CNN
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Sean “Diddy” Combs will have the support of his family as opening statements in his sex-trafficking trial are set to begin Monday in downtown Manhattan.
“He is holding faith and ready to finally be able to have his side of the story presented in court,” a source close to the Combs family told CNN. “This is a long time waiting.”
At least six of his seven children will be at court when testimony in their father’s high-stakes trial gets underway.
Combs’ youngest child, Love, is just two years old, so it is unclear if she will be at the courthouse, the source said, but his adult children – sons Quincy, Justin and Christian; daughters Chance and twins Jessie and D’Lila – along with Combs’ mother, Janice, and some of the mothers of his children, plan to be present to support him on Monday.
Combs will have at least some family members in court each day of trial, which expected to last approximately eight weeks, according to the source.
“The family is united,” they added. “Everyone is upbeat. Everyone is holding faith.”
The individual acknowledged that the past eight months, with Combs held in detention ahead of trial, have been “difficult.”
“It’s been extremely humbling and a reality check” for the embattled music mogul, the source said of Combs’ time in jail, noting he has lived a life of luxury and freedom to call the shots for more than three decades – a stark contrast to being confined to a jail cell as Inmate 37452-054.
Combs has spent much of his time in jail preparing for his trial, speaking with his defense team and his family, according to the source.
If convicted, Combs could be sentenced to life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Attorneys for Combs and his spokesperson declined to comment on this story.
Combs was arrested in September 2024 and has been held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ever since.
He was denied bail three times, despite efforts from his attorneys to have him kept in home detention as his trial loomed. Prosecutors prevailed in their arguments that Combs presented a “danger to the community,” alleging in court documents that he paid other inmates to use their phone accounts in jail to evade monitoring and attempted to tamper with witnesses from behind bars.
The government is expected to present up to four key witnesses who will testify against Combs, including his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, who will be among the first witnesses called as soon as Monday, prosecutors revealed last week.
If his legal team’s past arguments are any indication, an overarching theme of Combs’ defense strategy will be that all sexual relationships related to the charges were consensual – so therefore, even if those relationships were at times toxic, Combs’ defense would argue that he cannot be held criminally liable.
Several of the key witnesses have been characterized by the defense as “former long-term girlfriends.” When the government indicted Combs on new charges last month, his attorneys told CNN, “This was their private sex life, defined by consent, not coercion.”
Prosecutors alleged in their indictment that Combs ran a criminal enterprise, using his position of power to force victims to engage in sex acts against their will, often “under the pretense of a romantic relationship.” Prosecutors have said that during these encounters, known as “Freak Offs,” women were drugged and forced to have sex with male prostitutes. Some of the encounters were video recorded and took place over days, according to prosecutors.
In an October 2024 bail filing – which was ultimately denied by the judge – Combs’ attorneys wrote, “Mr. Combs believes the evidence will show that to the extent such activities occurred, all individuals who participated were adults voluntarily engaged in consensual sex.” In that filing, Combs’ attorneys described his relationship with Ventura as “often mutually toxic.”
In a civil lawsuit that was settled within a day of its filing in November 2023, Ventura alleged Combs raped her in 2018 and subjected her to years of repeated physical and other abuses over the course of their relationship.
Among the topics likely to be raised in Ventura’s testimony in the criminal trial is hotel surveillance footage from 2016 – first published by CNN – that shows Combs grabbing, kicking and dragging Ventura.
Despite numerous attempts by Combs’ attorneys to exclude the footage, Judge Arun Subramanian issued a ruling last month that it could be shown to the jury at trial.
In the October 2024 court filing, Combs’ attorneys said that the violence depicted in the surveillance video stemmed from “jealousy and infidelity.”
Combs himself already admitted to the violent behavior in the footage.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” Combs said in a recorded statement shared on Instagram in May 2024, days after CNN aired footage of the incident.
Several prospective jurors who remain in the jury pool – set to be finalized and seated Monday morning before opening statements – said during jury selection they had seen the surveillance video.
In a highly-publicized case with a celebrity defendant, Combs’ legal team may face a tough court battle, according to Elie Honig, CNN senior legal analyst and former state and federal prosecutor.
“I would say that the press coverage of Combs has been overwhelmingly negative, and I think that’s a concern for the defense,” Honig said. “You read in the indictment about these wild sex parties, the thousand bottles of baby oil, the so-called ‘Freak Offs.’ But the key question is whether Combs’s overarching conduct — whatever one may think of it — meets the specific federal crimes that have been charged here.”
The defense also claimed, in that same October 2024 filing, that they have “countless written communications” that “tend to negate any lack of consent and any coercion” regarding sexual activity between Ventura and Combs, citing evidence showing “a long-term loving relationship that became strained by mutual infidelity and jealousy.” Combs’ attorneys said the “overwhelming” written communications between Combs and Ventura describe that their “consensual sexual relationship included communications concerning their mutual decision to ‘bring a third party into their intimacy.’”
Combs’ defense cited interviews with a “half a dozen” male escorts who participated in the “Freak Offs” and allegedly said they were “never witnesses to anything remotely nonconsensual,” according to the filing.
CNN reported earlier this month that at least one male sex worker will take the stand as a prosecution witness to testify against Combs.
In court last week, Combs’ attorneys said they plan to argue that Ventura was violent toward Combs during their relationship, which lasted approximately 11 years, from 2007 to 2018.
“We are going to take the position that there was mutual violence in their relationship,” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said in court.
“That there was hitting on both sides,” Agnifilo added. “We’re probably going to refer to it as domestic violence.”
The defense attorneys described Ventura, who is pregnant with her third child and due next month, as a “strong” person with “a nature of violence,” which they allege will discredit the claim Combs “coerced” her into sexual activity.
Judge Subramanian questioned that defense strategy in court last Friday.
“Strong people can be coerced just like weak people,” the judge said, adding he would rule on the issue Monday.
Ventura’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, declined to comment when reached by CNN.
Combs nodded when his lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, said, “The dynamic between these two individuals is at the very heart of this case.”
