Opening statements have begun in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial, and arguments by both sides revealed that allegations made by Cassie and an unnamed Jane Doe will be the primary focus of the trial.
“This is Sean Combs,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson began on Monday, May 12, after the jury was finalized. “But there is another side to him. A side that ran a criminal enterprise … but he didn’t do it alone.”
The prosecution alleged that Diddy, 55, once “brutally” beat Cassie, 38, after allegedly finding out she’d been seeing another man and threatened her with videos of her having sex with other men. “That’s not the only time he kidnapped someone,” Johnson continued. “That’s not the first girlfriend he sexually assaulted.”
Johnson went on to claim that Diddy’s bodyguards and chief of staff “committed crimes together, and they covered up those crimes,” adding, “This case is not about a celebrity’s private sexual choices.”
The attorney noted that details about Cassie and Jane Doe’s allegations “may be hard to hear” before noting, “These two women will be the main focuses of the trial.”
Johnson later addressed Diddy’s now-infamous freak offs, claiming they happened as often as once a week “and took place over multiple days at a time.”
According to Johnson, Cassie once overdosed at a freak off where a participant urinated in her mouth. “She tried the first freak off because she loved the defendant and wanted to make him happy,” the lawyer continued. Jane Doe, meanwhile, allegedly believed the freak off she attended was a “one-time wild night.”
After Johnson’s statement, Diddy’s attorney Teny Geragos presented the defense’s opening argument, saying, “Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case.”
Geragos claimed no witness will be able to back up the government’s racketeering charges because there was no racketeering conspiracy, but she admitted that her client has a history of violence.
“Sean Combs had a temper, and when he took drugs, he would get violent. My client is not proud of that,” she said. “We take full responsibility that there is domestic violence in this case. Domestic violence is not sex trafficking.”
She added that the jury will hear about Diddy’s “love of baby oil” before saying, “But is that a federal crime? No.”
Geragos also addressed Cassie and Jane Doe’s allegations, claiming, “Every witness in this case had free choice to make the choices they made.”
Diddy was arrested in September 2024 and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and has denied the allegations against him.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a statement at the time. “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Diddy has been present in court for the jury selection, arriving in lower Manhattan last week wearing a sweater over a white collared shirt and with a gray beard and head of hair. (Hair dye is not allowed at the Metropolitan Detention Center where Diddy is being held, but jury consultant Alan Tuerkheimer told Us Weekly exclusively that he believes the look is intentional.)
He turned down a plea deal that could have reduced his potential prison sentence if he agreed to plead guilty.
Though the trial has only just begun, the pretrial process has given both sides an idea of what to expect over the coming two months. Cassie is expected to testify as a star witness for the prosecution.
Video surfaced in May 2024 of Diddy appearing to assault her at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles in 2016. Diddy apologized days later.
“It’s difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, sometimes you gotta do that,” he said. “I was f***ed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted.”
He continued, “I went and sought out professional help. I’ve been going to therapy, going to rehab. Had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry, but I’m committed to being a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
