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Louise Thomas
Editor
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.
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”.
“[The video is] not related to the charge,” he said.
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.” Combs 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, Combs 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.
“Defendant Combs and his agents and employees not only used language and tactics to force Jane Doe to act against her will: she was also unwillingly drugged with alcohol unknown substances.”
Earlier this week, Agnifilo offered a bizarre explanation for why 1,000 bottles of baby oil were found during raids on Combs’s home.
“I don’t think it was 1,000. I think it was a lot,” he told The New York Post, before suggesting that the rapper simply likes to stock up on his essentials.
“I mean there is a Costco right down the street. I think Americans buy in bulk, as we know.”
He added: “We can’t get so puritanical in this country to think that somehow sex is a bad thing because if it was there would be no more people.”
Combs is being held behind bars in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre following his arrest on 16 September. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and was denied bail twice.
