Sean “Diddy” Combs returned to Manhattan federal court on Friday, to answer to a “forced labor” allegation prosecutors introduced last week in a superseding indictment.
The Bad Boy Entertainment mogul pleaded not guilty to the allegation that he demanded some employees “work long hours with little sleep” or potentially face “physical force.”
Page Six reporter Kyle Schnitzer was in the courtroom, and filed a report saying the jailed music mogul “looked bloated” and appeared to have aged significantly in just a few months. There were no cameras in the courtroom.
Related: New Indictment Alleges Diddy Engaged in ‘Forced Labor’ While Running ‘Criminal Organization’
Sean 'Diddy' Combs court sketch – Friday, March 14 pic.twitter.com/vauH0z5XJa
— ???? The Diddy Docket (@diddydocket) March 15, 2025
Law & Crime Network correspondent Elizabeth Millner offered a similar assessment in a live report after the hearing.
“I feel like Diddy’s appearance was probably the biggest story that happened inside that hearing. There was kind of an astonishing ‘whoa’ when he walked inside that courtroom,” Millner said. “He appeared noticeably grayer; I would even equate it a little bit to Santa Claus.”
She added that the mogul had gained a significant amount of weight since she attended his December hearing.
“Last time he appeared thinner, this time he did kind of pack on the pounds, and I don’t say that in a disrespectful way at all,” Millner explained.
In another development, prosecutors addressed a claim by Diddy’s legal team that CNN used “free editing software” to manipulate the infamous surveillance footage that showed the mogul beating his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
In a March 13 filing, the defense argued that the video should not be allowed as evidence in the case because CNN “substantially altered” the footage and later “destroyed” the original video, which CNN denied.
Prosecutors revealed Friday that they have a copy of the CNN version as well as a recording of the original hotel surveillance video.
Judge Arun Subramanian told the defense and the prosecution to come to a compromise on which video to show jurors.
Subramanian scheduled another pre-trial hearing for April 25. The judge said jury selection will begin May 5, with the trial tentatively scheduled to start on May 12.
Diddy remains jailed in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, after being denied bail by three judges.
The producer and rapper was arrested on Sept. 16, and charged with three federal counts — racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Since then, prosecutors have filed two amended complaints that included new allegations and additional unnamed victims, but no new charges.
Below is the report from the Law & Crime network:
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