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NBC News
9 hours ago
- NBC News
Joey Chestnut returns for Fourth of July hot dog-eating contest
Legendary competitor Joey Chestnut will return to this year's Nathan's July Fourth hot dog-eating contest. NBC News' Steven Romo has the details on Chesnut's return after missing the 2024 contest over a sponsorship 4, 2025
NBC News
13 hours ago
- NBC News
The Sean 'Diddy' Combs verdict attracted a spectacle of influencer stunts and tricks
The verdict in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex-trafficking trial attracted what you'd expect at the end of a high-profile celebrity court case in New York: dozens of news camera crews, hundreds of curious bystanders and a mass showing of law enforcement. Overshadowing them all was a sea of influencers, content creators and provocateurs, who came out en masse for the trial's verdict on Wednesday. Combs was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, but found guilty of lesser charges. The streets surrounding the federal courthouse in downtown Manhattan attracted stunts that included hostile — and livestreamed — debates, Diddy-inspired costumes and celebrants spraying one another with baby oil (which Combs' use of in various sex acts was a frequent topic of testimony). The spectacle was the latest example of how high-profile celebrity trials with real-world consequences have become the perfect breeding ground for online content creators to go viral online. 'It's been great. I've been able to monetize incredibly,' Armon Wiggins told NBC News. 'I've gone viral exponentially, all over TikTok, YouTube. I've landed, you know, talk show placements on TMZ.' Wiggins posts videos with witty commentary on pop culture on YouTube, amassing more than 285,000 subscribers. He temporarily moved to New York from Los Angeles in May to cover the trial daily, posting breakdowns of the daily proceedings on his YouTube and TikTok channels. Wiggins said he's gained more than 60,000 YouTube subscribers since he started covering the trial. Similarly, Michelle Bracey of Manhattan found her niche covering Combs' trial. As with Wiggins, Bracey attended the trial daily and posted her independent analyses on her TikTok account, miss_knockout, cultivating a following for her humorous takes. When the trial began, she said she had 9,000 followers on TikTok. She now has more than 40,000. "This is a life-changing moment for me personally," she said. "This opened up the doors to a lot of things, like my music, people offering me shows, people offering me stuff for my music." Bracey said she tries to keep her work "professional" and avoids the pitfalls of other content creators whom described as "clout chasers," pointing to several antics throughout the day. Roughly an hour after the verdict was announced, a group of people who appeared to support Combs' partial acquittal danced and sprayed one another with baby oil. Video NBC News captured of the celebration shows a woman removing a wig while a man drizzled baby oil on her from a nearby ledge. The participants were largely framed online as fans of Diddy. Most of them appeared to be influencers and new media figures who were there to create content. The woman in the video appears to be an influencer who goes by the alias Crackhead Barney and has more than 114,000 followers on Instagram. Crackhead Barney did not immediately return a request for comment. In one video outside the courthouse, the woman asks Sneako, a streamer who has nearly 1 million followers on X and has been tied to the rapper Ye, to pour baby oil on her, and Sneako offered small bottles of baby oil to fans. Wiggins also took part in the baby oil spectacle. Throughout the day, two men with opposing views on the Combs conviction also drew particular attention. One man in a denim jacket and sunglasses questioned a man in a red shirt and bucket hat on whether Combs is going to prison. The man in denim yelled that 'he beat her," referring to Combs' longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura who testified at the trial. 'It doesn't matter,' the man in red said. 'He beat her, he kicked her,' the man in denim shouted. 'And she liked it, how about that?' the man in red screamed back. Ventura testified that Combs beat her on multiple occasions and text messages showed she confronted him several times over it. After he attacked her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, Ventura wrote to Combs that she was not a rag doll, she's 'somebody's child,' according to messages entered into evidence. Other celebrity legal battles, including the defamation suit between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard and the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion by fellow rapper Tory Lanez, have similarly provided an opening for online creators. Some of the influencers who spoke with NBC News on Wednesday said that, now that the Combs trial had concluded, they plan to cover other high-profile cases, including the ongoing legal battle between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni and the case against Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. "This is just the very beginning, and it will evolve," Wiggins said. "And I think at some point, the courts will have to adjust to that too, you know, and they will have to section off spaces for influencers."
