NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hip-hop entrepreneur whose wildly successful career has been dotted by allegations of violence, will be brought to a New York courthouse Monday to be tried on charges that he used the influence and resources of his business empire to sexually abuse women.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin in the morning and potentially take several days. Opening statements by the lawyers and the start of testimony is expected next week.

The 17-page indictment against Combs reads like a charging document filed against a Mafia leader or the head of a drug gang, accusing him of engaging in sex trafficking and presiding over a racketeering conspiracy.

The indictment says that with the help of people in his entourage and employees from his network of businesses, Combs engaged in a two-decade pattern of abusive behavior against women and others.

Women were manipulated into participating in drug-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers that Combs called “Freak Offs,” prosecutors say.

To keep women in line, prosecutors say Combs used a mix of influence and violence: He offered to boost their entertainment careers if they did what he asked — or cut them off if they didn’t.

And when he wasn’t getting what he wanted, the indictment says Combs and his associates resorted to violent acts including beatings, kidnapping and arson. Once, the indictment alleges, he even dangled someone from a balcony.

Combs and his lawyers say he is innocent.

Any group sex was consensual, they say. There was no effort to coerce people into things they didn’t want to do, and nothing that happened amounted to a criminal racket, they said.

The trial is expected to take at least eight weeks.

Combs, 55, has acknowledged one episode of violence that is likely to be featured in the trial. In 2016, a security camera recorded him beating up his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel. Cassie filed a lawsuit in late 2023 saying Combs had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, did.

Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo has said Combs was “not a perfect person” and that there had been drug use and toxic relationships, but said that all sexual activity between Combs, Cassie and other people was consensual.

The trial is the latest and most serious in a long string of legal problems for Combs.

In 1999 he was charged with bursting into the offices of an Interscope Records executive with his bodyguards and beating him with a champagne bottle and a chair. The executive, Steve Stoute, later asked prosecutors to go easy on Combs, who pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and took an anger management class.

Later that same year, Combs was stopped by police after he and his then-girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, fled a nightclub where three people were wounded by gunfire. Combs was acquitted of all charges related to the incident at a 2001 trial, but a rapper in his entourage, Jamal “Shyne” Barrow, was convicted in the shooting and served nearly nine years in prison.

Then in 2015, Combs was charged with assaulting someone with a weight-room kettlebell at the University of California, Los Angeles, where one of his sons played football. Combs said he was defending himself and prosecutors dropped the case.

Now, Combs faces his most serious case yet.

If convicted, he faces the possibility of decades in prison.

By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cleaners and cooks. Doctors and nurses. Even drivers and elevator operators.

All the support staff for the cardinals who will elect the successor to Pope Francis are taking an oath of secrecy on Monday ahead of the conclave that’s starting on Wednesday.

The punishment for breaking the oath? Automatic excommunication.

In this image taken on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, and made available Saturday, May 3, 2025, by Vatican Media, workers and restorers prepare the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, where the upcoming conclave will start May 7. (Vatican Media via AP)

The oath-taking is being held in the Pauline Chapel at the Vatican for all those assigned to the upcoming conclave. They include clerics in support roles, including confessors speaking various languages. The cardinals themselves will take their oath on Wednesday in the Sistine Chapel, before they cast their first ballots.

But an array of laypeople are also required to house and feed the cardinals. A conclave’s duration cannot be predicted — and it will only be known when white smoke rises out of the Sistine Chapel chimney to signal a winner.

All those people will be sequestered to be on hand for any medical needs, and maintain the majestic beauty appropriate for the election of the next head of the 1.4 billion strong Catholic Church.

The oath

The provisions for the oath-taking are laid down in Vatican law.

St. John Paul II rewrote the regulations on papal elections in a 1996 document that remains largely in force, though Pope Benedict XVI amended it twice before he resigned in 2013. He tightened the oath of secrecy, making clear that anyone who reveals what went on inside the conclave faces automatic excommunication.

In John Paul’s rules, excommunication was always a possibility, but Benedict revised the oath that liturgical assistants and secretaries take to make it explicit, saying they must observe “absolute and perpetual secrecy” and explicitly refrain from using any audio or video recording devices.

They now declare that they: “Promise and swear that, unless I should receive a special faculty given expressly by the newly elected pontiff or by his successors, I will observe absolute and perpetual secrecy with all who are not part of the College of Cardinal electors concerning all matters directly or indirectly related to the ballots cast and their scrutiny for the election of the Supreme Pontiff.

