The Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs case shows ‘trialtainment’ has evolved in the post-OJ Simpson era

Thirty years after the O.J. Simpson trial, 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.

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 the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs in 2025, or that of O.J. 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. “I think a lot of women have evolved in terms of taking a stance that we can speak up. We are now just being comfortable with speaking up and this is as a result of the #MeToo movement,” legal analyst and entertainment law expert Lisa Bonner – who is not connected to either case – told CNN. 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.