Federal prosecutors handling the criminal case against music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs are pushing to introduce testimony from alleged victims of past sexual abuse incidents in his upcoming sex-trafficking trial — a move his legal team has slammed as a prejudicial effort to portray him as a habitual offender.
In new court documents filed Monday in the Southern District of New York, prosecutors outlined their intent to present testimony from individuals who claim Combs previously coerced them into unwanted sexual acts. The government alleges these prior acts reflect a pattern of abuse and support the claims that Combs pressured current accusers into drug-fueled, non-consensual encounters, often referred to as “Freak-Offs.”
Prosecutors argue the additional testimony would directly counter Combs’ anticipated defense that his interactions with the accusers were consensual.
“This evidence makes clear the defendant didn’t act in error or misunderstanding,” prosecutors wrote. “It demonstrates an intentional pattern of exploiting others sexually, regardless of their consent.”
Combs, who faces charges of sex trafficking and running his music label Bad Boy Records as a criminal operation, is scheduled to go to trial on May 5.
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Though specifics about the prior alleged assaults were redacted in the latest filing, Combs’ attorneys say the government is attempting to incorporate allegations similar to those raised in civil lawsuits previously filed against him. Those suits have accused Combs of sexually abusing both women and men — including an aspiring artist in Los Angeles and a teenage babysitter in New York — across multiple decades.
Combs, 55, has maintained his innocence, entered a not guilty plea in the criminal case, and has denied all wrongdoing in the civil suits.
His defense team is now urging the judge to block prosecutors from introducing the additional witness testimony, arguing it would unfairly sway the jury.
“The prosecution wants to flood the trial with unrelated, decades-old claims to create a character narrative, not to prove the charges at hand,” Combs’ attorneys wrote in their response. “This approach risks turning the trial into a spectacle rather than a fair judicial process.”
The defense criticized the government’s evidence as outdated and unreliable, noting that most of the alleged incidents took place more than 20 years ago, with the oldest accusation dating back to the 1980s. They described the new claims as “untested, uncorroborated, and uninvestigated.”
“The government is attempting to put on a horror show,” the defense stated, accusing prosecutors of presenting allegations that are significantly more sensational than the charges already filed.
Prosecutors, however, contend that even without the new witnesses, the trial is set to include powerful testimony from multiple alleged victims, including graphic accounts of repeated abuse, physical violence, and sexual coercion.
Cassie Ventura, Combs’ former partner who previously filed a civil lawsuit against him, is expected to testify during the trial, along with three additional witnesses who are requesting anonymity in court.
As the trial date nears, the legal battle over what evidence the jury will be allowed to hear continues to intensify, raising the stakes in what is shaping up to be one of the most high-profile trials of the year .
