Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyer refuted and downplayed the racketeering and sex trafficking charges against the disgraced music mogul during his closing statement on Friday, arguing that the prosecution team had failed to present any actual evidence of either crime.
“He did not do the things he’s charged with. He didn’t do racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking,” attorney Marc Agnifilo told jurors on Friday, according to the Associated Press. “Did any witness get on that witness stand and say, ‘Yes, I was part of a racketeering enterprise — I engaged in racketeering?’”
Agnifilo went so far as to call Combs’ entire trial, which is in its seventh week, a “fake trial” and mocked the federal agents who seized hundreds of bottles of lubricant and baby oil from the rapper’s property. “Way to go, fellas,” he reportedly said of the government workers.
The attorney further argued that the prosecution had “badly exaggerated” the presented evidence against Combs — twisting his swinger lifestyle and penchant for recreational drug use, threesomes and domestic violence into a criminal case of racketeering and sex trafficking.
The trial featured the emotional testimonies of several accusers, including Jane, an anonymous ex-girlfriend, and R&B singer Cassie, another ex-girlfriend who was seen on video surveillance being beaten by the rapper in a hotel in 2016. Both women testified that they had felt pressured to take part in Combs’ “freak-offs,” which involved them allegedly participating in hours- and days-long sex sessions with male escorts while Combs watched, masturbated or filmed them.
Cassie testified that Combs had intimidated her into continuing to participate in his freak-offs by threatening to release the recordings he had of their previous sex sessions. Agnifilo, however, pushed back against those claims, insisting that Combs’ accusers had testified against him solely out of greed.
“This isn’t about crime,” the lawyer said. “It’s about money. This is about money.”
He referenced a lawsuit Cassie filed against Combs in 2023 alleging years of rape and abuse, which he settled the very next day for $20 million but which opened the door for a federal investigation into his behavior and actions. Agnifilo also noted that Combs is still paying the rent for the home where the anonymous Jane lives, a fact that she also acknowledged during her testimony.
“I don’t know what Jane is doing today,” Agnifilo told jurors. “But she’s doing it in a house he’s paying for.” In regards to the $20 million settlement Combs paid Cassie, the lawyer added, “If you had to pick a winner in this whole thing, it’s hard not to pick Cassie.”
The lawyer acknowledged that Combs had been violent against Cassie, but argued that nothing he had done qualified as the kind of criminal behavior he is accused of engaging in. Replaying the footage of Combs’ hotel assault of Cassie, Agnifilo refuted the prosecution’s assertion that it was evidence of sex trafficking by force and, instead, argued that Diddy may not have been angry in the moment about Cassie backing out of a freak-off, but rather because she was taking his phone with her.
“If racketeering conspiracy had an opposite, it would be their relationship … they were deeply in love with each other,” Agnifilo stated, noting that Cassie and Combs’ relationship was “complicated.” Ultimately, the attorney contended that the prosecution was trying to make something greater out of Combs’ atpyical lifestyle.
“Where’s the crime scene? It’s your sex life,” he remarked.
Agnifilo’s comments came one day after Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik gave the prosecution’s closing argument. “The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” she told jurors on Thursday. “He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law.”
If Combs is convicted, he faces a minimum of 15 years in prison and a potential life sentence. Several members of the music mogul’s family, including his mother and six of his children, were in attendance in court to hear the defense’s closing statements on Friday.
Following Agnifilo’s closing presentation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey is expected to deliver a rebuttal. The jury assigned to the trial is not expected to begin deliberations on its verdict until Monday, June 30.
