Can Diddy’s Career Survive His Verdict? What the Music Industry Is Saying

Sean “Diddy” Combs scored a major legal victory this week as he managed to avoid the most serious of the sex trafficking and racketeering allegations in his criminal trial, leaving those in the music business questioning how an industry with a notoriously murky past in handling abusive behavior is going to move forward. 

“I’m tired of living in a world where money, power, misogyny and patriarchy continues to win,” Tiffany Red, a prominent music industry advocate and a close friend of Cassie Ventura’s wrote on Instagram after the verdict went out Wednesday. 

The chances of Combs’ image itself being significantly rehabilitated seems slim, given that violent, abusive behavior was caught on camera and aired to millions of people around the world. And Combs still faces a litany of civil suits that will continue to follow him for the foreseeable future. Whatever career he has to return to comes with a significant asterisk.

It’s early to know what, if any opportunity would even be possible for Combs in the future. Combs faced weeks of brutal testimony from witnesses including Ventura and Kid Cudi, and his acquittal came from what observers are calling an overreach from the prosecution on his charges. He was denied bail on Wednesday, keeping him jailed through his sentencing in October. And his two transportation to engage in prostitution convictions could carry a maximum 20-year sentence, though it’s unclear what his official length of punishment will be. 

Prison time aside, Combs likely will never hold any of the same mainstream appeal or success he had before the allegations surfaced. But if there’s a business where besmirched image may not disqualify you from  some level of return, insiders say, it’d be music. Despite years of attempted cultural shifts in the post MeToo era, the fear of retaliation over these issues still looms large in the music business. Seven different executives who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter for this article all requested anonymity citing fear of retaliation or a desire to protect their relationships in the industry. 

“He’s a monster. And the reality is the music industrial complex has protected him for decades,” says one music entrepreneur. 

Adds one longtime communications executive who has worked with several major entertainment companies: “The music industry is lawless, and people have very short memories,” she says. “Artists are given license. Rock and roll has always been a dirty game, it’s always been sex, drugs and rock and roll. You’ve always had bad boys, bad behavior. It was glorified, it wasn’t punished. It’s built into the roots of the business.” 

Indeed the music business, perhaps even more than the broader entertainment industry, has a spotty history with how it handles controversies among its stars and high-powered executives. While the commercial results vary, there’s few artists who’ve been completely blacklisted from the business following allegations of abuse or bad behavior . 

Chris Brown pled guilty to assaulting ex-girlfriend Rihanna back in 2009, an infamous case that tarnishes Brown’s reputation to this day. And despite numerous criminal and civil allegations of violent behavior — including an arrest in England back in May over an incident where he hit a producer over the head with a tequila bottle — he remains one of the most popular artists in the business, releasing eight major label albums since then (all of which have debuted in the top-10) and currently selling out stadiums in his ongoing tour. 

After CAA dropped Kanye West as a client following the controversial rapper’s first antisemitic meltdown in 2022, he managed to find new representation for bookings with 33 & West before that booking agency decided to drop him earlier this year when he started saying his hateful remarks again. 

Seven women — including indie superstar Phoebe Bridgers — came forward to the New York Times in 2019 about allegations of retaliation against Ryan Adams if they spurned his sexual advances, with the singer denying the allegations at the time and issuing an apology in 2020. Adams is certainly less popular now, though he’s still securing tour dates, including at an upcoming show at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium in August.

“Who can you point to in the industry who has actually been banished for their behavior,” the communications executive asks. “Russell Simmons still goes out to music industry events warmly greeted by his peers. Chris Brown is selling out arenas, Marilyn Manson is still playing shows. There’s R. Kelly maybe, but it only happened after he was put in prison.”

The communications executive says Combs will be a “pariah” for the foreseeable future, and she doesn’t expect he will meaningfully come back as an artist or producer, but adds she believes the industry “will conveniently come back if they think he can make them money.”

“I have no faith that in my career there’s going to be another #MeToo movement, I think it’s over,” the executive says. “What else would it take?”

Another prominent record label founder, who said he’s “always had very good dealings with Puffy” says he doubts Combs could reestablish a career in branding like he had with Diageo, but he hadn’t ruled Combs’ chances with a music company.

“Will he have a career after this? not sure. I guess you have to determine what the prison length is,” the founder says. “I think he’s gonna be sort of persona non grata for a few years but then, if you can provide hits and find talent, it’s the record business. That’s fair game, all’s fair in love and war. I would never count him out, but he’s certainly not going to be embraced for at least the foreseeable future.”

Several others aren’t so confident. 

“I do not think the court of public opinion will be forgiving,” Dr. Ann Olivarius, a prominent attorney focused on sexual harassment and women’s rights, said in a statement Wednesday. “The damage to Diddy’s reputation is real, and demonstrates that the world is watching and survivors matter even if their abusers are powerful.”

One female music executive said that while Combs “can keep putting out music, as a career with a caring audience, he won’t have that anymore.” 

“And you shouldn’t have that anymore,” she says. “Will you really have admiration, superfans and love? I don’t think so. But crazier things have happened, look at Michael Jackson. I don’t know if people will stream him. But new music, I’m sure he’ll have a story to tell.”

One hip-hop and R&B executive says Combs was “over the hill” in his popularity before the allegations began to surface. That coupled with the gruesome video will keep him out of any relevancy going forward, he says. 

“Where do you go after you have a video that comes out of you beating your girlfriend on a hotel floor in front of an elevator,” the A&R says. “Chris Brown was much younger, and people are soon to forget. I don’t know where he goes from here. Hopefully he has to stay in prison for a few years at least. Because if he doesn’t, I feel like it’s almost going to be right back to where it was. He might be more careful about it, right? But he’s still gonna be that guy.”

However the courts rule for Combs’ eventual sentencing, many in the business see the Combs case as just one issue that reflects wider systemic issues in industry. How that’s been handled to this point hasn’t inspired much confidence. 

“Far too many people are guilty of corruption and abuse in the music industry,” Red wrote on Wednesday, “but very few are exposed, and almost none are held accountable.”