On the final day of the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial before jury deliberations, the hip-hop mogul’s attorney Marc Agnifilo enlivened the courtroom with an impassioned closing argument.
In the coming days, the jury will determine whether Combs is guilty of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
“She’s a woman who actually likes sex,” Agnifilo said.
She’s unafraid.” Agnifilo referenced Ventura’s testimony about her brief love affair with the rapper Scott Mescudi, aka Kid Cudi.
For that reason, if she had any incentive to lie, it would be in favor of Combs, Comey argued.
Marc Agnifilo, the hip-hop mogul’s lawyer, energized the courtroom with a passionate closing argument on the last day of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial prior to jury deliberations. Whether Combs is guilty of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution will be decided by the jury in the next few days. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Unlike the prosecution, who spoke in a formal, cold tone, Agnifilo was animated and occasionally folkloric. As he walked around the courtroom, he began summarizing by praising Combs’ moral fiber and business sense, claiming that he was an advocate for diversity. “Being Sean Combs is really difficult these days,” Agnifilo remarked. He is a Black entrepreneur who achieved success on his own. He mentioned some of the flattering remarks Combs’ former staff made about him while testifying, saying, “Did they always like him? No way.”. Not even going there. They adored him, though. They were reluctant to part from him. “”.
“The man takes care of people,” the defense said, drawing attention to Combs’ mother and kids being present in the courtroom. Attacking one of Combs’ purported victims, “Jane,” Agnifilo remarked, “I hope she’s having a good day, but you know where she’s doing it? In a house he’s paying for.”. “”.
Combs is on a “false trial,” according to Agnifilo, who also claimed that he is not guilty of sex trafficking but rather a part of the “swingers lifestyle” who engaged in consensual “threesomes” with male entertainers and his former girlfriends.
“No one is pressuring her to do this,” Agnifilo said of Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who claimed he had raped her and forced her to participate in hundreds of “freak-offs,” or drug-fueled sex parties that lasted for days at a time. The trial revolves around a surveillance video from 2016, which shows Combs assaulting Ventura in a hotel hallway and allegedly trying to pull her back into a “freak-off.”. “”.
Domestic violence is our responsibility, Agnifilo declared. Although the defense acknowledged Combs’ violent behavior toward Ventura during the trial, they maintained that the violence had nothing to do with the “freak-offs.”. Ventura was presented by Agnifilo as a strong, intelligent woman who relished her sexual life with Combs. Agnifilo declared, “She’s a woman who genuinely enjoys sex.”. “Good for her! She deserves it because she’s gorgeous.”. She’s intense. She is not scared. “.”.
Ventura’s testimony regarding her brief relationship with rapper Scott Mescudi, also known as Kid Cudi, was cited by Agnifilo. By buying a second cellphone, Ventura claimed she attempted to hide her relationship with Mescudi from Combs. “Whoooaaa! A burner phone!” Agnifilo exclaimed, raising his voice a pitch. He claimed that Ventura “played” both Combs and Mescudi, suggesting that if she had been truly “scared to death of Sean Combs,” she would not have had a covert relationship. “Cassie is keeping it gangsta!” he said. “”.
In response to Combs’s alleged kidnapping, which is related to his racketeering charge, Agnifilo brought up former assistant Capricorn Clark’s alleged five-day detention in a Manhattan office building where she was made to take a lie detector test regarding jewelry that had been stolen. “A door-to-door kidnap,” Agnifilo sarcastically remarked, highlighting the fact that Combs’ security guard drove her to and from the building every day and that Clark slept at home. “You guys put in a lot of time here,” he informed the jury. “Does anyone feel like they were abducted?”.
Incredulous, Agnifilo said, “He’s accused of kidnapping.”. That’s true!” He also informed the jurors that they “have the right” to reject witness testimony and challenge the government’s assertions.
In dissecting the claims of bribery, witness manipulation, and obstruction, the attorney primarily concentrated on the suggestion that Combs planned an arson attack on Mescudi’s vehicle. (An investigation at the time revealed no evidence connecting Combs to the alleged prior statements that he was going to blow up the car. According to Agnifilo, Combs would rather engage in a man-to-man altercation with Mescudi, describing it as “a good old-fashioned John Wayne, eight-in-the-morning Hollywood Hills fight.”. “.”.
Combs listened carefully, either crossing his arms on the table or leaning back in his chair, and nodded throughout the closing argument. One of his sons, Justin Combs, was in the courtroom in the morning wearing a shirt that said, “Free Sean Combs,” which is not allowed. When a court marshal came up to him, Justin walked away and returned to the room without the message in sight.
