ABC News Launches Diddy Podcast Covering Sex Trafficking Trial
ABC News Launches Diddy Podcast Focused On Covering Sex Trafficking Trial
Diddy‘s legal issues will be turned into an ABC podcast, part of their new true crime audio series. Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy, starts Tuesday, March 25. Six episodes will cover the charges against Sean “Diddy” Combs, 55, and how they came to light. He is awaiting trial in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, and additional episodes will cover it in real-time.
Combs is accused of sex trafficking and racketeering in a case that was initiated after footage of him in a violent altercation with former artist and girlfriend Cassie Ventura surfaced in 2024. This was after he settled a civil case where Ventura accused him of rape and of forced sexual encounters with other men. On a surveillance tape acquired by CNN, Combs was seen physically attacking Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016.
The podcast will be hosted by ABC News legal contributor Brian Buckmire, who will have all the resources of the ABC News organization at his disposal, including the vast network of 20/20 news staff. It introduces ABC’s new true-crime audio podcast series, which will include The Crime Scene Weekly and a narrative show focused on the 2011 murder of Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo.
“ABC Audio has a proven track record of creating gripping and award-winning true crime podcasts, and we’re excited to build on that success in partnership with 20/20 to give listeners more of what they want,” Liz Alesse, VP of ABC Audio, said in a statement. “Our expanded slate of new releases underscores our commitment to delivering powerful, must-listen stories that keep audiences engaged and informed.”
Buckmire is a Brooklyn-based former attorney who worked as a public defender and is now a trial counsel at the New York law firm Hamilton Clarke, working on civil rights and criminal cases.
Jury selection in the Combs trial is set to begin on May 5, and the trial will start on May 12. Last month, prosecutors announced a superseding indictment, alleging forced labor and abusive treatment of his staff. The original indictment has been expanded to include two new accusers and criminal acts dating back four years before the initial allegations.
