2025 Year in Review: Diddy: the Trial, the Controversy, & the Sentencing

For reasons good, bad, ugly, and everything in between, 2025 was one for the books!

As the year draws to a close, That Grape Juice is reflecting on the occasions that rocked – and to some degree – maybe even reshaped the Urban and Pop cultural landscape as we know it.

Next, we’ll revisit Diddy‘s 2025: the trial, the controversy, and the sentencing.

What a whirlwind year for hip-hop mogul Diddy in 2025.

From baby oil jokes to nonstop civil lawsuits, the headlines around Sean Combs never slowed down.

His long-awaited sex trafficking trial officially kicked off on (May 5), with jury selection proving difficult from the start.

The explosive hotel surveillance video showing Diddy assaulting Cassie surfaced—instantly becoming the most liable piece of evidence in the court of public opinion.

While he wasn’t charged for the assault itself, the footage told a story prosecutors hoped would linger with jurors.

Diddy’s defense argued he lacked the mental capacity to carry out the alleged crimes, but testimony painted a darker picture.

The trial pulled back the curtain on the mogul’s private life, including alleged relationships with sex workers and a 2012 overdose incident revealed by Cassie on the stand.

After a 7–8 week trial, the verdict came down on (July 2).

The 55-year-old faced five federal counts: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Then boom…Diddy was found guilty on two prostitution-related charges , carrying a potential 20-year sentence. Though acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking, he was denied bail and remained behind bars awaiting sentencing.

Ultimately, the judge handed down a sentence of four years and two months in federal prison.

Outside the courtroom, the culture weighed in. President Trump weighed in while longtime rival 50 Cent stayed relentless, even releasing a Netflix documentary, ‘Sean Combs: The Reckoning’, that reignited a multi-decade feud.

Now, Diddy is serving his time at Fort Dix, with a projected release set for 2028.

[photo sources: Getty Images/AP Images/ABC]