Agnifilo was dramatic in his summary and frequently emphasized his points with irony. He described the raids on Combs’ properties in a derisive manner, claiming that they “made America safe from Astroglide.”. “Go for it, guys; you just do you.”. They took baby oil and Astroglide, and that is the proof in this case,” he stated. Agnifilo dismissed the drug distribution racketeering charges, acknowledging that Combs “had a drug problem” but claiming that his drugs were used for personal use only and not as part of a criminal plan. that his employees were simply performing their duties as personal assistants, which is typical in the entertainment industry, when they picked up and delivered drugs like Xanax and ecstasy to Combs. They were unaware that they were committed crimes. “I doubt we’ll see Beyoncé at CVS,” Agnifilo remarked.
Regarding the transportation to engage in prostitution charges, the lawyer reiterated the defense’s position that Combs paid male escorts for their “time,” not for sex, and addressed the racketeering charges, stating that there is a “gaping lack of evidence.”.
Agnifilo leveled with the jury to wrap up. “Acquittal requires a great deal of courage,” he stated. According to him, one of the best things about America is the idea of a jury, and it is challenging for a juror to decide against the federal prosecutors. With a louder voice, he declared, “You guys are the United States of America.”. “I’m asking you to muster the courage to do what needs to be done and to do the right thing. You should feel bold and have the courage to call this as you see it. He urged the jury to find his client not guilty of any charges. He is obligingly sitting there. Bring him back to his family, who have been anticipating his arrival. “”.
“We’re almost done,” sighed prosecutor Maurene Comey as she started her rebuttal, the final time the jurors will hear from the lawyers following seven exhausting weeks of trial. Following a five-hour closing argument by fellow prosecutor Christy Slavik on Thursday, Comey made her most vehement remarks to date. The argument that the male escorts weren’t compensated for sex “doesn’t even pass the laugh test,” she said, attacking the defense. It wasn’t for their “scintillating conversation” that Combs gave them wads of cash after “freak-offs,” Comey claimed. She cited the testimony of an escort to bolster her claim. The defense contended that the escorts’ actions could be classified as prostitution even if they did not identify as such.
Comey cited a few alleged crimes committed by Combs’ employees on his behalf in order to bolster the racketeering charge. She implied that he would not commit his own crimes when she said, “This is a guy who cannot get his own water bottle or plug in his own phone charger.”. “He is the general. Not an officer, not a foot soldier. He handed things off. Comey mentioned his chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, as his main alleged co-conspirator, adding, “And his inner circle did the dirty work for him.”.
Comey responded to the drug distribution accusations by saying, “Drugs do not have to be distributed in large quantities or for profit in order to be illegal. Stated differently, Combs’s distribution of ecstasy pills to Ventura and Jane would still be deemed illegal.
When Comey addressed the defense’s central claim—that Jane, Ventura, and another rape accuser “Mia” are “lying”—the tone of her rebuttal became more heated. She investigated the motivations of each accused victim to commit perjury. There isn’t a money grab because Ventura already received a $20 million settlement from Combs. Mia has also already made peace with Combs, and she testified under a pseudonym since she isn’t looking for notoriety or attention. Additionally, Jane, who has never filed a lawsuit against Combs and has no intention of doing so, stated in her testimony that the defendant still pays her rent and legal bills. “Therefore, if she had any motivation to lie, it would be for Combs,” Comey said.
Since presenting its case in May, the defense has portrayed Combs’ accusers as independent, “strong” women. Comey stated, “You know what, they’re right about that.”. They were resilient enough to testify at this trial despite the abuse they endured at the hands of the defendant. “”.
When Combs allegedly brutally assaulted Jane in June 2024 before giving her drugs and setting up a “freak-off” with a male escort, Comey came full circle to what she described as “the most clear-cut example of sex trafficking in this case.”. “Is this coercion?” Combs allegedly asked Jane, making fun of the federal investigation that was about to be launched against him.
Comey rested her rebuttal as the trial reached a dramatic conclusion. The defendant was exonerated of his crimes for 20 years. “This courtroom is where that ends,” she stated. “The accused person is not divine. He is an individual. Additionally, he is treated equally by the law in this courtroom. The overwhelming weight of the evidence points to his guilt. Now is the moment to hold him responsible. Decide that he is guilty. “.”.
As early as next week, the jury might reach a verdict.
