying for the extravagant funeral, Kirk Burrowes said in Sean Combs: The Reckoning, which premiered Tuesday. “He was gonna make the funeral be a recoupable charge to Biggie in death,” Burrowes said. “Sean, doing a big show looks good on him. But he’s not gonna tell the world that Biggie was gonna pay for it.”

The Notorious B.I.G (real name Christopher Wallace), was shot to death in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997 — just six months after his West Coast friend turned rival Tupac Shakur was similarly gunned down in Las Vegas. (Wallace’s murder remains unsolved, while known L.A. gang leader Duane “Keefe D” Davis is set to stand trial next year for his alleged role in Shakur’s death. He has pleaded not guilty.) 

On March 18, 1997, thousands of fans packed the streets to pay their respects to the Brooklyn rapper, as a hearse with his coffin inside rolled through the borough. The entire Bad Boy family, including Wallace’s wife, Faith Evans, and his group Junior M.A.F.I.A., were in attendance at the star-studded funeral at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel on the Upper East Side. 

Passing off the cost of the funeral was not the only shady move Combs pulled after Wallace’s death, Burrowes claimed. Combs allegedly tried to change some of the terms of Wallace’s recording contract posthumously. 

“Sean wanted me to change the agreement to more favorable terms for Bad Boy, and [Wallace’s] family and mother would not know,” Burrowes said. “And since [Wallace] had signed the agreement, [Combs] wanted those changes to come from out of the center of the agreement and have those pages replaced with the other terms. I said, ‘That’s not right. I’m not doing it.’” A few months later, Burrowes was fired. 

And when it came to a Rolling Stone cover opportunity in 1997, Combs advocated for himself while Burrowes pushed for Wallace. “I was telling Sean, ‘Let’s make it Biggie. You still have a chance [for a cover in the future],’” Burrowes previously told Rolling Stone. “He’s like ‘No, he’s dead. I’m putting out [Combs’ debut album, No Way Out] in July. I need to be on the cover of Rolling Stone.”

From Rolling Stone US.

The post Sean Combs Charged the Notorious B.I.G.’s Funeral Back to Rapper’s Estate, Bad Boy Co-Founder Says appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

Days after Florence and the Machine confirmed their long-awaited sixth studio album, Everybody Scream, the band dropped the title track and its accompanying music video Wednesday.

In the spellbinding visual, Florence Welch appears in a crimson-red dress as she stomps through an eerie landscape before barging into a room, sending everyone into a possessed state. “But look at me run myself ragged,” she bellows. “Blood on the stage/But how can I leave you when you’re screaming my name?”

The lead single was written by Welch, Idles guitarist Mark Bow, and Mitski, and the music video directed by Emma’s Autumn de Wilde. 

Everybody Scream will drop on Oct. 31. The 12-song album is available for pre-order on the band’s website. A special edition “Chamber Version” is also up for for grabs, promising “four exclusive” versions of tracks from the album.  

Although this is Florence and the Machine’s first studio album since 2022’s Dance Fever, they’ve continued to release music. In 2023, they recorded “Mermaids” and for the Yellowjackets soundtrack, released a cover of No Doubt’s “Just a Girl.” 

From Rolling Stone US.

The post Florence and the Machine Drop Spellbinding ‘Everybody Scream’ Video appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford said he was rocked by Ozzy Osbourne’s death last month, admitting he “just curled up in a ball and bawled my eyes out for hours” after receiving the devastating news. 

“I just couldn’t believe it,” Halford said in an interview with Detroit radio station WRIF’s Talkin’ Rock with Meltdown. “I still can’t believe it now. I’m still grieving, like so many people.” 

Osbourne died of a heart attack aged 76 on July 22. Fans filled the streets of the Black Sabbath singer’s hometown of Birmingham for his funeral on July 30, chanting his name and playing the heavy metal band’s music in the streets.

Halford said the day after Osbourne’s death, Judas Priest was booked to play a show. Wanting to pay tribute to the icon who had a “larger-than-life personality,” Halford said they played ‘Giants in the Sky’ from the band’s Invincible Shield album.

“That song talks about people that we love in music that have moved on to this beautiful place,” Halford explained. “And then for that show, we added Ozzy at the end.”

Unable to make Osbourne’s farewell show in early July, Halford said he couldn’t quite remember the last conversation he had with the rocker. “We used to text occasionally,” he said. “It’s been a while since we’ve been in touch. But again, I just have the wonderful memories of the two opportunities I was able to sing for him with Sabbath. And then this recent opportunity to cover ‘War Pigs’, which we still play at the start of our show, which is one of the greatest metal songs ever written. So that connection will never be severed in that respect.” 

