The feds flubbed it with Sean Combs — and he's sure to end up a martyr now
It took jurors 14 hours of deliberation to deliver a profound statement: Federal prosecutors didn't provide enough evidence to convince them that Combs was a sex trafficker who sat atop a ruthless criminal organization.
They did get him on transporting individuals to engage in prostitution. But, in my book, the 55-year-old Combs is still a monster of epic proportions.
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6 Sean Combs was acquitted of the most serious charges — racketeering and sex trafficking — against him in the federal trial that ended this week.
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To recap: The fallen hip-hop mogul is a despicable coward who terrorized and intimidated women, using them as objects in his grotesque, baby-oil-soaked live-action pornos. And, as video showed, he beat the living daylights out of a girlfriend who managed to get on his bad side.
Not that Combs has a good side — despite the reputation he tried to cultivate by crowning himself Hollywood's host with the most, throwing annual star-studded white parties for soulless celebrities. Not to mention all those fluffy interviews with hosts like Ellen Degeneres and Jimmy Kimmel, and the red carpets he walked wearing natty, tailored tuxedos and flashy watches. He was nothing more than a low-life cosplaying as an old-school gentleman.
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Combs preyed on women who were much smaller than he and much more vulnerable. In some cases, women who depended on him for their career.
But, in trying to bring him down, federal prosecutors took a massive swing and had a big ol' miss — a rare one for the Southern District of New York. As the trial played out, it felt like they were trying to make a five-course feast out of breadcrumbs and scraps.
They overpromised and underdelivered.
6 The prosecution's star witness, Cassie Ventura, said that Combs beat her and forced her to perform in 'freak offs.'
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The trumped-up charges, initially brought by now-ex-U.S. Attorney Damian Williams — who also indicted Mayor Eric Adams and, according to former colleagues, seemed to harbor his own political ambitions — did allow the full extent of Combs' depravity and violence to become a matter of public record.
There were more celebrity name drops than a Grammy ceremony. Not to mention the most raw, lurid details about his bizarre bedroom proclivities, including drug-fueled sex marathons known as 'freak offs' which are, sadly, now a regular part of common vernacular.
The most difficult memories to shake will be his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura's war stories — which she delivered on the stand while nine months pregnant and nearly seven years from Combs' vicious grip.
6 Sean Combs' children (including sons Justin, left, and Christian) were a constant presence during their father's sensational trial.
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She graphically described beat-downs from Combs that were so brutal, she had to convalesce in private. In one instance, Ventura said he kicked her in the face during a car ride from hell and later had her whisked away to the London Hotel to recover — despite her pleas to leave.
It all made for sensational copy and salacious headlines, but it wasn't enough to put Combs away for good.
This entire costly event was tantamount to what legal expert Neama Rahmani told The Post was the 'most expensive prostitution trial in American history' and a 'tremendous loss' for the prosecution.
Not to mention, a circus.
6 In 2017, Cassie Ventura and Combs attended the Met Gala.
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6 For over two decades, Sean Combs was the toast of celebrity circles.
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It's unclear what kind of time Combs will actually serve, but he's facing a mountain of civil suits. He deserves to sink into the shadows of society. However, he'll likely have achieved martyr status for some — all for being prosecuted and persecuted for his 'swinger' lifestyle.
Even outside the courthouse in downtown Manhattan, supporters celebrated by squirting baby oil at each other and dancing suggestively.
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Given that his lone courtroom prop was the Bible, I predict he'll emerge at some point — hawking fake contrition and humility like another commodity. Maybe he'll even wear the collection of avuncular crewneck sweaters he sported during the trial. He'll say that he mistreated and beat women because he suffered from the holy trinity of deflection: mental illness, sex and drug addiction.
It's not like much of this is a surprise. Combs has a track record of antisocial behavior, dating back to an infamous 1999 nightclub shooting in which he was charged with weapons possession but later acquitted. (His protege rapper Shyne was convicted of the shooting and later claimed he was 'set up to be the fall guy.')
6 A heavily pregnant Cassie Ventura provided jaw-dropping testimony about alleged physical abuse during her the trial of Combs, her ex-boyfriend.
BACKGRID
For decades, Combs ruled an industry that not only ran on misogyny but explicitly bragged about it against the backdrop of a funky beat.
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There was a great irony to the start of Combs' downfall. Ventura testified that he had threatened to release videos of her in freak-offs with male escorts, and she was petrified that he'd follow through with it.
In the end, it was Combs who was done in by a video — of him beating Ventura in 2016, as she tried to flee a freak-off at a Los Angeles hotel. Her 2023 lawsuit and allegations of sexual violence, which he quickly settled, set his legal troubles into motion. Then the damning video was leaked, bolstering her claims of brutality.
I hope that video is his legacy and overshadows those not-guilty verdicts.
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