For more than two decades, Sean “Diddy” Combs was one of hip-hop’s most opportunistic entrepreneurs, spinning his hitmaking talents into a broad business empire that included a record label, a fashion brand, a TV network, deals with liquor companies and a key role in a reality TV show.
But US prosecutors say that behind the scenes, Combs was coercing and abusing women with help from a network of associates who helped silence victims through blackmail and violence.
Combs has pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations. Jury selection for his trial starts Monday (May 5).
Here is a timeline of major events in his rise and fall:
1990: Combs, then a student at Howard University, gets his start in the music business with an internship at Uptown Records in New York.
Dec 28, 1991: Nine people die at a celebrity basketball game promoted by Combs and the rapper Heavy D when thousands of fans try to get into a gym at the City College of New York. A mayoral report lays part of the blame for the catastrophe on poor planning by Combs.
1992: Combs is one of the executive producers on What’s the 411?, the debut album by Mary J Blige.
1993: After being fired by Uptown, Combs establishes his own label, Bad Boy, which quickly cuts a lucrative deal with Arista Records.
1994: Bad Boy releases Notorious BIG’s album Ready to Die. Two months later, Tupac Shakur survives a shooting in New York and accuses Combs and Biggie of having prior knowledge of the attack, which they deny. Shakur was later killed in a 1996 shooting in Las Vegas.
1996: Combs is convicted of criminal mischief after he allegedly threatened a photographer with a gun.
1997: Biggie is killed in Los Angeles. Combs, then known as Puff Daddy, releases I’ll be Missing You in honour of his slain star.
1998: Combs wins two Grammys, one for best rap album for his debut No Way Out and another for best rap performance by a duo or group for I’ll Be Missing You with Faith Evans. Also that year, Combs’ Sean John fashion line is founded.
Apr 16, 1999: Combs and his bodyguards are charged with attacking Interscope Records music executive Steve Stoute in his New York office in a dispute over a music video. Combs is sentenced to an anger management course.
Dec 27, 1999: Combs is arrested on gun possession charges after he and his girlfriend at the time, Jennifer Lopez, fled a shooting that wounded three people at a New York City nightclub. Some witnesses tell police Combs was among the people shooting in the club. He is later charged with offering his driver US$50,000 to claim ownership of the 9mm handgun found in his car.
