Diddy's lawyers say 'freak off' videos prove he's innocent

• Sean "Diddy" Combs' attorneys called the criminal sex trafficking case against him "sexist."
• The attorneys also said prosecutors' video evidence show their client is innocent.
• They said the videos depicting so-called "freak offs" show "sexual activity between fully consenting adults."

Attorneys for Sean "Diddy" Combs revealed in court filings this week that a key part of their defense strategy for the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking case will be to attack the prosecution as "sexist" and argue that video evidence of his so-called "freak offs" will vindicate him at trial.

Combs' attorneys made the comments in a partially-redacted seven-page letter to the Manhattan federal judge overseeing the rapper's criminal case as part of a bid to obtain their own copies of the recordings in preparation for Combs' trial defense.

"Having reviewed these videos, it is now abundantly clear that they confirm Mr. Combs's innocence," Combs' attorneys wrote in the letter.

"Any fair-minded viewer of the videos will quickly conclude that the prosecution of Mr. Combs is both sexist and puritanical," the letter read. "It is sexist because the government's theory perpetuates stereotypes of female victimhood and lack of agency."

The prosecution, said Combs' attorneys, "reflects a paternalistic view that the government is here to protect women, who cannot be trusted to make their own decisions about sex, and are not capable of consenting to sex that the prosecutors view as outside the 'norm.'"

At the center of the indictment against Combs are accusations he orchestrated "freak offs," which prosecutors describe in court papers as "elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded."

In these alleged drug-fueled sex sessions, prosecutors say Combs "used force, threats of force, and coercion" to get female victims to engage in sex acts with male commercial sex workers.

"Contrary to what the government has led this Court and the public to believe, the so-called 'Freak Offs' were private sexual activity between fully consenting adults in a long-term relationship," Combs' defense attorneys wrote in their letter to the judge.

"Like many Americans in the privacy of their own bedrooms, they sometimes filmed their sexual activity," the attorneys wrote, adding that the videos "do not depict sex parties."

"There are no secret cameras, no orgies, no other celebrities involved, no underground tunnels, no minors," the letter reads, adding, "At bottom, this case is about whether Victim-1 was or was not a willing participant in her private sex life with Mr. Combs."

The sex-trafficking indictment against Combs mentions one cooperating accuser referred to only as "Victim-1." "Victim-1" has been widely identified Combs' ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura. Previously published details of Ventura's relationship with Combs — including that it lasted some 10 years — match the prosecution descriptions of "Victim-1" in multiple court documents.

Attorneys for Ventura did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider for this story. A spokesman for the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

Combs' lawyers wrote in their letter to the judge that after four weeks of attempting to schedule the viewing of the prosecutors' video evidence, the defense was able to view the footage under the supervision of law enforcement on November 20 and December 13.

"There is no evidence of any violence, coercion, threats, or manipulation whatsoever," Combs' attorneys wrote. "There is no evidence that anyone is incapacitated or under the influence of drugs or excessive alcohol consumption. There is certainly no evidence of sex trafficking."

Combs' attorneys initially filed a lesser-redacted version of their letter with the court on Tuesday, but that letter disappeared from the public docket after prosecutors successfully argued for its removal, saying a protective order in the case was violated.

In the initial letter filed by Combs' defense attorneys, they said that videos "unambiguously show that the person alleged in the indictment to be 'Victim-1' not only consented, but thoroughly enjoyed herself."

In a separate letter to the judge on Wednesday, Combs' attorneys wrote: "Faulting the defense for characterizing that same evidence as exculpatory and consensual is an unfair double standard and demonstrates the government's intent to mislead the public and the Court."

Combs has been locked up pretrial at a federal Brooklyn jail since his September 2024 arrest and indictment on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Combs has vehemently denied the federal charges against him as well as all accusations of sexual abuse. His attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.