Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Lawyer Says Violent Video Of Cassie ‘Not Evidence Of Sex Trafficking’
by Conor Murray · ForbesTopline
The lawyer representing Sean “Diddy” Combs, the businessman and rapper jailed in New York following an indictment on sex trafficking charges, told TMZ in a new documentary Combs is “very eager” to testify and denied that video footage of Combs assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura supports any of the charges against him.
Key Facts
TMZ produced “The Downfall of Diddy: The Indictment,” which released Thursday and is streaming on Tubi, featuring interviews with Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lawyer, as well as former Bad Boy Records executive LaJoyce Brookshire and several journalists.
Agnifilo acknowledged hotel security video footage published by CNN that depicts Combs shoving and kicking ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who sued Combs for sexual assault last year, is “hard to watch,” but said it is “not evidence of sex trafficking” and is unrelated to his charges.
Agnifilo said the Combs indictment is a takedown of a “successful Black man,” alleging federal agents investigated Combs’ sexual conduct as a “last vestige” because his “businesses are fine” and he “pays his taxes.”
Combs is “very eager to tell his story” and wants to “tell every part of his story” on the stand, Agnifilo said, including his relationship with Ventura and the hotel video footage, which he called a “human story” of love, hurt and heartbreak.
Agnifilo also addressed Combs’ alleged—and widely mocked—possession of more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil at his home, stating he has a “big house” and “buys in bulk,” but said he’s “not sure what the baby oil has to do with anything.”
Agnifilo said he doesn’t see a plea bargain happening, stating Combs “believes he’s innocent.”
News Peg
Combs was arrested in New York last week on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, cause or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty and is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he shares a unit with disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. In the indictment, prosecutors allege Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct” and coerced women to participate in “extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers” known as “freak offs,” in which he allegedly drugged women to keep them “obedient and compliant.”
Key Background
Prior to his arrest, Combs faced a string of lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault, all of which he denied, beginning with Ventura’s lawsuit in November 2023. Ventura alleged Combs, whom she dated between 2007 and 2018, subjected her to a years-long abusive relationship and raped her in one instance. Combs denied the allegations and the two settled one day after Ventura filed the suit. Combs has since faced additional lawsuits, including suits filed by producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones and Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard, both accusing Combs of sexual assault.
What To Watch For
Several other documentaries about Combs are in the works, including one produced by rapper 50 Cent, with whom Combs has had a decades-long beef. That documentary will stream on Netflix, and 50 Cent and director Alexandria Stapleton said it “is a complex narrative spanning decades, not just the headlines or clips seen so far.” Investigation Discovery, the network behind the “Quiet On Set” docuseries about toxic environments on children’s television sets, is also working on a docuseries about Combs, set to premiere in 2025.
Further Reading
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Celebrity Ties—Including Usher, Bieber, J. Lo—Under Fresh Scrutiny (Forbes)