It was a verdict that sent shockwaves around the world.
Last Wednesday in New York, music mogul Sean Combs was cleared of the sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life but found guilty of lesser prostitution-related offences.
As the jury's decision was read out, the disgraced rapper fell to his knees in Manhattan federal court and appeared to pray; his defence team described the verdict as "A great victory for Sean Combs . . . a great victory for the jury system."
Outside on the street, supporters of the 55-year-old self-styled bad boy from Harlem clashed with women’s rights campaigners, trading insults and threats that have opened up yet another fault line in America’s toxic culture wars.
It was an extremely ugly end to seven extremely ugly weeks of one of the most closely watched court cases in years. It was clear that after decades surrounded by 'yes’ men and women who were ordered never to say no, rap’s little emperor thought he was untouchable.
Last Wednesday he got a very rude awakening.
The often grotesque and graphic testimony heard over the past weeks painted a disturbing picture of Babylonian excess at Combs’ notorious "freak offs," the sex parties he had publicly boasted of, often on late night US chat shows, over the years.
The verdict has been met with dismay and horror by many who thought the MeToo movement would bring a halt to the behaviour of people like Combs and elation from supporters who seem to have a cult-like devotion to a man who clearly revelled in some truly repugnant activities.
Of course, Combs’ troubles are far from over. Having already served ten months in a forbidding maximum security facility in Brooklyn, he could face up 20 years in prison for the charges he is guilty of, although that seems unlikely. He also faces up to fifty civil cases, some of which were only filed this week.
He is due to be sentenced next October although his legal team are already pushing for his hearing to be brought forward. On Wednesday evening he was denied bail and sent straight back to prison.
The verdict now poses many questions about what is next for the MeToo movement that had done so much to encourage women to come forward to face their often powerful and influential tormentors.
Speaking outside the courthouse on Wednesday, Douglas Wigdor, an attorney for Comb’s former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who was the main witness for the prosecution, said that "although the jury did not find Combs guilty of sex-trafficking Cassie beyond a reasonable doubt, she paved the way for a jury to find him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution."
"By coming forward with her experience," he added, "Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice."
Actress Rosie O’Donnell, who recently moved to Ireland following the re-election of convicted felon Donald Trump to the White House, was outraged.
"I guess a jury just never wants to believe that a woman stays because of power and coercion," she wrote on social media. "Wow - they just think women stay because what? money - fame - ‘they love the abuse’ - what a f***ing joke _ this decision got me angry."
Combs, who often boasted of "going from Harlem to Hollywood" and used a series of ridiculous aliases, may not have been convicted on the more serious charges he faced, but will the verdict make self-absorbed, self-obsessed entertainment figures change their ways?
The rapper is a big scalp for the MeToo movement and the basic concept of justice. Other recent triumphs include the conviction of film producer Harvy Weinstein, while actor Gérard Depardieu was handed a suspended sentence last May for sexual assault.
So, is the party over for predatory celebrities who think their fame and money can insulate them from reality?
You will often hear tales of the bad old days of the Hollywood casting couch, a culture that Weinstein still practised well into the 21st century, but the music industry that Combs thrived in is often overlooked for its own disgraceful record when it comes to the mistreatment of both women and men.
Weinstein was protected by a disturbing omertà in the film world but Combs’ methods were far more brutal and appear to have been based on a network of coercion, threats of violence and blackmail.
In a country where a person’s good name doesn’t seem to mean much anymore either way, it will be interesting to see what impact the court’s findings will have on Combs’ already battered career.
Most famous for sampling The Police song Every Breath You Take on his sanctimonious paean to slain rapper Biggie Smalls, Combs’ music was truly egregious and for once gave credence to the idiotic rockist joke "is rap spelled with a K or a C?"
Will he attempt a comeback? Back in its nineties heyday, rap and hip-hop often traded in thuggish criminality and violent braggadocio so will Combs now have extra cachet among young man who have been seduced by the manifold evils and idiocies of the manosphere and the likes of professional misogynist Andrew Tate?
After all, when it first went mainstream over thirty years ago, rap was lapped up by white middle class boys, attracted by the whiff of cordite, the rampant sexism and the chance to appal their parents.
So, will the self-aggrandising Combs double down on his behaviour and brag about his exploits or will he do a Russell Brand and turn to god? Combs fell to his knees in prayer last Wednesday so will we see him reborn in the white collar and raiment of a man of faith, rapping spirituals and sampling chapter and verse from the good book?
Are we now living in a post MeToo era? Trump’s war on woke has shifted the culture in the US and helped created a climate where people like Combs can thrive not in spite of their crassness and criminality but because of it.
As we await the sentence, we can now add a new name to his long list of aliases - convicted criminal.
