Closing arguments have begun in the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial, as federal prosecutors deliver to the jury an hours-long summary of their case against the disgraced music and fashion mogul.
At the center of a jam-packed courtroom, prosecutor Christy Slavik patiently broke down each of the five charges against Combs — one count of racketeering, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution — and explained the associated predicate acts and requirements for a conviction.
As Slavik recounted the harrowing allegations levied against Combs by his ex-girlfriends, former employees and law enforcement agents, Combs’ three adult daughters, appearing in the courtroom for the first time in weeks, whispered to each other and passed notes. Combs, meanwhile, scribbled on his own scraps of paper and handed them to his attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos. During most of the government’s presentation, though, Combs clasped his hands in his lap and looked forward, or down at the ground. Moving his feet around, he appeared unusually fidgety.
The government started with a heavy focus on the racketeering charge, telling the jury bluntly: “[Combs] is the leader of a criminal enterprise. He doesn’t take no for an answer.” Slavik described the enterprise as Combs’ “inner circle,” who “committed crimes with and for Sean Combs.” That circle included Combs’ longtime chief of staff Kristina Khorram (aka “KK”), his security detail and rotating cast of assistants and staff members, whom Slavik called Combs’ eager “foot soldiers.”
The prosecution argued that over two decades, these people carried out crimes and helped cover them up, all under the orders of Combs and in the interest of protecting his brand and catering to his personal and sexual desires. While Combs’ former employees did not explicitly testify to being part of a criminal enterprise, Slavik told the jury to “use your common sense and look at the evidence.”
On a slideshow, the government showed several predicate acts for racketeering, telling the jury they only need to identify two specific incidents belonging to any of the categories: kidnapping, arson, bribery, drug distribution, sex trafficking, interstate transport for prostitution, forced labor, witness tampering and obstruction. As long as the jury decides that Combs and another member of his enterprise agreed to commit two individual predicate acts, he is guilty of racketeering.
Slavik argued that this is an obvious truth, as Combs is allegedly guilty of “hundreds of acts of drug distribution” alone. Drugs were an “essential ingredient of every freak-off,” Slavik said, and Combs relied on his enterprise to “make sure he had a constant supply of any drug he wanted — for himself and for his victims.” Slavik said Combs “plied” his ex-girlfriend with drugs like ecstacy so they could “perform” sex with male escorts for days on end, as he watched, filmed and masturbated. The prosecution showed the jury multiple examples of communications between Combs’ team members pertaining to buying and delivering drugs to him. “This is drug distribution,” Slavik said. “It’s simple.”
Love Film & TV?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in music, film and TV in Australia and abroad.
The prosecution then touched on the other predicate acts, highlighting three distinct examples of alleged kidnapping. Slavik reminded the jury of Ventura’s claim that Combs stomped on her face in an SUV and then forced her to stay in a hotel as she recovered from the injuries. She also recounted former assistant Capricorn Clark’s testimony, which accused Combs of making her take a five-day lie detector test, and years later showing up to her house with a gun and telling her they were going to go “kill” the rapper Kid Cudi, who was in a romantic relationship with Ventura at the time.
As for arson, Slavik said that while there is no concrete evidence that links Combs to the explosion of Kid Cudi’s car, it “can’t be a wild coincidence” that the alleged arson occurred after Combs explicitly said he would blow up the rapper’s vehicle.
Slavik referenced hotel security guard Eddy Garcia, who said Combs paid him off with $100,000 in cash to dispose of the surveillance video that depicts him beating up Ventura. While the defense has said Combs paid off Garcia to protect his reputation, Slavik argued there is another reason that reaches the standard of bribery: He knew there was a possibility of law enforcement involvement, and therefore he could be charged with a crime if the tape was distributed.
With respect to sex trafficking, which is both included in the racketeering predicate acts and a separate charge, Slavik began by discussing Combs’ relationship with “Jane,” an anonymous alleged victim who dated Combs from 2021 to 2024. Going over the three elements of sex trafficking, Slavik said the jury only needs to find one incident in which Combs knowingly transported or enticed a victim into sexual activity through use of fraud, force or coercion, and in which interstate commerce was affected.
Slavik showed an image of dozens of men’s faces, the “strangers” whom Combs allegedly hired to have sex with his ex-girlfriends as they were “drugged, covered in oil, sore, exhausted.”
She emphasized Combs’ use of “rent as leverage” over Jane, and she pulled up previously shown text messages that convey Jane’s reluctance to freak-offs. “I don’t want to feel obligated to perform these nights with you in fear of losing the roof over my head,” Jane wrote to Combs in September 2023, for example.
Slavik also focused on Combs’ alleged violence, describing him as “insanely jealous and abusive.” She pointed to one incident in June 2024, in which Combs allegedly punched and kicked Jane, dragging her by her hair back into the house before setting up a freak-off.
The government’s closing argument will take up the remainder of the day in court. The defense will present its summations on Friday, before the judge gives the jury instructions on how to interpret and rule on the charges. A verdict, which could result in decades behind bars for Combs, is expected to arrive next week.
From Variety US