Sean Combs, 2001 News

entertainment mogul, was acquitted in a Manhattan court in March of four counts of illegal possession of a gun and one count of bribery. The charges stemmed from a December 1999 incident in which three people were shot and injured at a nightclub party in Manhattan. Combs, who has cultivated a dual image of both a gangsta thug and a successful, respectable businessman, presides over a media empire that includes the record label Bad Boy, a clothing line called Sean John, a movie production company, and two restaurants. After his legal troubles were behind him, Combs started going by the name P. Diddy.