Sean “Diddy” Combs stunned onlookers with a dramatic new look in court on Friday, where he appeared “bloated and old,” with significantly graying hair and beard, according to the New York Post,
Reporters described Combs on Friday from inside the Manhattan courtroom where he pleaded not guilty to new indictments stemming from his employees’ accusations that he forced them to work long hours and help with his sex trafficking crimes, with threats and coercion. Combs denied those allegations and his lawyer maintained that the disgraced mogul never forced anyone into sexual activity. Combs was indicted on three counts of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution, and will stand trial in May.
Combs has been held behind bars without bail since he was arrested in New York in September, at the notoriously “hellish” Metropolitan Detention Center, where he will remain until his trial. Multiple reports of murders and suicides have emerged from the jail, but Combs’ lawyers have insisted he’s “doing quite well” under the conditions. In February, the rapper was secretly taken to the hospital for an undisclosed issue with his knee. His biggest complaint so far, according to his lawyer, is the food.
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As easy Combs’ jail times has been portrayed, sketches from inside the courtroom Friday suggest that Combs is undergoing quite a few changes during his time there, with the New York Post reporting that he entered the hearing looking “puffy” with “gray hair and a gray chinstrap beard.” His lawyers argued about jury selection and the inclusion of the infamous hotel video of Combs’ assault on Cassie Ventura, which his defense hopes to deem inadmissible.
Originally Combs’ team argued that CNN, which exclusively obtained the video, had altered it and destroyed the original version. The prosecution revealed Friday, however, that it had obtained an original, unedited version of the footage that it plans to use as evidence against him in trial.
