Lawyers representing Sean “Diddy” Combs assert that the rapper is facing a “racist” prosecution and are requesting the dismissal of one of the criminal charges against him. In a court document reviewed by Sky News, Combs’ legal team argues that he has been targeted due to his status as a powerful Black man and is being prosecuted for actions that typically go unpunished.
Combs was charged in September 2024 with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty, maintaining that his sexual relationships were consensual and firmly denying any allegations of misconduct. His attorneys have now filed a motion to dismiss the transportation charge.
The court filing states, “This case is unprecedented in many ways, but perhaps most notably, and most disturbingly, no white person has ever been the target of a remotely similar prosecution.” It highlights Combs’ accomplishments as an “extraordinarily successful artist, businessman, philanthropist, and one of the most accomplished Black individuals in this country.”
However, his lawyers acknowledge that, like many celebrities, Combs has had “complicated relationships with significant others as well as with alcohol and drugs throughout his time in the spotlight,” but they argue that this does not equate to being a racketeer or a sex trafficker.
The legal team contends that there has never been a comparable prosecution under the Mann Act, the federal law relevant to the charge, also known as the White-Slave Traffic Act. They claim the U.S. government has “concocted” its case based on allegations that Combs occasionally brought escorts into his relationships. The filing states, “No other person, and certainly no white person, has ever previously been prosecuted under the White-Slave Traffic Act for hiring male escorts from another state.”
Additionally, they assert that the government’s approach to the case shows bias, noting that Combs’ home was raided with “utterly unnecessary military-level force.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment on the recent court filing. In September, one of Combs’ attorneys, Marc Agnifilo, expressed to a U.S. entertainment outlet that he believed the government was attempting to take down a successful Black man. Prosecutors later addressed these comments in a court hearing, according to reports.
