Live updates: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial heads to jury

Salacious details, discussion of domestic violence and a Black male celebrity who for decades had a strong base of supporters: While the alleged crimes are not the same, some of the cultural issues involved could describe both the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs in 2025 and that of OJ Simpson in 1995.

Simpson’s case sparked an era of “trialtainment,” with an abundance of viewers and readers following an exhaustive round-the-clock news cycle, absorbing every detail of the bombshell murder case.

Thirty years later, as the world awaits a verdict in Combs’ federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial, interest in celebrity court cases remains high, but public discourse around race and intimate partner violence has changed.

Simpson, who died in April 2024 at the age of 76 following a battle with cancer, was accused of fatally stabbing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. The star football player and actor was acquitted in 1995.

Combs is facing allegations of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. The mogul and music artist has pleaded not guilty.

Read more here about how the coverage of the two cases reflects an evolution in “trialtainment.”