“I likewise promise and swear to refrain from using any audio or video equipment capable of recording anything which takes place during the period of the election within Vatican City, and in particular anything which in any way, directly or indirectly, is related to the process of the election itself.

“I take this oath fully aware that an infraction thereof will incur the penalty of automatic excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See. So help me God and these Holy Gospels, which I touch with my hand.”

Preparations underway

The Sistine Chapel has already undergone a week-long transformation following the funeral of Pope Francis, who died on April 21 at age 88.

Technicians installed a floating floor to level out the space and make way for ceremonial furnishings, including tables for the electors and their aides, which are draped by Vatican upholsterers.

The famous stove used to signal the voting outcomes was placed in its designated corner, a placement dictated by protocol, and firefighters installed the chimney on the roof.

Firefighters place the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Twelve technicians and maintenance craftsmen will remain inside for the duration, maintaining temperature, lighting, and electrical systems, and assisting with ceremonial logistics like operating the stove, the Vatican City State administration said.

As tradition dictates, all windows in the conclave zone are darkened to guarantee privacy. Nearly 80 access points around the perimeter are sealed with lead on the eve of the conclave.

A colonel and a major of the Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps are among those taking the oath — they will be responsible for surveillance near the Sistine Chapel, the frescoed Renaissance jewel where 133 cardinal electors will be voting.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

By Karla Marie Sanford, Los Angeles Times

The first Monday in May is here! That date means one thing to fashionistas worldwide: the Met Gala.

While the event is associated with head-turning haute couture donned by the most popular celebrities — think Tyla’s Balmain sand dress, Blake Lively’s Statue of Liberty-inspired Versace gown or Rihanna’s papal get-up by John Galliano — the annual gala serves as a charity dinner for the museum’s Costume Institute and coincides with a fashion exhibit that shares the theme of the event.

Here’s what you need to know about fashion’s biggest night.

When is the Met Gala?

The Met Gala will be held Monday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

This year, dinner will be overseen by chef Kwame Onwuachi, owner of top restaurants Tatiana in New York City and Dōgon in Washington, D.C. Artist Cy Gavin, known for monumental landscape paintings, will lead the creative direction of the red carpet design.

What is this year’s theme?

This year, the theme, and the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” The dress code for the gala is “Tailored for You.”

This combination photo shows various fashion worn by rapper A$AP Rocky. (AP Photo)

The theme draws from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.” In it, Miller explores how Black people, and Black men, in particular, through the culture of dandyism, have used flamboyant fashion to navigate identity and expand their possibilities in otherwise limiting environments.

“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” will be on view at the Met from May 10 to Oct. 26.

Who are the chairs?

This year’s Met Gala will be co-chaired by Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and Anna Wintour. LeBron James will serve as an honorary chair.

F1 driver Lewis Hamilton reacts during the official opening of the brand-new flagship Fanatics Collectibles store on Regent Street in London, Friday April 25, 2025. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

In line with the theme, the four co-chairs are all Black men known for their impeccable style: Domingo regularly tops red carpet best-dressed lists; Hamilton brought fashion to F1; A$AP Rocky made even the courtroom his runway during his recent felony assault trial; and Williams is the creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton. (Louis Vuitton is a major sponsor of the exhibition and event.) Vogue’s May issue features four covers, with each of the four co-chairs showing off his signature cool.

In addition to the co-chairs, there is also a host committee, featuring modern-day dandies including André 3000, Dapper Dan, Edward Enninful and Jeremy O. Harris, as well as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jordan Casteel, Simone Biles, Jonathan Owens, Doechii, Ayo Edebiri, Olivier Rousteing, Grace Wales Bonner, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Tyla, Rashid Johnson, Regina King, Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee, Audra McDonald, Janelle Monáe, Jeremy Pope, Angel Reese, Sha’Carri Richardson, Usher and Kara Walker.

This combination of photos show various fashion work by actor-performer Janelle Monae. (AP Photo)

Who else will be in attendance?

Aside from the co-chairs, around 450 guests attend the Met Gala, according to Vogue, with Wintour having the final say on, well, everything.

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One attendee of note is image architect Law Roach, famously Zendaya’s stylist, who this year will partner with British luxury fashion house Burberry on their Met Gala presence.

Other possible attendees include Rihanna, whose partner A$AP Rocky is co-chairing the gala; the Kardashian-Jenner clan; Sarah Jessica Parker; Gigi Hadid; Lady Gaga; Cardi B; and Blackpink stars Rosé and Lisa. Musicians Shakira, Lizzo and Mary J. Blige are also rumored to attend.

