Sean “Diddy” Combs’s request to delay his trial has been denied by the court in a new blow to the disgraced rapper.
On Friday, April 18, Judge Arun Subramanian denied Diddy’s lawyers’ request that the trial be delayed by two months, per Us Weekly.
As a result, the trial will begin on its scheduled date, May 5, which coincides with the Met Gala. Jury selection will take place that day, with opening statements expected on Monday, May 12.
The music mogul fell from grace when he was arrested on federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution in September 2024.
The rapper denied all charges, and his attorney Marc Agnifilo said that he was “an imperfect person” but “not a criminal.”
“Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts,” Agnifilo said. “These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Since his arrest, many new civil lawsuits have been brought against Diddy, which allege sexual violence.
This ruling comes after Diddy’s attorneys filed a motion to demand that the trial be delayed by two months so the rapper could get “necessary time to prepare his defense” after a third revised indictment was filed.
His legal team argued that there’s “substantially new conduct” alleged in the revised indictment and that the prosecutors were still producing evidence in one of the counts.
“Under these circumstances … we cannot, in good conscience, go to trial on the scheduled date,” Diddy’s lawyers argued. “This is a problem that the government has created, yet it opposes our reasonable request.”