Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs Trial

Adam Inglis

2025

An exploration of the modern media circus surrounding celebrity trials, where live streamers and influencers jostled alongside legacy news.

Janice Combs, mother of Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, outside the courthouse the day of the verdict.

Members of the Combs family outside the courthouse the day of the verdict.

Members of the Combs family, including D’Lila Combs and her twin sister Jessie James Combs, outside the courthouse the day of the verdict.

Charlie Lucci, longtime friend of Sean “Diddy” Combs, outside the courthouse on the day of the verdict.

Justin Dior Combs, son of Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, exits a family shuttle outside the courthouse.

Diddy supporters and detractors face off outside the courthouse the day of the verdict.

A friend of the Combs family leaves the courthouse the day of the verdict.

Crackhead Barney and Friends stand outside the courthouse the day of the verdict.

Crackhead Barney and Friends, along with other social media influencers, role-play with baby oil in reaction to disbelief over Diddy being acquitted of the most serious charges after the verdict.

Social media influencers, role-play with baby oil in reaction to disbelief over Diddy being acquitted of the most serious charges after the verdict.

Serial provocateur Crackhead Barney and Friends trolls a U.S. Marshal after Diddy was acquitted of the most serious charges following the verdict.

Social media influencers and onlookers react in shock to news that Diddy was acquitted of the most serious charges after the verdict.

Quincy Combs, son of Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, outside the courthouse the day of the verdict.

King Combs, son of Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, leaves the courthouse, followed by his siblings, after the verdict.

Members of the Combs family leave the courthouse after the verdict.

A reporter applies makeup before going on camera outside the courthouse after the verdict.

Reporters gather outside the courthouse after the verdict.

Reporters and onlookers gather outside the courthouse after the verdict.

An artist paints the cityscape near the courthouse as a man looks on.

Brian Steel, from Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ team, talks to reporters outside the courthouse after the verdict. The high-profile attorney previously defended rapper Young Thug in his racketeering case.

Cory, who claims to be Tupac Shakur’s son, stands outside the courthouse the day of the sentencing.

Cory, who claims to be Tupac Shakur’s son, talks to NYPD officers the day of the sentencing.

Cory, who claims to be Tupac Shakur’s son, shows an NYPD detective healed gunshot wounds he says were inflicted by Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and his associates the day of the sentencing.

NYPD officers arrest Cory, who claims to be Tupac Shakur’s son, the day of the sentencing.

Conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley and serial provocateur Crackhead Barney and Friends spar, laugh and face off outside the courthouse the day of the sentencing.

NYPD officers laugh as serial provocateur Crackhead Barney and Friends playfully tries to troll them the day of the sentencing.

Elmo and a friend are among the crowd of onlookers outside the courthouse the day of the sentencing.

Journalist Ashleigh Banfield who reported from inside the courtroom, interviewed by an Inside Edition reporter outside the courthouse the day of the sentencing.

The actor known as Radio Man cycles past the courthouse the day of the sentencing.

Members of the Combs family, Justin Dior Combs, son of Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, leave the courthouse after the sentencing.

Members of the Combs family leave the courthouse after the sentencing.

Prosecution witness, a former exotic dancer known as “The Punisher,” talks to serial provocateur Crackhead Barney and Friends outside the courthouse after the sentencing.

The modern media circus surrounding a celebrity trial: reporters line the street outside the courthouse following the sentencing of Sean “P. Diddy” Combs.

Prosecution witness, a former exotic dancer known as “The Punisher,” discusses his book In Search of Freezer Meat outside the courthouse after the sentencing.

A BBC News journalist reports from outside the courthouse after the sentencing.

Members of Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ legal team, including Nicole Westmoreland, Alexandra Shapiro, Brian Steel and Marc Agnifilo, stand outside the courthouse after the sentencing.

Several members of Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ legal team talk to reporters outside the courthouse after the sentencing, including Anna Estevao, Nicole Westmoreland, Alexandra Shapiro, Jason Driscoll, Brian Steel and Marc Agnifilo.

Brian Steel, the high-profile attorney who also represented rapper Young Thug, from Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ legal team, leaves the courthouse after the sentencing.

Nicole Westmoreland and Brian Steel, from Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ legal team, talk to a journalist reporting live outside the courthouse after the sentencing.

Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs Trial

2025

Civic Center, Manhattan, New York City

This work confronts the theater of public fascination with celebrity legal spectacle, framing the streets outside the Sean “P Diddy” Combs trial as a site where media, fans, and onlookers collide. It operates through the tension between disciplined observation and spontaneous chaos. Live-streamers stand shoulder to shoulder with television crews beneath the indifferent architecture of Lower Manhattan. These frames probe the oscillation between anticipation and eruption, the sidewalk functioning as both arena and observation deck.

The images unfold through a choreography of visual cues, capturing moments that are at once intimate and performative. Expressions, gestures, and postures signal allegiance, excitement, or even boredom, without commentary, constructing a semiotic field in which every sign contributes to an unspoken narrative. The work’s pacing alternates between bursts of kinetic energy and quieter pauses. This mirrors the ebb and flow of media attention and suggests that spectacle depends as much on timing and presence as on the events themselves.

Form and content fuse with deliberate economy. Handheld compositions and variable framing follow the unpredictability of the crowd, positioning the street as stage rather than backdrop. By presenting the scenes without judgment, the images trace the boundaries between news, entertainment, and public interest, dissecting media responses to celebrity trials. The work interrogates this choreography of attention, inviting the viewer into a space where curiosity meets historical moment.