Diddy’s reputation is tarnished, but could he find a way back?

On Wednesday, the verdicts were pronounced in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs in New York, emotions boiled in the external court in animated confrontations between fans and demonstrators who expressed opposite views of the result.

Some thought that the rap star should have been found guilty of the most serious charges, not just the two less accusations on which he was sentenced.

But they were in numerical inferiority by pro-Diddy influencers and fans who sang “Free Diddy” and “Let-le-le-Go” and vaporize in baby oil to celebrate.

The mixed jury verdicts did not present a clear result – but it was considered a better than expected result for the star.

He still risks a significant prison sentence and dozens of civil legal affairs. His reputation will forever be tarnished by months of allegations and ugly revelations – and the two convictions.

But some observers believe that it is unlikely that it prevents him from trying to set up a return.

As an author -songwriter, rapper, producer and Impresario label, Combs – formerly known as Puff Daddy – was one of the hip -hop and R&B motor in the 1990s.

He launched the career of Notorious Big and Mary J Blige, signed acts such as Faith Evans, 112, Mase and Janelle Monae to his Bad Boy Records label, and worked with stars such as Mariah Carey, Usher and Busta Rhymes.

He won three Grammy Awards as an artist and marked his greatest pop success with you who will miss you, sampling the breath of the police you take, in 1997 – his tribute after the murder of Big.

Combs “was one of the most famous hip-hop people,” said August Brown, music writer of Los Angeles Times.

“He was an incredibly important figure in evolution of this kind and the music industry as a whole in a commercial juggernaut.”

Like many at the top of the music industry, he also organized sumptuous parties. But the sordid details emerged during legal affairs, revealing a darker side.

These so-called “monsters” were sexual meetings at the hotel that could last days, involving several male escorts, routine violence and large amounts of drugs and baby oil.

The question for the jury was whether it was a criminal enterprise designed to force two alleged victims to sex against their will or if, as Combs claimed, women have readily participated.

The defense argued that these orgies were “naughty” but consensual – and that organizing them were not criminal.

In the end, the jury accepted and was found not guilty of the most serious accusation of racketeering, as well as two accusations of sex trafficking.

“The jury was simply not reserved for what was equivalent to an extremely baroque and violent sex life and attached to drugs on behalf of Diddy was equivalent to a criminal organization on racketeering accusation or in the way we understand it,” said Brown to the BBC World Service.

“This does not mean that it was not possible, but they simply did not think that it increased in” the shadow of a doubt “.

Combs, however, was sentenced to two counts of having transported two former girlfriends, including the singer Cassie, to participate in sexual acts and prostitution.

He will risk up to 10 years in prison for each charge during his conviction in October. But the sentences are likely to be as much as possible and to operate simultaneously, the year it has already deduced from the prison. It is therefore quite possible that it can be free in several years.

His supporters will wait – but most people do not want to accept a return, said Mr. Brown.

“I cannot imagine any kind of redemption arc for him [remaining] As an artist or musical tycoon in the light of this.

“I think that the public will remember him as an important figure whose name is now permanently associated with this range of accusations very difficult to process, even if he has not been condemned for the worst.”

Alvin Blanco, content director of Hiphopwired.com, should be too tarnished to make a successful return. “He will certainly try, but I think the damage is simply too irreparable at this stage.”

Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African-American studies at Duke in Northern Carolina University, also thinks that there is “undoubtedly” the revelations have tarnished the heritage of Combres as the man who helped take the hip-hop “of the dominant-to-American ghettos from America to the general public”.

However, his influence on music had decreased even before the allegations, explains Jem Aswad, editor -in -chief of Music at Variety.

“He has not really had a musical career, and he has not had it for about 15 years,” Aswad told BBC News.

“It is not that he was unpopular, although he was not extremely popular recently – he just went to other companies. He entered drinks, he entered into clothes, he entered many other companies.

“Everything he has done in music in the past 15 years was almost just for fun. I think he has released two, perhaps three albums in this period, and they just did well, and frankly they were good.”

However, his stock was still quite high. His latest LP, The Love Album: Off The Grid, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2024. The previous year, he was appointed global icon to MTV Awards.

And he would not be the first star to keep his support despite the allegations.

Michael Jackson was rid of the abuse of children in court in 2005, but the persuasive claims about him persisted, and many people still fight with the way of reconciling those who have the brilliance of the catalog of the king of pop.

The R&B R. Kelly star was imprisoned for 30 years in 2022 for racketeering and sex trafficking. He still has five million monthly listeners on Spotify during the last count.

Some in hip-hop may be ready to work with combs. Kanye West last week published a song entitled Diddy Free – although Kanye himself is ostracized by large parts of the industry to make anti -Semitic and Nazi statements.

Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty, animator of the Podcast Diddy on Trial de la BBC, saw the support outside the court and suggest that there could be a way back.

“We will see what’s going on with her career after that,” she said on the BBC television news.

“I think he will be able to recover first place in hip-hop just because of the great support that we have seen online and here at the courthouse for his fans, and people who feel that he was unfairly targeted by the federal government.

“He will not be the first musician to be a condemned criminal who continues to have a musical career, especially in hip-hop.”

For many, the details of the case will be difficult to shake from memory.

Angela Star, one of the content creators outside the court on Wednesday, told BBC News that “her image is tainted, and when you think of Diddy now, you think of …” Before finishing her point while holding a bottle of baby oil.