Defense concedes that Sean 'Diddy' Combs had violent outbursts, but says it wasn't sex trafficking

NEW YORK — The public knew Sean ''Diddy'' Combs as a larger-than-life cultural icon and business mogul, but behind the scenes, he was coercing women into drug-fueled sexual encounters and using violence to keep them in line, a federal prosecutor told a jury Monday during opening statements in Combs' sex trafficking trial.

"This is Sean Combs,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson told the Manhattan jury as she pointed at Combs, who leaned back in his chair. ''... During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant's crimes. But he didn't do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and cover them up.''

Those crimes, she said, included kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction.

On the contrary, the trial of Combs is a misguided overreach by prosecutors, who are trying to turn consenting sex between adults into a prostitution and sex trafficking case, Combs' lawyer Teny Geragos said during her opening.

''Sean Combs is a complicated man. But this is not a complicated case. This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money,'' Geragos told the eight men and four women on the jury. ''There has been a tremendous amount of noise around this case over the past year. It is time to cancel that noise.''

Geragos conceded that Combs' violent outbursts, often fueled by alcohol and drugs, might have warranted domestic violence charges, but not the sex trafficking and racketeering counts he faces. She also told jurors they might think Combs' is a ''jerk'' and might not condone his ''kinky sex,'' but ''he's not charged with being mean. He's not charged with being a jerk."

Combs, wearing a white sweater, entered the packed courtroom shortly before 9 a.m., hugged his lawyers and gave a thumbs up to supporters seated behind him. The case has drawn intense public interest, and the line to get into the courthouse stretched down the block. Combs' mother and some of his children were escorted past the crowd and brought straight into the building.

Combs, 55, pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that could land him in prison for at least 15 years if he is convicted on all charges. He has been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn since his arrest in September.

Lawyers for the three-time Grammy winner say prosecutors are wrongly trying to make a crime out of a party-loving lifestyle that may have been indulgent, but not illegal.

Prosecutors say Combs coerced women into drugged-up group sexual encounters he called ''freak offs,'' ''wild king nights'' or ''hotel nights,'' then kept them in line through violence. He is accused of choking, hitting, kicking and dragging women, often by the hair.

Johnson told jurors about a night when Combs allegedly kidnapped an employee and threatened his one-time girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura and who is expected to be a key witness. Combs told Cassie that if she defied him again, he would release video of her having sex with a male escort — video that the prosecutor called ''souvenirs of the most humiliating nights of her life," Johnson said.

That was ''just the tip of the iceberg,'' Johnson said, telling jurors that Cassie was far from the only woman Combs beat and sexually exploited.

The prosecutor said Combs last year brutally beat another woman — identified only as Jane — when she confronted him about enduring years of freak offs in dark hotel rooms while he took other paramours on date nights and trips around the globe.

Geragos argued that Combs and Jane had a ''toxic and dysfunctional relationship'' and she willingly engaged in freak offs because she wanted to spend time with Combs. Their fight a year ago started when Jane slammed Combs' head down in a jealous rage, Geragos said, noting that she didn't want to justify Combs' violence but that the fight wasn't evidence of sex trafficking.

The sex parties are central to Combs' sexual abuse, prosecutors say. Combs' company paid for the parties, held in hotel rooms across the U.S. and overseas, and his employees staged the rooms with his preferred lighting, extra linens and lubricant, Johnson said. Combs compelled women, including Cassie, to take drugs and engage in sexual activity with male escorts while he gratified himself and sometimes recorded them, Johnson said.

Combs would beat Cassie over the smallest slights, such as leaving a ''freak off'' without his permission or taking too long in the bathroom, Johnson said. Combs threatened to ruin Cassie's singing career by releasing to the public videos of her engaging in sex with male escorts, the prosecutor said. ''Her livelihood depended on keeping him happy,'' Johnson said.

Combs sat expressionless as he looked toward Johnson and the jury as the prosecutor described what she said was a pattern of violence, sexual abuse and blackmail.

Cassie, who was expected to be among the first witnesses to testify, filed a lawsuit in 2023 saying Combs had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape. The lawsuit was settled within hours of its filing, but it touched off a law enforcement investigation and was followed by dozens of lawsuits from people making similar claims.

Geragos claimed Combs' accusers were motivated by money. She told jurors that Cassie demanded $30 million when she sued him, and another witness will acknowledge demanding $22 million in a breach of contract lawsuit.

''I want you to ask yourself, how many millions of reasons does this witness, swearing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, have to lie?'' she said.

Prosecutors plan to show jurors security camera footage of Combs beating Cassie in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.

Johnson told the jury they will hear the lengths Combs' inner circle went to help him hide the attack and get what they thought was the only video recording. She said a security guard was given a brown paper bag full of $100,000 in cash while Combs' bodyguard and chief of staff stood by. ''This is far from the only time that the defendant's inner circle tried to close ranks and do damage control.''

Another witness expected to testify Monday was a security guard at the hotel where Combs assaulted Cassie.

After CNN aired the video of the attack last year, Combs apologized and said he took ''full responsibility'' for his actions. ''I was disgusted then when I did it. I'm disgusted now.''

Geragos also conceded that Combs is extremely jealous and ''has a bad temper,'' telling the jury that he sometimes got angry and lashed out when he drank alcohol or ''did the wrong drugs.'' But, she said, ''Domestic violence is not sex trafficking.''

Jurors might also see recordings of the freak offs. The indictment said the events sometimes lasted days and participants required IV-drips to recover.

The Associated Press doesn't generally identify people who say they are victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has done.

The trial is expected to last at least eight weeks.

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Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.