Six weeks after Sean "Diddy" Combs was largely acquitted on federal criminal charges, the embattled music mogul scored another major courtroom win—this time in a $60 million civil sexual assault lawsuit brought by Sara Rivers, a former contestant on MTV’s Making the Band 2 and member of Da Band. But even as some legal clouds clear, a new set of storms continues to gather around Combs, whose legal troubles have become a near-constant headline in the world of entertainment law.
On August 19, 2025, Billboard reported that a federal judge dismissed 21 of the 22 counts in Rivers' lawsuit, including racketeering, assault and battery, forced labor, and false imprisonment. Rivers had alleged that Combs sexually harassed and groped her during the early 2000s filming of the hit MTV reality show. The judge’s decision leaves only a single count standing, dramatically narrowing the scope of Rivers’ case. Nevertheless, as Billboard points out, “Diddy is hardly out of the woods.”
Despite these recent victories, Combs still faces a daunting legal gauntlet. He remains the subject of dozens of other civil lawsuits, each alleging various forms of sexual misconduct, including rape, sexual assault, and harassment. The sheer volume of litigation paints a picture of a star under siege—one whose legal and public relations battles are far from over.
Meanwhile, another bizarre and high-profile case involving Combs was closed just a day earlier. On August 18, 2025, the Southern District of Florida’s Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks closed a case in which plaintiff Manzaro Joseph alleged that Combs and Latin pop icon Gloria Estefan had secret underground tunnels connecting their Florida homes, supposedly used for trafficking and other criminal activity, according to Complex. The complaint, which included fifteen counts ranging from racketeering and kidnapping to human trafficking, recounted a series of extraordinary claims. Joseph alleged that since 2015, he had been drugged, transported against his will, and sexually maimed as part of what he described as a “coercive and organized criminal enterprise.”
Joseph’s account included being taken to Estefan’s Star Island residence and, from there, through a supposed underground tunnel to Diddy’s former home. He even claimed to have seen celebrities like LeBron James, Jay-Z, and Beyoncé at the residence before being held there. Both Combs and Estefan denied any knowledge of or involvement in such a tunnel, and the court found the evidence supporting Joseph’s claims to be lacking. Judge Middlebrooks questioned the reliability of the plaintiff’s evidence, which included “nondescript stills of a guardhouse and private road” and a “heavily redacted police report” from a date different than the one cited in the complaint.
Despite being cleared on two charges after a seven-week racketeering and trafficking trial in July 2025, Combs was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution. As Complex notes, Combs has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest in September 2024. He faces up to twenty years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for October 3, 2025.
The legal drama surrounding Combs is emblematic of a broader trend in the music industry, where high-profile artists and executives have increasingly found themselves entangled in lawsuits ranging from copyright disputes to allegations of sexual and financial misconduct. Each case, whether dismissed or moving forward, adds another layer of complexity to an industry already grappling with issues of accountability and transparency.
Other recent music law stories reflect this climate. According to Billboard, Young Thug recently won a court ruling that ordered the return of property seized during his Atlanta gang trial—including nearly $150,000 in cash, several cars, and numerous pieces of jewelry—after prosecutors missed key deadlines. The Federal Trade Commission, meanwhile, has launched a crackdown on ticket scalping, targeting brokers accused of using illegal means to purchase over 379,000 event tickets on Ticketmaster, including more than 2,000 for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
Elsewhere, the legal system continues to grapple with the fallout from celebrity misbehavior and industry malfeasance. Music executive Ángel Del Villar was sentenced to four years in prison for conducting business with a concert promoter linked to Mexican drug cartels. In the world of copyright, Cardi B is facing a lawsuit from producers seeking to block her from streaming or monetizing her track “Enough (Miami)” as litigation proceeds. The ongoing saga of Tory Lanez’s appeal over his conviction for shooting Megan Thee Stallion also made headlines, with Lanez’s attorneys arguing that his trial was “riddled with errors.”
Back in the realm of sexual misconduct, the courts have not been kind to those who fail to comply with legal obligations. Jimmie Allen, for example, was judged liable for sexually assaulting and secretly filming a woman in a Las Vegas hotel room after he failed to meet multiple court-imposed deadlines. And in a dramatic twist to the legacy of Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley’s former business partners filed a countersuit alleging she “pulled the plug” on Lisa Marie Presley against her daughter’s wishes—a claim Priscilla’s lawyer called “one of the most shameful, ridiculous, salacious, and meritless lawsuits I have seen in my practice.”
Even the world of music moguls is not immune. David Geffen recently responded to a bombshell abuse lawsuit from his estranged husband, calling the case “a ludicrous and contrived attempt to humiliate Geffen in the court of public opinion and extract an out-of-court settlement.” And Sean Kingston, once a chart-topping artist, was sentenced to over three years in prison for federal wire fraud involving more than $1 million in luxury goods.
As for Combs, the next chapter in his legal saga will be written in October, when he faces sentencing on his remaining criminal convictions. The possibility of a lengthy prison term looms, even as he continues to fight off a barrage of civil lawsuits. For the music industry—and for Combs himself—the coming months promise to be anything but quiet.
While some cases may be dismissed and others settled, the relentless pace of litigation in the world of music serves as a reminder that fame and fortune offer little protection from the long arm of the law. As the courts continue to sift through fact and fiction, one thing is certain: the spotlight on accountability in the entertainment world has never burned brighter.
