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MANHATTAN (CN) — Entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs on Friday lost his pretrial bid to keep hotel security video showing the Bad Boy Records CEO violently assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura out of prosecutors’ evidence in his upcoming sex trafficking trial in New York federal court..
Central to the case is the March 2016 video showing Combs violently hitting and dragging his then-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, in a hallway of the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. Prosecutors say he later attempted to bribe hotel security to cover up the attack.
Represented by attorney Marc Agnifilo, who also handled the defense for NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere’s sex-trafficking trial in Brooklyn federal court, Combs’ defense claimed the Cassie video had been edited and manipulated to make the episode appear worse than it was.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian was not persuaded to exclude the video from trial evidence.
“The defense can’t show the footage is inadmissible,” he said in a ruling from the bench. “There’s no unfair prejudice to Mr. Combs.”
Prosecutors said they were able to correct the frame rate of video files they received from CNN through a subpoena, to reflect the actual speed of events as they occurred, matching partial videos from additional iPhone recordings of the same episode.
Combs’ team claims the surveillance footage was nothing more than a “glimpse into a complex but decade-long consensual relationship” between the two.
Combs admitted in April 2024 that he assaulted Cassie after CNN released video of the attack, saying in a video apology posted on Instagram he was “truly sorry” and his actions were “inexcusable.”
“I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now,” he added. “I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness.”
The violence captured on the video footage weighed heavily on multiple judges’ decisions to deny bail to Combs, keeping him detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn since his arrest.
Prosecutors claim the violent incident at the Los Angeles hotel spilled out from one of the so-called “freak off" sex parties, which they say involved the transportation of “commercial sex workers across state lines and internationally.”
“Freak Offs occurred regularly, sometimes lasted multiple days, and often involved multiple commercial sex workers,” prosecutors wrote in the criminal indictment. “During Freak Offs, Combs distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims obedient and compliant. Sometimes unbeknownst to the victims, Combs kept videos he filmed of victims engaging in sex acts with commercial sex workers.”
According to the indictment, Combs and the victims typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use — including ketamine, ecstasy and GHB — during the marathon sexual exploitation.
During the penultimate pretrial conference on Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Madison Reddick Smyser said the prosecution plans to show jurors videos of some of those purported “freak off” sex parties during the upcoming trial and requested that the “extremely sensitive” content of those videos entered into evidence be sealed from the public.
The videos include footage of “victims, escorts and, in some videos, Mr. Combs,” Reddick told Judge Subramanian.
Also, during Friday’s hearing, Agnifilo previewed a potential defense strategy, intimating that he would describe Combs as a “swinger” to explain why he’d invited professional escorts, prostitutes and other partners to join his sexual activity, as has been alleged by prosecutors.
“There’s a lifestyle, call it swingers, call it whatever you will — many people think it’s appropriate,” Agnifilo said. “The reason he thought it was appropriate is because it’s so common.”
Subramanian ruled from the bench that Combs’ lawyers can mount the non-monogamous swinger lifestyle argument but that they cannot cite other so-called comparator examples of high-profile figures believed to have hired sex workers as part of such a lifestyle.
Combs, 55, was initially charged three-count criminal indictment that accused him of a sprawling sex-trafficking conspiracy involving physical abuse, drug-fueled sexual predation and surreptitious video recording. He has pleaded not guilty on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs came to prominence in the early 1990s, producing hit debut albums for rapper The Notorious B.I.G. and R&B singer Mary J. Blige. He was arrested in a Manhattan hotel lobby in September 2024, six months after federal investigators searched his luxury homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
Opening arguments in Combs’ trial will begin on May 12. Jury selection will commence with jury questionnaires on April 28.
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