Sean “Diddy” Combs has pleaded not guilty to a new indictment, which adds allegations of threatening and exploiting employees to the growing list of charges against him.
Combs, 55, returned to court in Manhattan on Friday for a pretrial hearing where he was arraigned on the superseding indictment, which accuses the embattled music mogul of forcing employees to work long hours with little sleep and using threats to get them to comply with his demands.
According to the indictment, Combs used the “power and prestige” he wielded to intimidate, threaten and lure women into his orbit, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship. He then used force, threats and coercion to cause victims, including the three women, to engage in commercial sex acts, it said.
Combs subjected his victims to violence, threats of violence, threats of financial and reputational harm and verbal abuse, the indictment said, according to the Associated Press.
“On multiple occasions, Combs threw both objects and people, as well as hit, dragged, choked and shoved others,” it said. “On one occasion, Combs dangled a victim over an apartment balcony.”
Defense lawyers have argued that prosecutors were trying to demonize sex acts between consenting adults.
Lawyers on both sides also discussed in court Friday the hotel security camera footage obtained by CNN that shows Combs beating his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura in 2016. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Steiner said the video was “critical to the case.”
Combs’ lawyers allege that “all CNN video footage was substantially altered in significant respects,” including “covering the time stamp and then changing the video sequence” as well as “speeding up the video to make it falsely appear that the actions in the video are taking place faster than they are.”
They continued: “As a result, the CNN videos do not fairly and accurately depict the events in question.”
On Friday, defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said the video was “deceptive and not in accordance with the actions that took place.”
He said certain actions were speeded up in the video by as much as 50 percent and others were taken out of order.
“From the defense standpoint, it’s a misleading piece of evidence, a deceptive piece of evidence, a piece of evidence that has been changed,” he said.
A CNN spokesperson denied altering the video, and pointed out that the CNN story broke several months prior to Combs being arrested.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian told the lawyers Friday that they need to discuss whether the video can be used during the trial – and if they can't reach a compromise, then both sides will need to file motions. He set the next pretrial conference for April 25.
Combs is currently being held at a federal detention center in New York City as he awaits trial, which is set to start on May 5.
He was arrested in September on sex trafficking and racketeering charges with federal prosecutors alleging that Combs and his associates threatened, abused and coerced women and others around him “to fulfill his sexual desires” – which allegedly includes forcing victims into engaging in recorded sexual activity which he referred to as “Freak Offs.”
Combs pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Weeks after his arrest, lawyers announced in early October that more than 100 people planned to file civil lawsuits against Combs, alleging that he sexually abused and exploited them. He’s denied all wrongdoing.
Lawsuits against the rapper began on November 16, 2023 when he was sued by singer and dancer Cassie, his former partner, who alleged years of abuse.
It was filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act, just before it expired. This act offered a one-year window for adult victims of sexual assault to come forward with civil claims regardless of the statute of limitations.
Combs has strongly denied all of the allegations against him. His attorneys have branded the lawsuits and their accusations as money grabs, “baseless” or “sickening.”
