Diddy Trial: Defense Admits He’s ‘Complicated,’ But ‘Domestic Violence Is Not Sex Trafficking’

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial officially kicked off today with opening statements from both the prosecution and the defense.

While the rapper’s legal team painted him as a “complicated” man with an unorthodox but fully consensual sex life, prosecutors wasted no time sharing some sordid details from sexual encounters they say were coerced, per Deadline.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Ann Johnson provided a list of “crime after crime” during opening statements in Manhattan court Monday morning, mentioning kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, and bribery allegedly committed over the past two decades.

“He called himself the king, and he expected to be treated like one,” she said as a reference to the viral hotel surveillance footage showing him physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and “flinging her around like a rag doll.”

The prosecutor also went into detail about one specific incident which allegedly occurred at the rapper’s notorious “freak-off” parties. Johnson alleged that a male prostitute was instructed to urinate in Ventura’s mouth, which led to har saying she “felt like she was choking.”

Johnson said Combs was able to get away with it for so long thanks to his “inner circle and vast resources of his business empire.”

“Her livelihood and safety depended on keeping him happy,” Johnson said of Ventura, who is slated to take the stand at a later date.

Defense Attorney Tenny Geragos presented a different portrait of the Bad Boys Records founder.

“Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not as complicated case,” Geragos said.

“Sean Combs has a bad temper and sometimes he gets out of control,” the attorney added. “We take full responsibility for the domestic violence. Domestic violence is not sex trafficking.”

“We will not shy away from the things Mr. Comb did,” the attorney added, saying her client “has a bit of a different sex life,” but asserting that the encounters occurred between consenting adults.

Gergagos also mentioned the surveillance video, repeating the claim that it was “overwhelming evidence of domestic violence … but it is not evidence of sex trafficking.” She said the incident seen on security footage represented a “toxic relationship between two people who loved each other.”

The attorney also pointed out that Ventura stayed with Combs as a romantic partner for 11 years.

Combs, 44, has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was arrested in September 2024 and has been awaiting trial behind bars after multiple attempts to be released on bail.

Combs pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.