Just days after the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes, a new report states that Sean “Diddy” Combs’s defense team could refer to the tensions in the Middle East during its closing argument later this week.
Jurors have heard dozens of witnesses deliver bombshell testimony about a cycle of sexual exploitation, physical abuse, and psychological manipulation allegedly orchestrated by the 55-year-old music mogul.
On the seventh week of testimony, the defense is preparing for closing arguments in Combs’s sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial, which is scheduled to begin inside Manhattan federal court on Thursday.
Sources told TMZ that the Combs’s attorneys could claim “this was a manufactured case of bedroom police instigated by Homeland Security Investigations,” the outlet wrote.
It added that “rather than worrying about what Diddy is doing with baby oil and lube, HSI should worry more about the escalating conflict with Iran.”
While President Donald Trump said that a ceasefire between Israel and Iran is now in effect after claiming a volley of U.S. missiles and bunker-buster bombs “obliterated” Iranian nuclear capabilities.
Combs’s lawyers believe prosecutors “haven't met the burden of proof on the charges against Diddy,” the outlet added, and therefore are not calling any witnesses of their own.
The sources say the defense will likely rely on testimony from several male escorts who were paid to partake in Combs’s drug-dazed, baby-oil-doused marathon sex sessions, known as “freak-offs,” on separate occasions with the rapper’s ex-partners Cassie Ventura and a woman identified under the pseudonym “Jane.”
They may argue that the escorts were paid for their time and discretion, not for sex, the sources added. The defense is also expected to state that any sexual encounters involving Ventura and Jane were consensual, a claim at odds with testimony from the prosecution’s star witnesses.
Combs is facing sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy charges. The rapper was arrested in September 2024 as federal authorities alleged he threatened, abused, and coerced victims “to fulfill his sexual desires” between 2004 and 2024. Combs has denied any accusations of wrongdoing.
At Monday’s hearing, jurors viewed more sexually explicit messages between Combs and Jane, his staff, and male escorts as the prosecution wrapped up testimony of its final witness.
Special Agent Joseph Cerciello returned to the stand to testify about travel, hotel, payment, and phone records related to the investigation into Combs.
Along with testifying that Combs asked his staff to bring him baby oil and IV fluids for his freak-offs, Cerciello told jurors the rapper paid for male escorts to travel to different cities across the country to engage in the sex sessions.
In one message shown to the court, Jane said she did not want to participate in a freak-off because she felt “used.”
Cerciello is expected to return to the stand on Tuesday for further cross-examination from the defense. Combs was not expected to testify in his own defense this week.
If proceedings stay on track, jurors could begin deliberations as early as Friday.
