Sean ‘Diddy' Combs used ‘fame, wealth and power' to create twisted criminal ‘kingdom,' feds charge at close of bombshell trial
Sean 'Diddy' Combs is a crime boss who abused his status as a powerful hip-hop mogul to force his ex-lovers into humiliating, drug-fueled sexual escapades, the feds charged at the close of a bombshell Manhattan trial Thursday.
Federal prosecutors painted the disgraced Bad Boy Records founder as a terrifying tycoon who used his fame and fortune — and his circle of trusted employees — to cover up his alleged monstrous acts for decades.
'He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law — but over the course of this trial, his crimes have been exposed,' Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik told jurors in closing statements.
5 Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik makes her closing arguments at Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex-trafficking trial on June 26, 2025.
REUTERS
The feds spent more than four hours painstakingly detailing evidence of Combs' alleged slew of crimes — urging the jury to convict him of sex-trafficking and racketeering charges that could land him behind bars for life.
Slavik described for jurors how Combs allegedly handed a security guard $100,000 in a brown paper bag in a failed bid to coverup the infamous footage of him brutally assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel.
Combs also plotted to set rapper Kid Cudi's Porsche on fire in a jealous rage, prosecutors said.
And he trafficked Ventura and another ex-lover — who testified using the alias 'Jane' — by forcing them into 'freak-off' sex sessions with male escorts, after beating them and threatening to release explicit tapes of them, Slavik said.
'The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,' she said. 'Dozens of witnesses agreed – he doesn't take no for an answer.'
5 Combs making a gesture to the courtroom audience on June 26, 2025.
REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
The jailed 'I'll Be Missing You' rapper's trusted inner circle — including his 'loyal lieutenant,' chief of staff Khristina Khorram — allegedly 'aided and abetted' his schemes, while his security guards were 'armed and ready' at his side for some of Combs' 'most violent acts.'
'It's his kingdom — everyone is there to serve him,' Slavik said.
Combs, who has been held without bail at a Brooklyn lockup since his September 2024 arrest, didn't betray much emotion as he sat at the defense table during the closing argument, dressed in a baby blue sweater.
He pushed his chair a few feet away from the table and occasionally shot a look over at the jury of eight men and four women that will decide his fate.
But Combs slumped his shoulders and stared down at his hands, with his head bowed, when the prosecutor mentioned Ventura's emotional trial testimony that he had raped her in 2018 after their break-up.
The R&B singer was among more than 30 witnesses who testified against Combs over the course of the seven-week trial.
To convict on the racketeering rap, jurors will need to find that Combs was the kingpin of a crew that plotted at least two alleged crimes. They'll have several choices: the car arson, sex trafficking of Ventura and Jane and the alleged bribe to the security guard.
5 Prosecutors argued that Combs used his fame to create a criminal 'kingdom.'
REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
Prosecutors said Combs should be found guilty on each of the two sex-trafficking counts — which carry a minimum 15-year prison sentence — even if only one of the countless sex sessions described by Ventura and Jane was coerced.
The March 2016 hotel episode caught on camera — where Combs was seen shoving, kicking and trying to dragging Ventura back to their room after she tried to leave a freak-off early — was just one example of a forced or coerced sex-trafficking incident, Slavik said.
'This is what happened when Cassie said no,' she told jurors, while playing the sickening footage.
5 Surveillance footage of Combs assaulting Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
U.S. Attorneys SDNY
Ventura and Jane also both testified that Combs threatened to release tapes of the degrading sex sessions if they did not comply with his demands.
'He held these sex tapes over her head as collateral,' Slavik said, speaking about Ventura. 'The freak-offs themselves became a way to coerce her into doing freak-offs.'
The embattled entrepreneur, who has pleaded not guilty, maintains that the freak-off encounters were consensual.
5 Combs bowed his head in court when the prosecution brought up his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura's testimony about him allegedly raping her.
WireImage
His three 18-year-old daughters, who had not been seen at his trial for weeks, returned Thursday and sat sitting in the third row of the gallery behind him, alongside Combs' mother and other supporters.
Combs' defense attorneys are set to deliver their own closing statements Friday.
