Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyers ask for copies of ‘freak off’ videos to prove his innocence
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team has now reviewed videos of the embattled hip-hop mogul’s so-called “freak offs” at the heart of prosecutors’ case against him and are now claiming the footage shows no evidence of criminal activity.
In a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian filed in New York federal court Tuesday, Combs’ attorneys said “freak off” videos obtained by U.S. attorneys make “abundantly clear that they confirm Mr. Combs’s innocence” and asked the judge to order the government to create electronic copies of videos for Combs’ team’s use during the upcoming trial.
Combs’ attorneys viewed the evidence under the supervision of law enforcement on Nov. 20 and Dec. 13, per the filing. They described the evidence as “nine videos depicting six unambiguously consensual sexual encounters” with “Victim-1,” who has been identified from previous filings as Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. The filing also claimed Cassie’s lawyers handed the videos to the government.
Prosecutors had previously negotiated the strict conditions – allegedly requested by Cassie “to protect her privacy” –under which the videos could be viewed. However, Combs’ team says these terms cause a “real and substantial risk that Mr. Combs’s defense will be hampered by limited access to the videos.” As such, they are requesting for the judge to amend the protective order so the U.S. Attorney’s Office can “electronically produce the videos” to Combs’ attorneys.
Attorneys for Cassie and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment when reached by USA TODAY.
Diddy’s lawyers argue ‘freak off’ videos depict ‘consensual sex’
In their Tuesday filing, Combs’ legal team blasted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for their “paternalistic,” “sexist” and “puritanical” views perpetuating “stereotypes of female victimhood and lack of agency.”
“The videos do not depict sex parties. There are no secret cameras, no orgies, no other celebrities involved, no underground tunnels, no minors, and not so much as a hint of coercion or violence. Far from the government’s lurid descriptions, the videos show adults having consensual sex, plain and simple,” the filing said.
In the 2024 grand jury indictment that charges Combs with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, federal prosecutors claim the rapper “used force, threats of force, and coercion, to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers that Combs referred to as, among other things, ‘Freak Offs.'”
He “arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded” these “elaborate and produced sex performances,” U.S. attorneys alleged. Combs also “threatened victims’ careers and livelihoods, including if they resisted participating in Freak Offs” and “used the sensitive, embarrassing, and incriminating recordings that he made during Freak Offs as collateral to ensure the continued obedience and silence of the victims,” prosecutors claimed.
In previous filings, prosecutors claimed among the evidence in their possession are “dozens of video recordings created by (Combs) of Freak Offs with victims.” Following raids on his Los Angeles and Miami homes last March, investigators allegedly seized more than 90 cellphones, laptops, cloud storage accounts and at least 30 storage devices.
However, Combs’ attorneys claim the “freak off” videos reveal “there is no evidence of any violence, coercion, threats, or manipulation whatsoever. 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.”
For his trial, Combs would hire experts to enhance the poor audio and video quality and analyze their metadata, the filing stated.
Combs is currently in jail after being denied bond multiple times and has a trial start date of May 5. He has maintained his innocence amid more than two dozen civil lawsuits over the past year that have accused him of rape, trafficking and sexual abuse from the 1990s to 2024.
Prosecutors say the 55-year-old elaborately schemed to use his finances and status in the entertainment industry to “fulfill his sexual desires” in a “recurrent and widely known” pattern of abuse. In September 2024, Combs pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges.
CES 2025 comes to a close today, wrapping up a jam-packed week of high-tech, futuristic cars packing everything from artificial-intelligence voice assistants to flying cars and 1000-plus horsepower electric powertrains. Some of these vehicles are already on sale in other countries while some preview upcoming production cars and others are far-fetched flights of fantasy. So without further adieu, here are some of the coolest vehicles we spotted on the show floor at CES 2025.
Honda showed off two prototypes of its 0-series EVs, both of which are due to start production in 2026 and sport sleek, stylish bodywork. The 0 SUV will arrive first with more conventional looks while the radical 0 Saloon is due in late 2026 and wears the same radical wedge shape as the 2024 Saloon concept.
Chinese automaker Zeekr, founded in 2021 and part of Geely’s vast portfolio of brands, brought three vehicles to the show. The 001 FR is the most appealing from an enthusiast standpoint—the wagon-like shape cloaks a quad-motor electric powertrain cranking out 1248 horsepower. The aggressive body kit, which includes a sizable rear wing, gives the 001 FR serious presence, and we were impressed by the quality of its suede-covered interior. We’d love to get behind the wheel and pin the 001 FR’s accelerator.
The Zeekr Mix is drastically different from the 001 FR, a bubbly electric minivan for the Chinese market with a spacious cabin. The Mix seats five, but the front seats can swivel 270 degrees to either face rearwards, towards each other, or towards the coach doors, which open up with no pillar in between to ease access to the cabin. Despite the more practical approach, the Mix is no slouch, with a rear-wheel-drive 416-hp single-motor powertrain and up to 436 miles of range on China’s CLTC test cycle when fitted with the larger 102-kWh battery pack. We’d be curious to see how the Mix would stack up against the VW ID.Buzz if it was ever brought to America.
