The lawyer of disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has claimed that he remains positive after being indicted last week on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He faces a multitude of lawsuits surrounding allegations of assault and sexual misconduct, including a fresh claim from a woman who accuses him of drugging, raping and physically abusing her over the course of four years.
His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, is interviewed in the new TMZ documentary The Downfall of Diddy: The Indictment, in which he spoke about his client’s state of mind.
“His state of mind is actually remarkable positive,” he claimed. “I spend several hours with him every day… His resolve is strong. He’s engaged.”
He continued: “He’s focused on his defence… he [has] come to terms with the fact that this is where he is for now.”
Agnifilo said that he is working on setting a trial date for as soon as possible.
Homeland Security Investigation agents load a box into a car at the entrance of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s home at Star Island in Miami Beach on 25 March 2024 (AFP via Getty Images)
In the same documentary, Agnifilo addressed the shocking video of Combs abusing his then-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, which was caught on a hotel security camera in 2016.
“It’s hard to watch for anyone,” he said. “That being said, it is not evidence of sex trafficking. There was a certain level of toxicity and drug use in the 10-year relationship between Mr Combs and the woman that he was in love with.”
Agnifilo claimed that the “difficulties” in Combs’s relationship with Ventura were related to the mogul’s belief that she “was cheating on him”.
In May, Combs posted an Instagram video apologising over the incident, calling his bejaviour “inexcusable” and saying he took “full responsibility” for his actions.
He said the attack was “one of the darkest times in my life”, adding that he was “f***ed up” and “disgusted” by his actions. He did not mention Ventura by name in his apology video.
His latest accuser, identified only as Jane Doe, said in the suit that she met Diddy in the fall of 2020 “at an overseas location.” Diddy paid for the woman to be there, and the two began seeing each other “regularly” after that, according to the suit.
Throughout 2021 and 2022, Diddy would fly Doe to his homes in Los Angeles, New York, and Miami, using “coercive and harassing language to compel her to comply,” the lawsuit stated.