Combs' defense team argued that the women were willing participants and that none of his violence justified the severity of the charges.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian was weighing whether to free Combs on bail in the wake of the verdict. The judge adjourned the court while he considers the matter.

Combs appeared overwhelmed as court adjourned for at least a few hours. He wiped his face, turning and kneeling at his chair, his head bowed in prayer. In the audience, his relatives stood and applauded as he faced them.

"I'll be home soon," he said, and "I love you, baby."

"I love you, Mom," he added.

His relatives applauded him and his lawyers as he was led out of court.

Combs has been behind bars since his arrest in September. His lawyers argued that the acquittal on the most serious counts changed the legal landscape enough that he should get bail.

Verdict follows weeks of harrowing testimony.

Jurors deliberated for about 13 hours over three days before announcing their verdict. It came after they said late Tuesday that they had decided on four counts but were stuck on the racketeering one. At that point, the judge told them to keep deliberating and keep the partial verdict under wraps.

Combs did not testify at his trialtria, which featured 34 witnesses as well as video of the rapper attacking his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie.

Her lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, said in a statement after the verdict that "by coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice."

Cassie testified for four days about her turbulent 11-year relationship with Combs, which began after she signed with his Bad Boy record label.

Cassie said Combs became obsessed with voyeuristic encounters, arranged with the help of his staff, that involved sex workers and copious amounts of baby oil. During the sex events, called "freak-offs" or "hotel nights," Combs would order Cassie to do things with other men that she found humiliating, she testified.

When things didn't go Combs' way, he would beat her, she said.

"I'm not a rag doll. I'm somebody's child," Cassie told Combs after he dragged her down a hotel hallway in 2016.

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