Embattled U.S. music mogul, Sean “Diddy” Combs is fighting back against evidence prosecutors are expected to use against him at his criminal trial in New York in May.
Diddy’s legal team said on Tuesday in a filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that his attorneys have reviewed nine videos of “so-called ‘Freak Off’ tapes” provided by prosecutors in New York regarding a person referred to as “Victim-1.”
The filing sought to obtain electronic copies of the videos, which Combs’ attorneys said “confirm Mr. Combs’ innocence” between “fully consenting adults in a long-term relationship.”
A source familiar with the case said Combs’ legal team can view the videos only “in the presence of a government representative and can see them but cannot keep them.”
The document also said the recordings were not part of the raids conducted on Combs’ properties last year but were kept by “Victim-1” and provided to the government as part of its criminal investigation.
“Moreover, contrary to innumerable sensationalistic media reports, the videos do not depict sex parties,” the document says.
“There are no secret cameras, no orgies, no other celebrities involved, no underground tunnels, no minors, and not so much as a hint of coercion or violence.”
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney declined to comment.
LEADERSHIP recalls that Combs was charged in September with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
He has pleaded not guilty and is being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center as he awaits trial, scheduled for May 5.
The fallout for Combs began in November 2023 when his ex-longtime girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, accused him in a lawsuit of physical and sexual assault and sex trafficking.
It was in the lawsuit that the alleged “freak offs,” or sex parties, were first mentioned.
Ventura and Combs settled for an undisclosed amount.
Months later, CNN published a security video of Combs brutally kicking, punching and dragging Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
He apologised for the incident on social media and said, in part, “My behaviour on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
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