How can I watch?

Vogue will livestream the Met Gala on all of its digital platforms, including YouTube, starting at 6 p.m. EST/3 p.m. PST. Teyana Taylor, La La Anthony and Ego Nwodim will host the livestream.

E! News will also broadcast a livestream, hosted by Zanna Roberts Rassi, Maria Taylor, Elaine Welteroth and Yvonne Orji, at the same time from New York City’s Lincoln Center.

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By JILL COLVIN and JAKE COYLE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is opening a new salvo in his tariff war, targeting films made outside the U.S.

In a post Sunday night on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he has authorized the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to slap a 100% tariff “on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.”

“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” he wrote, complaining that other countries “are offering all sorts of incentives to draw” filmmakers and studios away from the U.S. “This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”

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It wasn’t immediately clear how any such tariff on international productions could be implemented. It’s common for both large and small films to include production in the U.S. and in other countries. Big-budget movies like the upcoming “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” for instance, are shot around the world.

Incentive programs for years have influenced where movies are shot, increasingly driving film production out of California and to other states and countries with favorable tax incentives, like Canada and the United Kingdom.

Yet Trump’s tariffs are designed to lead consumers toward American products. And in movie theaters, American-produced movies overwhelming dominate the domestic marketplace.

China has ramped up its domestic movie production, culminating in the animated blockbuster “Ne Zha 2” grossing more than $2 billion this year. But even then, its sales came almost entirely from mainland China. In North America, it earned just $20.9 million.

In New Zealand, where successive governments have offered rebates and incentives in recent years to draw Hollywood films to the country, the film industry has generated billions of dollars in tourism revenue driven by the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” films, which featured the country’s pristine and scenic vistas. More recently, the blockbuster “Minecraft” movie was filmed entirely in New Zealand, and U.S. productions in 2023 delivered approximately $777 million to the country in return for about $119.6 million in subsidies, according to government figures.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he was awaiting more details of Trump’s measures before commenting on them but would continue to pitch to filmmakers abroad, including in India’s Bollywood. “We’ve got an absolutely world class industry,” he said. “This is the best place to make movies, period, in the world.”

The Motion Picture Association, which represents major U.S. film studios and streaming services, didn’t immediately respond to messages Sunday evening.

The MPA’s data shows how much Hollywood exports have dominated cinemas. According to the MPA, the American movies produced $22.6 billion in exports and $15.3 billion in trade surplus in 2023.

Trump, a Republican, has made good on the “tariff man” label he gave himself years ago, slapping new taxes on goods made in countries around the globe. That includes a 145% tariff on Chinese goods and a 10% baseline tariff on goods from other countries, with even higher levies threatened.

By unilaterally imposing tariffs, Trump has exerted extraordinary influence over the flow of commerce, creating political risks and pulling the market in different directions. There are tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum, with more imports, including pharmaceutical drugs, set to be subject to new tariffs in the weeks ahead.

Trump has long voiced concern about movie production moving overseas.

Shortly before he took office, he announced that he had tapped actors Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone to serve as “special ambassadors” to Hollywood to bring it “BACK — BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”

U.S. film and television production has been hampered in recent years, with setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hollywood guild strikes of 2023 and the recent wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Overall production in the U.S. was down 26% last year compared with 2021, according to data from ProdPro, which tracks production.

The group’s annual survey of executives, which asked about preferred filming locations, found no location in the U.S. made the top five, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Toronto, the U.K., Vancouver, Central Europe and Australia came out on top, with California placing sixth, Georgia seventh, New Jersey eighth and New York ninth.

The problem is especially acute in California. In the greater Los Angeles area, production last year was down 5.6% from 2023 according to FilmLA, second only to 2020, during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. Last, October, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, proposed expanding California’s Film & Television Tax Credit program to $750 million annually, up from $330 million.

Other U.S. cities like Atlanta, New York, Chicago and San Francisco have also used aggressive tax incentives to lure film and TV productions. Those programs can take the form of cash grants, as in Texas, or tax credits, which Georgia and New Mexico offer.

“Other nations have been stealing the movie-making capabilities from the United States,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Sunday night after returning from a weekend in Florida. “If they’re not willing to make a movie inside the United States we should have a tariff on movies that come in.”

Associated Press writers Gary Field in Washington and Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report from Washington.