NBC News
14 hours ago
- NBC News
With his ‘mystique' gone, Diddy's future in music after trial is uncertain
Sean 'Diddy' Combs may be considered a convicted felon following his explosive, seven-week federal trial, but many in and around the music industry said his decadeslong career as a revolutionary producer and hitmaker could grant him a pathway to resume his career. The music mogul and founder of the renowned Bad Boy Records was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. Combs, who is responsible for a slew of hit songs during the 1990s and 2000s, will have a lot of work to do to avoid public rejection in the vein of other Black celebrities who have been at the center of damning criminal trials, such as R. Kelly, O.J. Simpson and Bill Cosby. Industry professionals who spoke to NBC News said Combs can control the narrative of his legacy — and potentially reinvent himself. While the jury acquitted him of the more serious charges, the trial exposed Combs' unorthodox 'freak offs' and revealed multiple accusations of sexual and physical abuse — transgressions that often make celebrities persona non grata. Entertainment attorney Yemi Adegbonmire of Los Angeles said Combs' next step to salvage his public persona and career will have to be made with intent and purpose. 'The path forward is probably going to require him to do something different than we've seen with other folks, which is really to engage with accountability, look at rebuilding trust now that we know so much more about the man behind the legend,' she said. 'He has to put himself into a space that allows folks to feel comfortable listening to new music or accepting new ventures from him.' Doing that will not be easy. People saw surveillance video of Combs beating, kicking and dragging his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. They heard the graphic testimony of witnesses during the trial, many of whom spoke of rampant drug use by Combs and some of whom testified that they were either physically abused by him or witnessed him abuse others. The industry sources said Combs would need to show humility, become a genuine advocate against domestic violence and drug abuse and enter counseling. And even that may not enable him to reach his previous level of acclaim. The public perception of Combs 'is irrevocably changed,' culture writer Shamira Ibrahim said. 'A large part of that was the mystique of the person who was bigger than the world.' His meteoric ascent as a hustler and producer, working with some of the biggest rising stars in East Coast hip-hop, cemented his place in the industry. 'Sean Combs' impact on music and culture is as undeniable as the music was infectious,' Adegbonmire said. Combs founded Bad Boy Records in 1993 and forged a roster of stars that jettisoned hip-hop into the mainstream, including the late Notorious B.I.G., Mase, Faith Evans and the groups 112 and Total, among others. He became a face of the genre, serving as an innovator in producing and marketing, while also projecting an image of wealth and influence, hosting extravagant parties that drew celebrities like Denzel Washington and Kevin Costner. He branched out into fashion, cable TV, alcohol and even politics, urging people to the polls through his 'Vote or Die' campaign during Barack Obama's 2008 presidential run. His label, Bad Boy, was estimated to be worth $100 million at its peak, and according to Forbes, Combs' net worth was as high as $825 million in 2018. Before the accusations of abuse emerged, Combs remained well known but was 'losing steam' as a music influencer, Ramal Brown, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, radio deejay said. 'He once had control over the media, powerful connections to tell his narrative.' But he was becoming increasingly less central to hip-hop as tastes shifted away from the Bad Boy style. The 'mystique' Ibrahim said Combs once had as a hip-hop mogul 'is gone,' which will make a return to music difficult. 'He's not going to be able to generate that level of cultural cachet in his older years,' she said. Ibrahim suspects, however, that not everyone will abandon Combs. 'I do think he will retain a group of advocates, a group of emissaries, that will continue to protect him, and he will be allowed to be in specific spaces,' Ibrahim said. 'While R. Kelly might not get played as much at parties, R. Kelly is ubiquitous.' Warren Ballentine, an activist and national talk radio host, said the charges Combs was acquitted of may boost him in some respect. 'The fact that he beat a racketeering case is actually going to give him stronger credibility within the hip-hop community,' Ballentine said. 'So, because of that, you may have a lot of these young artists mentioning his name in their songs. It's sad to say that, but it's the truth.' Vibe music reporter Amber Corrine said the Combs trial may bring about a larger reckoning in the industry. 'I think this case forces a larger conversation about accountability amongst those power figures in entertainment,' she said. 'Are we ready to confront these big power players about things that they do?' When Combs will be free again is uncertain. He has been in jail since his arrest last September and will remain there until his sentencing hearing on Oct. 3. The prosecution is seeking a sentence of four to five years. Considering he faced life in prison with a racketeering conviction, Combs made out far better than the worst-case scenario. Corrine said the braggadocious producer may have been humbled by the experience, but will still likely 'use this opportunity, especially with the not guilty verdicts, to say, 'Hey. I told you I wasn't guilty of that.'' He may even pop up from time to time, 'but do I think he's going to be dropping music anytime soon?' she said. 'Do I think we'll see any more music videos from him? Any major business moves? No, not at this time.' He will also have to heed advice, Ballentine said. 'If he has the right team around, and he has a good PR person, and he's willing to listen to other people and not get caught up in his own emotion, he can show true remorse, and in 10 years, people will say, 'Diddy is a good guy.'' Ibrahim said she hopes people keep the accusations of abuse in mind, but expects public outrage to diminish over time into acceptance, which 'would be unfortunate.' 'I would love to say that the stigma that has come out of the allegations would stick to Diddy forever,' she said. 'But people are more willing than everyone wants to admit to slowly let things that are controversial back to their space if it has good memories.' Adegbonmire agreed, saying time has a way of making people forget and forgive, sometimes no matter how egregious the violation. Combs' legacy of producing lasting music could prevail as he moves toward redemption. But he has to live a life without further controversy. 'Things fade into the rearview mirror,' Adegbonmire said. 'That happens naturally. But people won't remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel. And Sean Combs has had a legacy where he's made folks feel really good. The question is: Can he make us feel good without doing harm?'