Osbourne’s cause of death was revealed earlier this month. A death certificate confirmed he died of a heart attack “out of hospital,” and listed “coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease” as joint causes. 

On Monday, a BBC documentary following Osbourne in his final years was pulled hours before its scheduled premiere. A BBC spokesperson told Rolling Stone: “The film has moved in the schedules and we’ll confirm new tx [transmission] details in due course.

From Rolling Stone US.

The post Judas Priest’s Rob Halford ‘Curled Up In a Ball And Bawled’ After Ozzy Osbourne’s Death appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

The Morning Show’s journalists and executives are back to boardroom scheming and digging for the truth in a new trailer for the Apple TV+ show’s fourth season. 

The drama series starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon picks up two years after the events of Season Three. With the contentious merger between UBA and NBN now complete, “the newsroom must grapple with newfound responsibility, hidden motives and the elusive nature of truth in a polarized America,” reads an official synopsis.

“In a world rife with deepfakes, conspiracy theories and corporate cover-ups — who can you trust? And how can you know what’s actually real,” it adds.

The season will follow anchor Bradley Jackson (Witherspoon) as she investigates a potential environmental violation cover-up at the hands of her parent company.

It seems things will come to a head when Alex Levy (Aniston) tries to interfere. “I’m shutting the story down,” Alex says. A defiant Bradley responds, “I have to do this, whether you like it or not.”

Set to reprise their roles in the new season are Jon Hamm, Billy Crudup, Karen Pittman, Greta Lee, and Mark Duplass, with Marion Cotillard, Aaron Pierre, and Boyd Holbrook joining the star-studded cast. 

The new season of The Morning Show will premiere on Sept. 17. 

From Rolling Stone US.

The post ‘The Morning Show’ Returns With More Cover-Ups and Scheming in New Season 4 Trailer appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

Follow all of our Sean Combs trial coverage

Sean Combs has been acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges, the hip-hop mogul dropping to his knees, praying and thanking God after the jury shuffled out of the room Wednesday morning.

While the 55-year-old was acquitted on the more serious charges, Combs was found guilty on lesser felony charges of transportation to engage in prostitution. “I’m going home,” Combs mouthed to his weeping family members.

From the moment Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed her bombshell sex trafficking lawsuit against him in November 2023, which led to his arrest on the same allegation last September, Combs has adamantly maintained his innocence. High-powered defense attorneys for the Bad Boy Records boss did not shy away from his brutal and frequent violence towards Ventura, but repeatedly emphasized that “domestic violence is not sex trafficking.” 

Facing life in prison if convicted of racketeering conspiracy, Combs put his hand over his face and bowed his head with relief as the first “not guilty” count was read aloud. His family, who have stood by his side throughout, gasped aloud before breaking out into cheers. As the jury left, Combs clasped his hands and, gesturing towards the jury, said, “Thank you, thank you.”

The prostitution conviction could land Combs in prison for up to 20 years, with each charge carrying a possible sentence of up to 10 years. (He could have faced up to life in prison if convicted on the more serious charges.) Legal experts, however, have noted that the actual sentence could be less severe, especially since Combs had no prior criminal record. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

More immediately pressing was Judge Arun Subramanian’s decision on whether to remand Combs back into custody or to release him on bond as he awaits sentencing. Prosecutors raised concerns that Combs would “flagrantly disregard orders from this court” if released. They cited evidence presented during the trial that Combs “continued to commit a litany of crimes” — such as alleged abuse and drug use — even after he knew he was under federal investigation.

“This is very, very serious conduct,” said lead prosecutor, Maurene Comey, who also expressed concerns that Combs would “commit new crimes” and be a flight risk.

Combs’ attorneys, however, have argued he should be released today on “appropriate conditions.” Lawyer Marc Agnifilo said, “Mr. Combs has been given his life by this jury,” adding that his client would be “nothing short of a fool” to violate a court order. “He will not run afoul of anything this court imposes on him,” Agnifilo said.

Subramanian will make a decision on Combs’ release later today, with both sides asked to submit letters to the judge on the matter by 1 p.m. ET.

The verdict was read aloud to a packed courtroom after a group of eight men and four women took 13 hours to deliberate. The panel had largely made up their minds by Tuesday evening, telling Subramanian they had reached verdicts on the sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution charges related to Ventura and an ex-girlfriend who testified under the name “Jane.” 

