Diddy makes shock decision as he's offered last-minute plea deal days before his sex crimes trial

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has rejected a last minute plea deal from prosecutors on the eve of his sex crimes trial.

The disgraced hip hop mogul told a court that he did not want to sign the agreement during his pretrial hearing in New York on Thursday.

Prosecutors said that he would have served less time with the plea deal than if he was found guilty – no specifics were read out.

Diddy’s decision means that his trial will move ahead next week with jury selection starting next Monday May 5.

His lawyer Marc Agnifilo told the court that he and Diddy had discussed the agreement with him and ‘came to a decision’ together.

Diddy was asked to stand by Judge Arun Subramanian who asked him if he had read the plea deal offer.

A court sketch shows a graying Combs at his pretrial hearing where he was sat alongside lawyers Marc Agnifilio and Teny Geragos last week

The disgraced music mogul rejected a last-minute plea deal during a pretrial hearing on Thursdau

‘I have, your honor’, he said.

When the judge asked if he had ‘rejected the plea offer’. Diddy replied: ‘Yes I did, your honor’.

Diddy came into court wearing the usual prison issue, tan-colored top and pants: he will have to wait until Monday to wear his own clothes in front of the jury.

He was holding a black folder filled with documents and hugged his lawyers, fist bumping with one female attorney, Teny Geragos, and exchanging smiles with her.

He waved to a man in the public gallery but nobody from his family was present, unlike previous hearing.

Diddy put on some black glasses as he worked through the legal documents, reading intently as he flipped through one filing. He also needed them to read something on Geragos’ computer when she showed it to him.

The rapper’s hearing comes after his legal team had asked the judge to muzzle other attorneys from commenting on the disgraced Bad Boy mogul’s case ahead of next week’s trial.

In a letter filed Tuesday, Combs’ attorneys said despite their prior request for a gag order, several attorneys who represent alleged victims and witnesses continue to muddy the jury pool with ‘negative publicity’ towards their client.

Combs’ team specifically named Douglas Wigdor, who represents Comb’s ex Cassie Ventura, for speaking to the media.

‘Absent a Court order, we expect the publicity to not only continue, but escalate as trial commences,’ they wrote in the letter to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian.

‘Indeed in recent weeks, lawyers for government witnesses have commented on pretrial litigation and continued to broadcast prejudicial statements.’

They pointed to Wigdor’s comments concerning Combs’ request to keep the surveillance video of the rapper pulling and dragging Ventura by the hair inside a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016 as she tried to escape.

Earlier this week, a judge allowed the music mogul to wear his own clothes to his trial.

Diddy’s lawyers made the application for him to wear clothes other than those from the grim Metropolitan Detention Center, where he is being held, to Judge Arun Subramanian

Diddy has already made one major change to his appearance since his arrest: he has allowed his hair to go gray and white. Pictured: Combs sits at the defense table during his pretrial conference next to Teny Geragos, member of his defense team on April 25

The disgraced hip hop mogul can ditch the prison issue, tan colored top and pants next week when jury selection begins and for the remainder of the case.

But the judge set certain conditions on Diddy, who has designed his own clothing range and once won a prestigious fashion industry award.

He can only have up to five pairs of pants, shirts and socks and only two pairs of shoes – with no laces.

There was no mention of jewelry so Diddy may be able to bring the bling if he wanted.

Diddy, 55, whose real name is Sean Combs, denies sex trafficking and other charges.

Jury selection at the federal court in New York is due to begin on May and opening statements on May 12.

Diddy’s lawyers made the application for him to wear clothes other than those from the grim Metropolitan Detention Center, where he is being held, to Judge Arun Subramanian.

In his ruling, the judge said: ‘The defendant Sean Combs, Inmate # 37452-054, will be permitted to receive non-prison clothing at the MDC to wear for his trial scheduled to begin on May 5, 2025.

‘He is permitted to have up to five button down shirts, up to five pairs of pants, up to five sweaters, up to five pairs of socks, and up to two pairs of shoes without laces to wear to court’.

Before his fall from grace Diddy was considered one of the most fashionable men on the planet.

His high point came in 2004 when he won the Council of Fashion Designers of America award for his own fashion line, Sean John, which came to prominence in the ‘Bad Boy’ era in the 1990s and was worn by Paris Hilton and Rihanna among others.

A feature in Vogue magazine in 2019 to mark Diddy’s 50th birthday said it was ‘hard to overstate the sartorial impact’ he had in the fashion world.