Feds want to keep the public from seeing 'sensitive' freak off videos at Diddy's trial

• Prosecutors want to seal Sean Combs' "freak off" videos in sex-trafficking trial.
• Combs is accused of sex trafficking and racketeering, with Cassie Ventura as a key victim.
• The judge is hammering out resolutions for different legal issues before the trial in May.

Prosecutors want to make sure the public doesn't see the "freak off" videos made by Sean "Diddy" Combs, which they say they'll present as exhibits in his upcoming criminal sex-trafficking trial.

Even the audio from those videos shouldn't reach the ears of the public and the press, argued Assistant US Attorney Madison Smyser in a court conference on Friday.

"These are extremely sensitive videos, they are going to involve videos of 'freak offs,'" Smyser said. "They involve other parties, victims, and, in some videos, Mr. Combs."

Smyser said prosecutors and defense lawyers were working out a way so that only jurors would be able to see and hear the videos when they're presented in court.

The indictment, brought by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, accuses Combs of sex trafficking and racketeering.

The primary victim prosecutors identified is Cassie Ventura, who was in a romantic relationship with Combs for 10 years. According to prosecutors, Combs sexually abused Ventura through "freak offs," which they described as elaborate and lengthy sexual performances that Combs staged, masturbated during, and often recorded.

Prosecutors have identified another four accusers who are expected to testify as victims in the trial. The judge has also allowed one "propensity witness," a yet-identified former romantic partner who is set to testify by name about alleged prior abuse, but who is not considered a victim in the criminal charges. Some of the witnesses are also expected to include sex workers who were recruited for the "freak offs."

Combs was attentive during Friday's court conference, the penultimate one before jury selection begins on May 5.

The hip-hop artist wore khaki jail garb and what appeared to be laceless Vans slip-on shoes.

Before the start of the hearing, Combs hugged his three female attorneys and then shook hands with one of his male lawyers. Throughout the conference, he sipped water from an unusually small plastic cup on the defense table before him.

US District Judge Arun Subramanian, who is overseeing Combs' criminal case, asked prosecutors to provide legal justifications for sealing the "freak off" videos, which would become court records if they were to be entered into evidence.

Prosecutors said they'd file a letter providing examples where similar procedures were followed in other cases. In R. Kelly's trial in Brooklyn, the court had jurors watch videos of sexual abuse on small screens in front of their jury seats while wearing earphones, while journalists and members of the public were kept out of the courtroom.

A victim's 'medical procedure'

During Friday's hearing, prosecutors also said they wanted an accuser to testify about a "medical procedure" that they said was a result of a "freak off."

Combs's defense attorneys argued that the procedure wasn't sufficiently related to the conduct described in the indictment, and that the accuser shouldn't be able to testify about the experience.

Submaranian ultimately concluded that he'd wait and see what else the victim would testify about before deciding if prosecutors could ask questions about the purported medical procedure.

The judge also issued a ruling narrowing the scope of what Dawn Hughes, an expert on interpersonal relationships, would be allowed to testify about. Hughes, who previously testified in the trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, and is expected to testify in Harvey Weinstein's ongoing trial, is expected to testify on behalf of Combs. Combs's lawyers have said she would partly testify about the "swingers" lifestyle the singer participated in.

Subramanian previously resolved most of the other legal issues ahead of the trial, which is set to take place in the same lower Manhattan courtroom where Combs's jailmate Sam Bankman-Fried had his trial.

The judge allowed Combs's team to obtain drafts of Ventura's memoir for cross-examination, but did not allow them to obtain other notes, emails, or bank records they had requested.

Subramanian also forced Warner Bros. to give Combs' lawyers interview footage with two accusers taken for a Max documentary, "The Fall of Diddy." An attorney for Combs said in Friday's hearing that they expected to receive the footage next week.

The contents of Ventura's memoir have never been made public, and little information about it is known.

Combs's lawyer Marc Agnifilo discussed the memoir in a September court hearing, where he unsuccessfully asked a judge to allow Combs to stay out of jail ahead of the criminal trial.

Agnifilo said Combs and Ventura had a consensual, if complicated, 10-year relationship, and that she essentially tried to extort him with the memoir draft after it ended. In November 2023, Combs settled a civil sexual abuse lawsuit that Ventura brought against him.

"'My client has written a book, and she is going to publish it, but if you want to buy the rights, then you will have the exclusive rights, and she won't be able to publish it.'" Agnifilo said, characterizing an offer from one of Ventura's previous lawyers. "'And you know what, you can buy the rights for $30 million.'"

Later, Ventura retained a different lawyer and sued Combs under New York's Adult Survivors Act, alleging sexual abuse,

"'I am not really here to embarrass you anymore to the tune of $30 million; I am going to bring this civil sex claim against you,'" Agnifilo said, purportedly quoting Ventura's other attorney.

Agnifilo's arguments were not successful. Combs has been detained in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center since September.