Sean “Diddy” Combs filed a motion to overturn his prostitution convictions, saying the government “painted him as a monster” but that the jury “rejected” the case — and that the “freak-offs” were just pornographic movie shoots protected by free speech.
Combs was acquitted earlier this month on the most serious criminal charges he faced over drug-fueled sex marathons called “freak-offs,” but was convicted on two lesser counts of interstate prostitution.
In a new filing on Thursday, his lawyers took the long-awaited move of seeking to have that even those lesser convictions thrown out entirely. They say the outcome was “unprecedented” in the history of the federal prostitution law.
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“Sean Combs sits in jail based on evidence that he paid adult male escorts and entertainers who engaged in consensual sexual activities with his former girlfriends, which he videotaped and later watched with the girlfriends,” writes Marc Agnfilo and Diddy’s other lawyers. “That is not prostitution, and if it is, his conviction is unconstitutional.”
In addition to arguing that the “freak-offs” did not actually legally count as prostitution, Diddy’s lawyers are also making a creative alternate argument: That his actions were protected free speech under the First Amendment.
“He was producing amateur pornography for later private viewing,” they write. “This is protected First Amendment conduct that no substantial government interest justifies prohibiting, since the films depicted adults voluntarily engaging in consensual activity.”
Combs was arrested and charged last year with racketeering (RICO) and sex trafficking violations over accusations that he ran a sprawling criminal operation aimed at facilitating the freak-offs — elaborate events which he allegedly forced his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and other women to have sex with male escorts while he watched and masturbated.
But following a blockbuster trial in May and June, a jury cleared Combs on the RICO and sex trafficking charges. The rapper was found guilty on two other counts for transporting Ventura, another woman and various sex workers across state lines for the purposes of prostitution.
Combs will face sentencing on those convictions in October; sentencing guidelines suggest he’ll likely receive between two and five years in prison.
Legal filings are not the only avenue Combs is pursuing to clear his name. President Trump is reportedly “heavily weighing” giving him a full presidential pardon after several of his associates have pitched the White House on such a move.
