The trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs began on 5 May and the music mogul faces charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He also faces a slew of civil allegations accusing him of sexual assault, abuse and drugging over a 20-year period. Combs denies all allegations and is pleading not guilty in court.

During the past year, we have witnessed the toppling of a tycoon. In November 2023, Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassandra Ventura, better known as Cassie, filed a lawsuit against him alleging that he subjected her to a pattern of control and abuse over about a decade. At the time, Combs vehemently denied the allegations, but then CCTV footage from 2016 emerged and went viral on the internet. In the video Combs is seen violently kicking, beating and dragging Cassie across the floor outside a hotel room. A day after it was leaked, he issued an apology on social media to say he was ‘disgusted’ by his own actions, that he was ‘truly sorry’ and that he has since sought help. Ventura’s lawsuit was settled outside of court – reportedly for an eight-figure sum.

Four months later in September, Combs was arrested following a federal investigation and charged with what the Justice Department called ‘a years-long scheme to sexually abuse and exploit women, allegedly using his business empire to commit the crimes’. He was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Centre in New York, one of the country’s most dangerous and notoriously unhygienic prisons, where he has been living in the facility’s Special Housing Unit for more than six months.

Once one of the most powerful men in the music industry, the host of the most elite, A-list parties, and the person with enough power to turn anyone into a star, Combs’ reputation currently hangs in the balance.

His life now is a far cry from the fast-paced, luxurious and hedonistic lifestyle he was once accustomed to – and, understandably, he has made a conscious effort to try to return home.

Before his trial began, Combs was denied bail three times, with the judge ruling that he posed a significant risk of witness tampering, citing his misconduct while in custody. Two months into his time in the MDC, prosecutors alleged that Combs had been breaking prison rules by contacting potential witnesses in his trial. The prosecutors claimed he made ‘relentless efforts’ to ‘corruptly influence witness testimony’ by using other inmates’ telephone accounts and using three-way calls to speak to people who are not on his approved contact list. They also claimed to have reviewed calls where Combs was instructing his family to contact potential witnesses in his case.

All of which is, at risk of a gross understatement, enough to cause anyone profound levels of stress. Court room sketches from the first few days of Combs’ trial show him to have a full head of grey hair and a grey beard – and he has never been known to have either in the past. In the sketches, the music producer is also seen wearing a black jumper because he was permitted to wear outside clothes instead of the orange jumpsuit typically worn by inmates. The Mirror US cited a court order to quote the judge saying: ‘He is permitted to have up to five button-down shirts, up to five pairs of pants, up to five sweaters, up to five pairs of socks, and up to two pairs of shoes without laces to wear to court.’

As for his hair, it was first reported by Elizabeth Millner from Law & Crime Network in March. She said, ‘I feel like Diddy’s appearance was the biggest story inside that hearing. There was kind of an astonishing “woah” when he walked inside that courtroom because he appeared noticeably greyer. I would even equate it a little bit to Santa Claus, but he just appeared greyer – his hair was a lot whiter.’ The same journalist reported in December that Combs looked ‘astonishingly thinner’.

Of course, it’s perfectly plausible that Combs, aged 55, could have been dyeing his hair privately up until now. As someone in the public eye, it’s possible that he had routine hair appointments to hide signs of ageing, but given his current circumstances it is not a stretch for people to assume the change to his appearance is a result of stress.

Hair colour is determined by pigment-producing cells called melanocytes and they are made from stem cells that live in the hair follicle at the base of our hair strands. As we age, those stem cells gradually disappear, and research shows that stress can accelerate that process. While it’s not a hard and fast rule, the science has been tested on mice and the results showed that stem cells controlling skin and hair colour can become damaged after intense stress.

‘We now know for sure that stress is responsible for this specific change to your skin and hair, and how it works,’ says Professor Ya-Cieh Hsu, research author from Harvard University.

Granted, Combs’ grey hair is arguably one of the least important, and least interesting, details from his trial, but it’s enough for him to be described as ‘unrecognisable’ after a few brief appearances in court. There hasn’t been much more to dissect during the first week of the trial – a trial that is being closely followed around the world – but that is all set to change on 12 May when opening statements are scheduled and we will get a sense of Combs’ defence for the first time.

The trial is expected to last for at least three months.