New York, New York – Sean “Diddy” Combs‘s lawyer told jurors Friday in closing arguments that the music mogul’s racketeering and sex trafficking trial was all about his accusers trying to score a big payday.
Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo scoffed at the picture painted by prosecutors of the 55-year-old former rapper as a violent, domineering man who used fear to force women into demeaning sex parties.
The relationships between the “self-made, successful Black entrepreneur” and his accusers were “complicated” but amounted to “love stories,” rather than the result of a “climate of fear,” he said.
“This isn’t about justice. This isn’t about a crime. This is about money,” Agnifilo said.
Brad Pitt’s Los Angeles home ransacked in shocking robbery
Kim Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner lead A-list arrivals for Bezos wedding!
On Thursday, US attorney Christy Slavik had methodically walked the jury through the charges, summarizing thousands of phone, financial, travel, and audiovisual records along with nearly seven weeks of testimony.
Slavik said Combs had “counted on silence and shame to keep his crimes hidden.”
“Up until today, the defendant was able to get away with these crimes because of his money, his power, his influence. That stops now,” she said.
In explaining the most serious charge of racketeering, the prosecution said Combs led a criminal enteprise of “loyal lieutanants” and “foot soldiers” who “existed to serve his needs.”
Central to their case is the claim that senior employees – including his chief-of-staff and security guards, none of whom testified – were aware of his actions and actively enabled them.
Once closing arguments conclude, Judge Arun Subramanian will instruct jurors on how they are to apply the law to the evidence during their deliberations.
