Sean “Diddy” Combs claims several videos at the center of his federal racketeering and sex trafficking indictment show “fully consenting adults” engaged in the sexual encounters known as “Freak Offs.” Combs’ attorneys claim the videos confirm his “innocence” and must be turned over to his defense for independent analysis.
In a letter to the court filed Tuesday, Combs’ lawyers disclosed that nine Freak Off videos were previously handed over to prosecutors by “Victim-1,” widely known to be Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura. They claim the videos “unambiguously” depict consensual sexual encounters where “Victim-1 is not only consenting; she is evidently happy, dominant and completely in control.”
“Any fair-minded viewer of the videos will quickly conclude that the prosecution of Mr. Combs is both sexist and puritanical,” the letter obtained by Rolling Stone reads. “The videos depict clearly consensual sex among willing adults in a decades-long relationship and fundamentally undermine the government’s case and Victim-1’s claims.”
Because the videos are currently under a protective order, his attorneys claim they have only been able to review the footage in-person while monitored by law enforcement. They argue that complete, unabridged electronic copies are necessary so they can retain their own experts to exploit the videos’ “full exculpatory value” ahead of trial. They say the videos constitute the heart of Combs’ defense, and considering they’re not highly classified material or child pornography, Combs has a constitutional right to review their undisclosed audio portions and metadata to build a “meaningful defense.”
“Protective orders are common in criminal cases, and we have one in this case that prevents the defense from physically possessing certain evidence,” Combs’ lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo explains to Rolling Stone. “So, we applied to the Court to allow us to possess the video evidence so we can, for instance, enhance the audibility.”
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It was Ventura’s November 2023 lawsuit against Combs that sparked the criminal investigation behind his charges. In her complaint, Ventura alleged that Combs subjected her to extensive violence and forced her to participate in choreographed sexual encounters with male sex workers called “Freak Offs.” She alleged Combs would ply her with “copious amounts” of drugs, including ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana, and alcohol, and that the intoxicants would help her “disassociate during these horrific encounters.”
That lawsuit was settled within 24 hours, but it opened the floodgates to more than 40 subsequent lawsuits. Combs’ homes were raided in March, and in May, CNN obtained a harrowing hotel surveillance video showing Combs throwing, kicking, stomping, and dragging Ventura in the hallway of the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. After first denying Ventura’s claims against him, Combs issued a video apology, admitting his “behavior on that video is inexcusable.”
Combs, 55, was arrested and indicted in September and has pleaded not guilty. He’s currently housed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. His trial is set for May.
Attempts to reach Ventura’s lawyer were not immediately successful Tuesday. Prosecutors were expected to respond to Combs’ modification request in a follow-up filing of their own.
According to Combs and his team, the nine videos in question were handed over to prosecutors by Ventura. “These videos unambiguously show that the person alleged in the indictment to be ‘Victim-1’ not only consented but thoroughly enjoyed herself,” the letter from Combs’ lawyers reads. The attorneys say some of the videos are very dark and grainy with poor audio, so they need unfettered access to fully review them and possibly create trial exhibits, stills and transcripts. They said prosecutors could designate the videos as “attorney’s possession only,” meaning the material would be “maintained in a safe and secure manner by defense counsel.”
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Francisco Mundaca, a former state prosecutor in New York who’s following the case, says the judge is in a difficult position here, especially with the jury trial just four months out. If it’s true prosecutors offered to bring in a “neutral” expert to enhance the video for both sides, as stated in the letter, that sounds like a “reasonable” middle ground, he says. Either way, he expects a fight.
“The defense argument is that enhancing the video will show that it was consensual – that it’s clear no one was intoxicated. In a grainy video, you’re going to want to zoom in and look at someone’s pupils, their eyes, whether they’re in and out of consciousness. I would imagine a lot of their arguments will center on that,” he tells Rolling Stone.
He said Combs’ team clearly isn’t happy with the idea of having just one neutral expert. “I’ve had cases where I’ve interviewed three experts. And experts like to view things in their own lab, in their own environment,” he says. And considering prosecutors already have the video of Combs getting violent with Ventura, the defense is highly focused on telling a different story with their own video, he says.
“Cassie has always shown herself to be a very credible person. They have to discredit her. And if this is the video that they believe shows that she’s part of it, this is their defense. And he has a right to produce the best case possible,” Mundaca says.
