Sean “Diddy” Combs joins the list of Hollywood stars accused of sex crimes

Since the rise of the #MeToo movement, numerous male celebrities have been accused of sexual misconduct. However, only a handful of celebrities from the music and film industries have actually been charged.

Sean “Diddy” Combs has now joined the short list of stars facing criminal charges.

Here is a list of some of the most prominent men who have been charged in recent years, along with the outcomes of those cases:

The former movie mogul was prosecuted in both New York and California after dozens of women publicly accused him of sexual assault.

In the Los Angeles case, a jury convicted Weinstein in 2022 of raping and sexually assaulting one of four women he was accused of abusing. The three counts involved an Italian actress and model who said Weinstein showed up uninvited at her hotel room during a Los Angeles film festival in 2013.

Weinstein, 72, was later acquitted of sexual assault charges brought by a massage therapist who treated him at a hotel in 2010. The jury was unable to decide on the charges against two other accusers, and a mistrial was declared on those charges.

In the New York case, Weinstein was initially convicted in 2020 of raping one woman and sexually abusing another after weeks of harrowing and graphic testimony from multiple accusers. But his 23-year prison sentence and conviction were overturned earlier this year. New York's highest court said the judge had wrongly allowed testimony based on allegations that were not part of the case.

A retrial has been scheduled and Manhattan prosecutors filed a new indictment this week with additional allegations from another woman. The trial was scheduled to begin in November but is now expected to begin in 2025.

Weinstein, who has also been the subject of several civil lawsuits filed by women alleging sexual abuse, denies sexually harassing anyone and is appealing his conviction in California.

The former star of the “Cosby Show” was the first celebrity to go to court in the #MeToo era.

He was arrested in 2015 when a prosecutor used newly released evidence – Cosby's incriminating testimony in a lawsuit filed by Temple University athletic administrator Andrea Constand – to charge him just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired. Constand accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her.

The AP does not normally identify victims of sexual violence without their permission, which Constand gave.

When Cosby was tried in 2017, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. At a second trial in 2018, he was found guilty and sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. But the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that the district attorney who made the decision to arrest Cosby was obligated to abide by a predecessor's promise not to prosecute Cosby, even though there was no evidence the agreement was ever put in writing.

Cosby, now 87, has been accused of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment by more than 60 women. He has denied all allegations related to sex crimes.

Federal courts in Chicago and New York convicted Kelly, now 56, of, among other things, producing child sexual abuse material and federal sex trafficking.

Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the New York case last year, and in February in the Chicago case he was given a largely concurrent 20-year prison sentence.

The 57-year-old was accused of exploiting his fame to sexually abuse young fans, some of whom were still children, for decades.

The Grammy-winning, multi-platinum songwriter was also accused of using his entourage of managers and assistants to meet girls and prevent them from speaking out, a practice that prosecutors said amounted to a criminal organization.

R. Kelly's lawyers have appealed the conviction.

The hip-hop mogul was arrested in New York on September 16. The indictment accuses him of abusing his “power and reputation” to lure female victims and male sex workers into drug-induced sexual performances, known as “freak offs.”

Prosecutors say he used violence and threats of extortion to stop people from speaking out. Combs, 54, is charged in federal court with conspiracy to commit organized crime and sex trafficking. If convicted on all counts, he could face a minimum of 15 years in prison.

A judge on Wednesday rejected the hip-hop mogul's proposal to await his sex trafficking trial not in a federal prison in Brooklyn but in the luxury of his Florida mansion.

Last year, a London jury acquitted the Oscar winner of sexual assault charges. The charges were based on allegations made by four men twenty years ago.

Three men accused Spacey of aggressively grabbing their crotches and called him a “disgusting” and “slippery, devious” predator. Spacey said he was a “great flirt” who had consensual affairs with men and whose only misstep was touching a man's groin during an “awkward advance.”

The court victory in England came after Spacey also successfully defended himself against a civil lawsuit brought by “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp in New York in 2022.

The Oscar-winning “Jerry Maguire” star pleaded guilty in 2022 to forcibly kissing a New York nightclub employee in 2018 – and in return, prosecutors dropped charges against two other women that could have resulted in possible prison time if the case had gone to trial and resulted in a conviction.

Gooding also made his first public apology to two other women who had accused him of similar behavior during separate encounters, and described himself as a “celebrity” who meant no harm. His confessions were part of a plea deal that came nearly three years after Gooding's arrest.

Gooding told the judge that he kissed the waitress on the lips without her consent.

The star of “That '70s Show” is serving a 30-year to life sentence for the rape of two women.

After an initial jury failed to reach a verdict on three counts of rape in December 2022 and declared a mistrial, prosecutors began a retrial of Masterson on all three counts.

At his second trial, a jury found Masterson guilty on May 31 on two of three counts of rape. Both attacks occurred in 2003, when Masterson was at the height of his fame, at his home near Hollywood.

On the third charge, Masterson is also said to have raped a long-time girlfriend, they were unable to reach a verdict.

Prosecutors alleged that Masterson abused his notoriety in the Church of Scientology – of which all three women were also members at the time – to avoid consequences for decades after the attacks. The women blamed the church for its reluctance to go to police about Masterson.