In a bonus episode of Variety‘s Strictly Business podcast, reporter Ethan Shanfeld provided insight into how the verdict for the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial played out in the courtroom.
The trial resulted in a split verdict. Combs was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and was acquitted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
“The first verdict was not guilty on the racketeering charge, which was count one. There were gasps. Diddy ended up sort of like pumping his fist in the air after they were all read,” said Shanfeld, who covered the trial for Variety. “People in the overflow rooms were cheering and breaking out into applause, which was not entirely surprising because during closing arguments, the prosecution’s five hour argument landed with sort of a silence in the overflow room. And then when Diddy’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, finished his argument — people stood up, people cheered, people yelled,” Shanfeld said in an interview with Cynthia Littleton, Variety co-editor in chief and host of “Strictly Business.”
Shanfeld described how the courthouse’s public section was largely comprised of pro-Diddy supporters. In fact, support for the music mogul was evident outside of the courtroom as people celebrated the verdict with baby oil – an item from Diddy’s “freak-off” parties that was widely mentioned during the trial.
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“After the verdict was read, people were literally squirting baby oil on each other and cheering. They were chanting ‘Freedom.’ They were chanting the saying from the OJ trial, which is ‘If the glove does not fit, you must acquit,’ even though that doesn’t really have any bearing on this trial,” he said.
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“Diddy’s family was coming in and out of the van, and people were congratulating the kids. I was in the cafeteria where his kids and his mother were and a lot of the people, including journalists, were going up to them and saying, ‘Congratulations,’” Shanfeld said.
In closing, Shanfeld offers his thoughts about the actors who might be cast as key members of the prosecution and defense teams in the inevitable limited series to be made about the shocking trial.
“I suppose it depends on how big the budget of this project is,” Shanfeld quipped.
From Variety US