The whole issue of an upcoming criminal trial aimed at Sean Diddy Combsformerly Puff Daddy or P Diddy, lies in one question: what really happened during the “Freak Offs”?
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York says the parties were the scene of serious sex crimes against the musician’s partners. But Combs’ lawyers are sticking to a different version of the story.
The “Freaks Off” were organized all over the United States, in palaces and sometimes lasted several days, we learn in the 14-page indictment, released by the courts. Sean Combs, was, it is the conviction of the public prosecutor, the great conductor of these evenings. CassieSean Combs’ ex-girlfriend and artist signed to his label, claims that during these parties, the producer forced her to have sex with male prostitutes. During these sexual encounters, she was forced to take drugs, including MDMA.
Forced or consensual encounters?
The attorney general describes the parties as horror shows. “Elaborate and engineered sexual performances,” according to the indictment, which involved heavy drug use and forced sex. Participants were so exhausted and drained after the sessions that they were given performance-enhancing drugs intravenously to help them recover. The sex was filmed, and Diddy used the footage to prevent the participants from speaking. The star also arranged to cover up all the evidence after the parties.
The indictment also says Combs was very invested in his mission to organize the freak-offs. “He considered these forced encounters to be personal art projects,” investigators detail, “and studied how to arrange candles to achieve a particular brightness in his videos.”
Sean Combs has pleaded not guilty in the case, which he charges involved organized sex trafficking. His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, has captured the significance of the freak offs. His description of the parties is completely different from the prosecution’s: The defense has said that everyone who attended the freak offs was consenting, including Cassie. The practices may be shocking to some, but they do not involve sexual assault or “force, fraud or coercion,” as required by the main federal human trafficking statute, the attorney argues. “Is everyone used to having intimate relationships like this? No,” Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo said during a court hearing Tuesday. “Is this sex trafficking? No, not if everyone wants to be there.”
There’s this video, showing Sean Combs beating Cassie in the hallways of a hotel. “This is an unfortunate video for Mr. Combs,” Marc Agnifilo acknowledged last week on CNN. The video, according to prosecutors, was taken as Cassie tried to escape a freak-out.
