Sean 'Diddy' Combs Pleads Not Guilty to New Charges as Attorneys Ask to Question Jurors About Sex, Drugs and Violence

Sean “Diddy” Combs has pleaded not guilty to new sex crime charges against him.

In a new indictment made public by federal prosecutors on Friday, April 4, Combs, 55, was charged with one more count each of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, per court documents obtained by PEOPLE at the time. The new charges are related to a plaintiff referred to as Victim-2, according to the indictment.

Combs, who was previously charged with three counts, including sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution, is now facing five criminal counts, per the indictment, which was first filed in September 2024.

Combs pleaded not guilty to the expanded indictment during a hearing in Manhattan, N.Y., on Monday, April 14, the Associated Press reported. His legal team has until Wednesday, April 16, to ask for additional time for discovery, which could delay the trial.

“We are a freight train moving toward trial,” Judge Arun Subramanian said during the hearing, according to the AP.

Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo said the defense will likely request a “very short” two-week pause due to concerns over discovery. He said prosecutors didn’t ask a witness to submit 200,000 of her emails, and instead allowed her to provide what she thought was relevant.

For now, jury selection is still scheduled to begin on May 5.

On Friday, April 11, Agnifilo asked Judge Subramanian for permission to question potential jurors about “central issues at the heart of the case,” such as their “connection to drug and alcohol abuse, their connection to domestic violence, their willingness to watch videos with physical assault and videos that are sexually explicit, and their views towards people with multiple sexual partners,” per a letter obtained by PEOPLE.

Agnifolo said in the letter that the trial is related to sensitive and private content that many could be “uncomfortable” speaking about, but may be more “candid” if asked about the issues in a questionnaire. 

Prosecutors, however, said the questionnaire should be as concise as possible, focusing on “issues that relate to for-cause challenges rather than personal information that would only be relevant to peremptory challenges,” per a court doc seen by PEOPLE.

They added that the potential jurors’ questionnaire should avoid “sensitive and personal topics, and should involve the simplest possible questions.”

PEOPLE reached out to Combs’ attorneys for comment.

The new indictment alleges Combs “recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, advertised, maintained, patronized and solicited [Victim-2], and attempted, aided and abetted, and willfully caused [Victim-2], to engage in commercial sex acts, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that Victim-2 was engaging in commercial sex acts as a result of force, fraud, and coercion.”

The new prostitution-related charge is also connected to Victim 2. However, the racketeering case remains the same in the new superseding indictment.

“These are not new allegations or new accusers. These are the same individuals, former long-term girlfriends, who were involved in consensual relationships,” Combs’ attorneys previously told PEOPLE in response to the new counts. “This was their private sex life, defined by consent, not coercion.”

A pretrial conference is scheduled for Friday, April 18. He is being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, and has pleaded not guilty to all claims against him.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.