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    Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Trial: Takeaways From Defense’s Closing Arguments

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    Mr. Combs’s lead lawyer made a final appeal to the jury, arguing in often sarcastic tones that the government’s evidence contradicted its case against the hip-hop mogul.Sean Combs’s lawyer made a final appeal to the jury at his racketeering and sex trafficking trial in New York on Friday, arguing in often sarcastic tones that the government’s evidence contradicted its case against the hip-hop mogul.The lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, portrayed his client as a deeply flawed man who led a swinger’s lifestyle, had a drug problem and sometimes physically assaulted his girlfriends. But he argued government’s accusation that Mr. Combs was a sex trafficker or the ringleader of a racketeering organization was “badly exaggerated.”“He did what he did,” Mr. Agnifilo said. “But he’s going to fight to the death to defend himself from what he didn’t do.”Here are some takeaways from the defense’s closing argument.The defense focused on consent, credibility and overreach.Friday’s summation was the most substantive argument made to date by the defense, which called no witnesses during the trial and declined to put Mr. Combs on the stand.Mr. Agnifilo devoted long stretches of his four-hour closing argument to highlighting testimony, texts and video evidence, that he said demonstrated that Casandra Ventura and “Jane,” who testified under a pseudonym, consensually participated in the marathon sex parties that are central to the government’s claim that the women were sex trafficked.“You want to call it swingers, you want to call it threesomes,” he said, “whatever you want to call it, that is what it is — that’s what the evidence shows.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Trial: Takeaways From Prosecution’s Closing Argument

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      After seven weeks of testimony, the government detailed to jurors why it says the mogul is guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering.A federal prosecutor summed up the government’s case against the music mogul Sean Combs on Thursday, weaving strands of evidence from his seven-week trial on sex-trafficking and racketeering charges to portray him as the head of a criminal enterprise who “used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted.”The prosecutor, Christy Slavik, focused much of her closing argument on the methods Mr. Combs used to coerce two women he dated — Casandra Ventura (the singer Cassie) and a woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane” — to have sex with hired men while he watched in drug-fueled sessions known as “freak-offs,” “hotel nights” or “wild king nights.”Here are four takeaways from the prosecution’s closing argument:The prosecution said proving that women were coerced into one ‘freak-off’ was enough for a sex trafficking conviction.A key point of contention has been whether Mr. Combs coerced the two women at the heart of the case into having sex with hired men, or if they were willing participants. In cross-examinations during the trial, the defense highlighted text messages in which the women expressed enthusiasm or excitement for the sessions.Ms. Slavik clarified for jurors that the government is not arguing that all of the sex nights with male escorts constitute sex trafficking. She said the women had initially been willing to engage to please Mr. Combs, but later became unwilling participants who complied either because they feared he would hurt them physically or cut them off financially.Christy Slavik, one of the prosecutors, delivered the government’s closing argument in Mr. Combs’s federal trial.Ted Shaffrey/Associated Press“If there is one time — one single freak-off that jurors find were the product of force, threats of force, fraud or coercion, Mr. Combs should be found guilty of sex trafficking,” Ms. Slavik said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      How Prosecutors Have Charged Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs With Racketeering Conspiracy

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      Prosecutors aim to show jurors that Sean Combs ran a criminal enterprise responsible for years of sex-trafficking, drug distribution and other crimes.Among the five charges Sean Combs is facing at trial is one count of racketeering conspiracy, based on a federal law that was originally written to combat organized crime but is now used by prosecutors much more widely.To convict Mr. Combs on that charge, prosecutors must prove that he did not merely lead a typical celebrity entourage, but instead ran a criminal enterprise responsible for years of sex-trafficking, drug distribution and other crimes.The federal law — the 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO — was once seldom used, but has been central to recent cases against R. Kelly, Young Thug, Wall Street executives, street gang members and President Trump.The charge allows prosecutors to present a sweeping narrative that includes accusations about a defendant’s misdeeds that could stretch back decades, sometimes long past the statute of limitations.In the wake of the #MeToo movement, the racketeering statute increasingly has been used by federal attorneys to prosecute a series of high-profile men accused of sexual abuse.To convict a defendant of a racketeering charge, jurors need to find that they knowingly joined an unlawful conspiracy and agreed that they or a co-conspirator would commit at least two criminal acts to further the enterprise.In Mr. Combs’s case, those crimes include allegations that in 2011 he kidnapped an employee to help confront a rival and then his alleged co-conspirators set the rival’s car on fire weeks later with a Molotov cocktail, as well as accusations that he dangled a woman off a balcony after she witnessed his abuse.The racketeering charge is sometimes used against a pool of defendants — as in the case against Mr. Trump that accused him and his allies of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia — but can also be used against individuals who prosecutors deem leaders of an operation, as in the R. Kelly prosecution.Mr. Combs was the only person known to have been charged with racketeering in his case, but the prosecution listed several others it said were part of a conspiracy, including his former chief of staff Kristina Khorram, his bodyguards and other lower-level staff described as “foot soldiers.”Mr. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. The defense has denied the existence of any criminal conspiracy and argues that he is not responsible for what the government has outlined as crimes. More