— Additional reporting by Kyle Schnitzer
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Diddy trial day 34 recap: Defense tries to reframe alleged sex trafficking as 'one of the great modern love stories'
It wasn't sex trafficking. It was "one of the great modern love stories." That's how lawyers for Sean "Diddy" Combs in their closing argument on Friday framed for the jury the world of alleged violence, drugs and choreographed orgies at the heart of the federal case against one the biggest superstars in the music world. After jurors heard weeks of testimony about how Combs allegedly used drugs, violence and threats to coerce women like his longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura into sex with male escorts, defense attorney Marc Agnifilo argued that Combs and Ventura had a "beautiful relationship" that was tainted by jealousy and infidelity. "You will cry. You will read evidence with an exhibit sticker on it and you will cry. Some of the most beautiful things ever said," Agnifilo said about the text messages between Combs and Ventura that were central pieces of evidence in the case. "They are truly in love with each other, and that is what defines their relationship." Combs' relationship with Ventura and another woman who testified under the pseudonym "Jane" are at the center of federal prosecutors' criminal case against Combs. They argue Combs love-bombed the women, pressured them into participating in days-long sex parties called "freak offs" or "hotel nights," then used violence and threats to ensure they stayed quiet about Combs' voyeurism. After prosecutors presented a lengthy nearly five-hour closing statement on Thursday, Agnifilo responded with a four-hour summation where he openly mocked the prosecution's case at various points and suggested Comb was unfairly targeted by law enforcement over his private sex life. "Thank goodness for the special response team. They found the baby oil. They found the AstroGlide," Agnifilo said, referencing the hundreds of bottles of lubricants said to have been recovered from Combs' home. "The only crime scene is your private sex life." While Agnifilo acknowledged that Combs might have engaged in domestic violence or threatened to release sex tapes of his romantic partners, Agnifilo argued Combs is not guilty of the charges he faces, including the allegation he used his business empire to run a criminal organization devoted to fulfilling his sexual appetites. Combs is charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys have insisted that domestic violence and drug use are not the issues in the criminal case that has occupied the tabloids and headlines for weeks. His defense lawyers maintain that all sexual encounters were consensual. Combs faces the possibility of a life sentence, if convicted on all counts. The jury of eight men and four women are set to begin deliberating Combs' fate Monday morning, after the judge overseeing the case instructs them on the charges and how to apply the law to the testimony they've heard since mid-May. Defense tries to discredit testimony from alleged victims Jurors heard 13 days of testimony from three alleged victims, who took the stand to help prosecutors build their case against Combs. Ventura, a singer and longtime girlfriend of Combs, and "Jane" testified Combs pressured them to participate in the sex parties -- fearing violence or reputational harm if they refused. A former assistant, who testified under the name "Mia," said the rap mogul sexually assaulted and raped her. During his summation, Agnifilo tried to chip away at the credibility of each of the women, arguing they were motivated by money and that prosecutors "exaggerated" their claims against Combs. The defense cast Ventura as a beautiful woman who loved sex, seeking to undermine the government's portrayal of her as a victim of sex trafficking. "When she wasn't with Sean Combs she was with Michael B. Jordan," Agnifilo said of the movie star. "He's the most handsome man in the world. She's not messing around. She's at a high level. She has sexual confidence. Good for her. She's not clutching her pearls." Like Ventura, "Jane" was no trafficking victim, the defense lawyer asserted, saying "she's agreeing" to the kind of sexual activity with male prostitutes that Combs desired. "She regrets it. She resents him for it. That came later," Agnifilo said. "She agreed to it. That's all you need to know, and we can be done with it." Agnifilo disputed federal prosecutors' contention that Combs used paying "Jane's" $10,000 monthly rent as leverage to coerce her to participate. "The house is a gesture of kindness, of decency, of niceness," Agnifilo said. "I hope she's having a nice day. I don't know what she's doing but I know she's doing it in a house he paid for." Addressing the allegations of sexual assault and rape made by "Mia," Combs' attorney argued the sexual encounters were voluntary. He highlighted the effusive birthday message she sent Combs one year to suggest their relationship had crossed from the professional into the romantic. Defense tries to dismantle racketeering predicates In response to prosecutors' allegation that Combs used security guards, staff and assistants to commit crimes, Agnifilo mocked prosecutors for suggesting that Combs' actions were part of a broader criminal organization. "Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?" Agnifilo said. "If racketeering conspiracy had an opposite, it would be [Combs and Ventura's] relationship." Agnifilo tried to distance Combs from some of the underlying crimes that prosecutors say Combs agreed to commit with other members of the alleged enterprise, including arson, kidnapping and bribery. Prosecutors alleged Combs orchestrated the firebombing of the luxury sports car of the rapper Kid Cudi after learning the fellow musician was seeing Ventura in 2011. Agnifilo called the claim "nonsense" and argued no evidence directly linked Combs to the crime. "There is no evidence, I mean no evidence, that he had anything to do with the Porsche," Agnifilo said. Federal prosecutors argued Combs and his associates were worried about being arrested after the attack on Ventura caught on 2016 hotel surveillance cameras and sought to bribe a security guard in return for the footage. Agnifilo said Combs had a different motive -- distrust of hotel staff. "Money is involved, and people want a payday," Agnifilo said, telling the jury hotel staff may have been willing to sell video of someone as famous as Combs. "They're not worried about the police." In staccato remarks, Agnifilo questioned the allegations of Combs' one-time personal assistant, Capricorn Clark, who testified she was forced to submit to a five-day lie detector test after Combs' jewelry went missing. Prosecutors said that amounted to kidnapping. "She went home. Everyday. So, what is the government alleging?" Agnifilo half-shouted. "I have no doubt that she was unsettled. She was not kidnapped." Prosecutor says Combs "trapped" his victims After hours of defense closing arguments, prosecutor Maurene Comey addressed the jury. She denounced the defense summation for insinuating the women "wanted it," telling jurors it defied logic to think Ventura wanted an escort to urinate on her or to go through other elements of the sex sessions. "What we're talking about is being in a dark hotel room, awake for days, covered in oil, often with a [urinary tract infection], in heels, with your pelvic area sore…having sex for hours, including with strangers," Comey said. "The defense wanted you to believe Cassie and Jane wanted that. That's ridiculous on its face." Comey told jurors they must find one freak-off when Combs knew he was using force, fraud or coercion to gain Ventura or Jane's compliance in order to convict Combs of sex trafficking. "The defendant never thought the women he abused would have the courage to speak out loud about what he had done with him," Comey said. "For 20 years, the defendant got away with his crimes. That ends in this courtroom."
