Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys are reportedly planning to smear his ex Cassie Ventura when she takes the stand in his federal sex trafficking trial, which is scheduled to begin May 12.
Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo revealed his plans to depict the exes’ relationship as “mutually violent” during a jury selection hearing in a New York City court on Friday, per Reuters.
In doing so, Agnifilo would attempt to undermine the credibility of Ventura as a witness for the prosecution.
“I think we’re probably going to refer to that as domestic violence,” Agnifilo told the court.
US District Judge Arun Subramanian, who has been presiding over the jury selection and pre-trial hearings, responded to Agnifilo’s assertion of events saying that he would decide next Monday whether allegations of domestic violence could be admissible during the trial.
Reps for Ventura and Combs did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
The “Me & U” singer, along with several other witnesses scheduled to appear during the trial, is reportedly set to give “graphic testimony” about “years’ worth of beatings, drug-fueled coercive sex marathons, and multiple rapes.”
Diddy’s legal trouble dates back to November 2023, when Ventura, whom he dated off and on between 2007 and 2018, filed a bombshell lawsuit accusing him of raping and physically abusing her throughout their relationship.
Combs immediately denied his ex’s claims and settled the case less than 24 hours later.
However, Combs’ problems soon became worse after a video of him brutally assaulting Ventura at a hotel in 2016 surfaced online.
The “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper, 55, issued a public apology calling the moment one of “darkest times” in his life.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted,” he said at the time.
Combs was later arrested in September 2024 on federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The music producer was put in cuffs months after police raided his California and Florida homes, uncovering 1,000 bottles of lubricant and three AR-15s.
The disgraced mogul remains at Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center, where he was ordered to stay after being denied bail.
Just days before his trial began this week, it was reported that Combs turned down a plea deal offered by prosecutors.
Specific details of the rejected deal, however, were not disclosed in court.
Combs maintains his innocence and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
Combs’ lawyers will also argue that he was simply living a “swinger” lifestyle and isn’t a rapist like the feds have made him out to be.
“There’s a lifestyle, call it swingers or whatever you will, that he thought was appropriate because it was common,” Agnifilo said at a pre-trial hearing for the rapper in Manhattan federal court last month, per The Post.
Agnifilio argued that Combs’ belief that it was acceptable to have multiple partners or to hire escorts proves that he did not intend to commit a crime.
Opening statements will begin May 12.
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