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      Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Thanks the Judge at His Federal Trial as His Defense Rests

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      After 28 days of testimony in the federal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial, both sides rested. The music mogul did not take the stand.Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers rested their cases at Sean Combs’s sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial on Tuesday, and the music mogul announced that he would not be testifying in his own defense.After six weeks of letting his lawyers speak for him, Mr. Combs stood up at the defense table and addressed the court, out of the presence of jurors.Asked by the judge, Arun Subramanian, how he was doing, Mr. Combs said, “I’m doing great, how are you, your honor?” and quickly added, “I wanted to tell you, thank you, you’re doing an excellent job.”Mr. Combs, wearing a brown sweater and a white collared shirt, told the judge he had discussed the issue “thoroughly” with his lawyers, and then confirmed that he had decided not to testify.“That is solely my decision,” Mr. Combs said, leaning in to speak into the microphone with his hands resting on the defense table. He clarified that the decision was made “with my lawyers.”Prosecutors have argued that Mr. Combs coerced two women into participating in drug-fueled sex marathons with male escorts that he directed, masturbated during and sometimes filmed. Over 28 days of testimony at Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan, government attorneys sought to establish a pattern of criminal activity by Mr. Combs and an inner circle of employees, walking the jury through allegations of kidnapping, arson, drug violations and forced labor.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      As Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Took a Victory Lap, He Planned Sex Nights, Prosecutors Say

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      Questioning its final witness, the government laid out flight plans, escort prices, hotel reservations and a web of payments for sexual encounters in 2023.It was September 2023, and Sean Combs was on top of the world.On the 12th day of that month, he accepted the global icon award at the MTV Video Music Awards, celebrating his decades of success as a trailblazing record producer and media mogul.Three days later, he released “The Love Album: Off the Grid,” his first solo studio LP in 17 years, and Mayor Eric Adams of New York gave him the key to the city, recognizing Mr. Combs as “the embodiment of the New York City attitude.”That month, Mr. Combs was also busy planning sexual encounters involving his girlfriend “Jane” and hired male escorts, at hotels in New York and Miami Beach, Fla. These encounters, which the government has described as elaborate, drug-fueled sex marathons that Mr. Combs coerced two women to participate in, are central to the prosecution’s case; he is charged with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.The arrangements for those encounters — flight plans, hotel reservations, negotiations over escort rates and a web of payments — were laid out in detail at Mr. Combs’s trial on Monday. Maurene Comey, the lead prosecutor, asked a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations to read from text messages, American Express bills and other records as the 34th and final witness for the government before it rests its case.Mr. Combs has pleaded not guilty and denied the accusations against him. His lawyers have argued consistently throughout the seven-week trial that Mr. Combs’s sexual arrangements were all consensual, and that no criminal conspiracy exists.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Aide Who Was Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s ‘Right Hand’ Draws Scrutiny at His Trial

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      Kristina Khorram, the mogul’s former chief of staff, was not charged in his indictment, but the government has identified her and other staff as co-conspirators.For years, anyone who wanted access to Sean Combs had to go through Kristina Khorram first.An employee at his company since 2013, becoming his chief of staff in 2020, Ms. Khorram was the mogul’s “right hand,” as he once called her. Before leaving her role in the last year, she commanded a rotating army of personal assistants for Mr. Combs and was the central go-between for his multifaceted business empire.While much of her work related to Mr. Combs’s businesses, she also made doctor’s appointments for his girlfriends. Made sure their rent was paid. Apprised them of the boss’s daily moods.“Don’t know how I’d function without her,” Mr. Combs wrote in a Facebook shout-out in 2021.The actions of Ms. Khorram and others who worked for Mr. Combs over the years are now being scrutinized in federal court, where prosecutors are trying to convince jurors that Mr. Combs is guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, asserting that he ran a “criminal enterprise.”Ms. Khorram, 38, has not been charged in the case, has not been called as a witness and has denied wrongdoing in the past. But her presence is woven through various accounts given at the trial of wrangling hotel logistics for the sex marathons that are at the heart of the case, or of arranging for drugs to be transported by plane to the music mogul.“Her duties as Mr. Combs’s chief of staff were extremely broad,” Meredith Foster, a prosecutor, told the judge this month. “They involved setting up hotel nights,” she added, “facilitating the transportation of narcotics, various items such as that.”During the trial, prosecutors have described the behavior of various bodyguards and staff at Mr. Combs’s companies, as well as Ms. Khorram, as they argue to the jury that the conduct of the employees was not just the work of dutiful assistants, but of racketeering co-conspirators.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s Ex-Assistant Says Mogul Told Staff to ‘Move Like SEAL Team 6’