However, they said they were “unable” to agree on the racketeering conspiracy charge due to “unpersuadable opinions on both sides.” But after Subramanian instructed the jury to continue deliberating, they returned a final verdict the next day. 

The three days of deliberation followed seven weeks of grueling and emotional testimony from 34 government witnesses. During closing arguments last week, lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo choked back tears and accused the government of unfairly targeting Combs in a broad overreach of power. Prosecutors, Agnifilo alleged, used Ventura’s lawsuit as springboard to pry into Combs’ private life and slap him with criminal statutes based on his untraditional sexual preferences. 

In what was described as the busy mogul’s “personal time” and “release,” Combs would film his girlfriends having days-long sexual encounters with male escorts. He allegedly treated the sessions as his personal adult film sets, filling hotel rooms with designer candles, choreographing the sequences of events, and giving instructions on what should happen next. 

Prosecutors claim Combs kept Ventura and Jane high on a buffet of drugs, particularly ecstasy, and refused to hear “no” when they tried to avoid participating in the freak-offs. In a years-long pattern, Combs allegedly manipulated and forced the women to submit to his sexual desires through physical force, coercion, and/or threats of financial harm and to release the women’s explicit tapes.

Flipping between outrage and incredulity, Agnifilo made light of the so-called “freak-offs” that were the heart of the government’s case against Combs. “You want to call it swingers, you want to call it threesomes, whatever you want to call it, that’s what it is. That’s what the evidence shows,” Agnifilo said of Combs hiring male escorts to have sex with his girlfriends. “He wouldn’t think in a million years that there’s anything wrong with it.” 

The jury seemed to agree, acquitting Combs of sex trafficking Ventura and Jane. He was also cleared of using a team of high-ranking staffers, security members and “young and eager” personal assistants that were more akin to foot soldiers as part of a racketeering conspiracy.

Combs appeared confident throughout the trial, so much so that his high-powered defense team did not put on any witnesses when presenting their defense. Instead, his attorneys read aloud a series of texts between Ventura and Combs, where the R&B singer seemingly expressed eagerness about the days-long, drug-fueled encounters. Within 25 minutes, they rested, confident the evidence — or lack thereof — was in their favor.  

The government claimed that from 2004 up until his September 2024 arrest, Combs was the leader of a racketeering conspiracy that largely revolved around his sex life with his girlfriends. As part of the enterprise, Combs and his alleged co-conspirators were accused of carrying out crimes at their boss’ direction, including three separate instances of kidnapping; firebombing Kid Cudi’s car over the musician’s fling with Ventura; bribing a hotel employee with $100,000 to make damning footage of Combs attacking Ventura disappear; witness tampering and drug distribution, among others. 

Throughout the alleged racketeering conspiracy, Combs was sex trafficking his girlfriends, prosecutors alleged, first with Ventura between 2009 and 2018, and then Jane between January 2021 and September 2024. He allegedly paid for male escorts to fly in from various cities to join him in Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Turks and Caicos, paying them in cash after the men had sex with his girlfriends. 

This is not the first time Combs has emerged victorious from a criminal trial where the weight of the law seemed stacked against him. The man who was known to wear a gold Lazarus chain was facing 15 years in prison over his alleged role in a 1999 nightclub shooting — his future ascent to running a billion-dollar empire hanging in the balance. But he walked free in March 2001, hugging his mother Janice outside a courthouse just a few blocks away from the federal courthouse where Combs is about to depart.  

And although no criminal charges were ever filed, New York City officials were pointing fingers at a 22-year-old Combs for his part in promoting and overselling a charity basketball game at City College of New York in December 1991 where nine people died in a stampede. After issuing apologies and settling several civil lawsuits, the tragedy became a footnote in Combs’ legacy as he went on to found his iconic label Bad Boy Records in 1993 and discover The Notorious B.I.G. 

Combs still faces more than 50 civil lawsuits. Ventura’s lawsuit, which was settled for $20 million within 24 hours, sparked a tidal wave of similar allegations from both men and women. The alleged sexual assaults were sprinkled throughout Combs’ three-decade career beginning in 1990 and as recently as July 2024, as models, music industry figures, and people who had one-off encounters claim Combs preyed on them.  

Combs had vehemently denied all accusations of sexual assault. “Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor,” his legal team has previously said in a statement.

This story is developing…

From Rolling Stone US.

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