NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sean “Diddy” Combs used “violence and fear” to lead a criminal enterprise that helped him subject two of his former girlfriends to sex trafficking, a U.S. prosecutor said on Thursday in her closing argument at the music mogul’s trial.
Combs, a former billionaire known for elevating hip-hop in American culture, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and two counts each of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted on all counts, the Bad Boy Records founder faces a minimum 15-year prison term and could be sentenced to life behind bars.
Over more than six weeks of testimony in Manhattan federal court, jurors heard two of Combs’ former girlfriends testify that they took part in days-long, drug-fueled sex parties sometimes called “Freak Offs” with male sex workers while Combs watched, masturbated, and sometimes filmed.
The jury saw hotel surveillance footage of Combs beating one of the women in a hallway, and heard Combs’ employees describe setting up hotel rooms and buying drugs for the performances.
“The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told jurors in her address. “He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law.”
The jury is expected to start deliberations either late on Friday or on Monday. Combs, a rapper and entrepreneur known for turning artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, has been held in federal lockup in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest.
Both alleged victims – the rhythm and blues singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a woman known in court by the pseudonym Jane – testified Combs also threatened to cut off financial support or leak sex tapes when they complained about their treatment.
Combs’ defense lawyers acknowledge that Combs was occasionally violent in domestic relationships, but have argued that his conduct did not amount to sex trafficking because the sex acts described by prosecutors were consensual. They are expected to deliver their closing argument on Friday.
Ventura and Jane both testified that they, at times, took part in the performances because they loved Combs and wanted to make him happy, and defense lawyers have argued he had no way of knowing that they were not participating willingly.
During her closing argument, Slavik brought jurors’ attention to text messages they had seen in which Jane told Combs she felt obligated to take part in the performances out of concern Combs would stop paying her rent.
Slavik told jurors that to convict Combs, they only needed to find that one of the dozens of “Freak Offs” was the result of Combs’ coercion, and that he knew or should have known that Ventura or Jane participated unwillingly.
“It doesn’t require them to say no, it doesn’t require them to try to run away,” Slavik said.
Combs did not testify. Defendants in U.S. criminal cases are not required to present evidence, and judges instruct juries not to hold a refusal to testify against defendants. To win a guilty verdict, prosecutors must prove their cases beyond a reasonable doubt.
Legal experts said the jury would need to consider the prosecution’s evidence of Combs’ abuse against the defense’s evidence that the women consented to the performances in at least some instances. The 12-member jury must be unanimous to convict Combs on any of the counts.
“The question is which narrative is going to hold more weight,” said Heather Cucolo, a professor at New York Law School.
Slavik argued that Combs is guilty of racketeering conspiracy because his employees enabled and concealed his behavior.
Combs’ lawyers have argued there was no conspiracy in part because his employees were not aware of anything improper about the sexual performances, and that any drugs they procured for their boss were for his personal use.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Michael Perry, Bill Berkrot and Chizu Nomiyama)