“Rules for Thee but Not for Me”: Public Sentiment and Expectations of Privilege in the Criminal Legal System in the Diddy Case

The trial of entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs for racketeering and sex trafficking garnered considerable public attention and, after his acquittal on the most serious charges, attracted much public commentary about the criminal legal system (CLS) in the United States. This article examines 1000 comments spread out over 10 posts on Instagram related to Diddy’s acquittal, to better understand sentiment on these events. The results indicate that, although most commenters had a negative response to Diddy’s acquittal, a significant proportion expressed neutral sentiment, largely characterized by an expectation that privileged individuals are treated more leniently in the American CLS.