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      Brendan Paul testified that his duties for Sean Combs involved getting drugs, setting up hotel rooms for sexual encounters and handling routine tasks.Brendan Paul, a former assistant to Sean Combs who was arrested last year amid federal raids, testified on Friday at the music mogul’s trial that he obtained drugs and prepared hotel rooms for nights of sex and partying as part of his job.While Mr. Paul was a low-level employee — his duties included packing bags and coordinating meals — he became one of the most prominent members of Mr. Combs’s entourage in March 2024, when he was charged with cocaine possession after Mr. Combs and his properties became the target of sweeping searches.On the day of the raids on two of Mr. Combs’s homes, Mr. Paul was at a Florida airport with the mogul, en route to a Combs family vacation in the Bahamas. Federal agents intercepted the group and found cocaine in a bag that Mr. Paul was carrying. Mr. Paul testified that he found the cocaine — amounting to 0.7 grams — in Mr. Combs’s room early that morning and had forgotten about it as he was packing for the trip.Mr. Paul, who had been working for Mr. Combs for about 18 months at the time, testified that he did not tell law enforcement that it was Mr. Combs’s cocaine.“Why not?” a prosecutor, Christy Slavik, asked Mr. Paul.“Loyalty,” he replied.The case against Mr. Paul was dropped last year after he completed a drug intervention program.Mr. Paul, who testified under an immunity deal with the government, is the only Combs aide known to have been arrested in connection with the federal investigation into Mr. Combs’s conduct.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Theater

      6 Months After the Pelicot Trial, a Staging Brings Insight and Despair

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      The stripped-back performance, based on the rape trial that shocked France and the world, ran all night at a church in Vienna.It was a case that shook France. Last December, the husband of Gisèle Pelicot was convicted of drugging and assaulting her for over a decade, and for inviting dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious.Now, just six months later, the trial has already inspired a work of theater — in Vienna, as part of the city’s prestigious Festwochen festival. On Wednesday, the Swiss director Milo Rau, who has led the event since 2023, and the French dramaturg Servane Dècle presented “The Pelicot Trial,” a seven-hour reading of excerpts from the French legal proceedings and of interviews and commentary related to the case.It was a long night at the Church of St. Elisabeth, a red brick Roman Catholic church in a southern district of Vienna. The sun was setting when the audience went in at 9 p.m., filling the pews to capacity. When the final words were spoken, at around 4:15 a.m., sunrise was near, and only around 30 people remained.In a joint interview before the performance, Rau and Dècle said the wide range of material involved, with sections delving into history, philosophy and biology, was intended to dispel any notion that Pelicot’s story was an isolated event. “It’s an example of patriarchal violence,” Rau said. “The more we dive into it, the more we see that it’s the tip of the iceberg.”Rau has a long history of bringing trials to the stage. In “The Last Days of the Ceausescus,” Rau reenacted the 1989 legal proceedings against the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife. In “The Congo Tribunal” and “The Moscow Trials,” he created mock criminal courts to analyze real political events.Gisèle Pelicot at the courthouse in Avignon, France, last December, when her husband was convicted of drugging and assaulting her for over a decade.Miguel Medina/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘SVU’ Star Mariska Hargitay on Her Mother Jayne Mansfield

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      Mariska Hargitay was at home, and she was sprinting up the stairs, bounding between the corners of her very full life. I had to hustle to keep pace.She checked in with her oldest son — tall, polite, home from his first year at Princeton — and supervised the setup of an engagement party she was hosting for her goddaughter. Gardeners buzzed about the terraces of her Manhattan penthouse. She apologized, superfluously, for the noise.Her latest obsession, a family heirloom grand piano that had recently entered her apartment via crane, dominated the living room, with a custom “M” bench, courtesy of her husband, the actor Peter Hermann (“Younger”). “That’s my next thing — I’m going to learn to play soon,” Hargitay vowed.Another dash and we were on the floor below, a warren of cozy offices, painted in jewel tones, with overstuffed couches and muscular art by Annie Leibovitz. Tucked on a bookshelf were some of Hargitay’s awards. She has earned Emmys for playing Olivia Benson, the beloved “Law & Order: SVU” hardass, and for producing the 2017 documentary “I Am Evidence,” about the backlog of rape kits.This is where Hargitay had conceived, edited and even shot some of her newest and perhaps most life-altering project, the documentary “My Mom Jayne.” It’s at once an unflinching portrait of her mother, the 1950s star and pinup Jayne Mansfield, who died when Mariska was 3; a homage to her father, the bodybuilder and actor Mickey Hargitay; and an investigation into her own clouded and secretive origins. Directing the film, which will air June 27 on HBO, and proclaiming her story has unlocked something profound for Hargitay, 61.“I am so clear now about the truth,” she said. “This big haze came off — a veil of fear. And now I just feel so much at peace. It’s like a miracle to me to feel this way. I never thought I could.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More