Attorneys for Sean "Diddy" Combs requested a gag order on a witness who claims there is video evidence of the rapper "victimizing" eight of his A-list friends, including two who were "underage," The Blast reported. The artist and producer is on trial for sex trafficking and other crimes.
Combs and his attorneys attempted to prevent witnesses from speaking about their testimony and evidence outside of the courtroom. One of those witnesses was longtime friend and Alter Ego Records CEO Courtney Burgess.
He has been sharing with the press about evidence and testimony, including that he has knowledge of video evidence of Combs' alleged crimes possibly involving minors. Burgess claims to either possess or have seen the footage on flash drives that Combs' girlfriend, Kim Porter, provided.
The footage was allegedly taken from hidden cameras in the home. Attorneys for Combs have dismissed these allegations as nothing more than an "extortion scam," and are seeking to shut down these discussions with a court order.
Burgess has been asked to turn over any video or photographic evidence to the grand jury. He has shared that the footage he received from Porter, with whom Combs shares four children, includes two male celebrities who "underage" at the time of the filming being victimized.
Disturbingly, these videos also purportedly show that the people were acting impaired, as if drugged or drunk, while engaged in the activity. Burgess claims that Combs, who has has known for more than 30 years, wasn't always like this.
"At the time, I guess he was ambitious. Then from ambitious [he] went to doing anything And then [he] from doing anything to didn't care about nobody - who he could beat," Burgess said of his longtime friend.
"And then he ended up turning into Lucifer. And today, I'm looking at him - I know you all call him Diddy or Puffy - I call him Lucifer," Burgess added.
Combs is currently behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. He is facing charges such as racketeering, transportation to engage in prostitution, and disturbing allegations of sex trafficking.
The latest attempt at a gag order comes after another request was denied late last month, USA Today reported. One of the arguments came from an attorney for one of Combs' alleged victims.
Lawyer Douglas Wigdor argued that his client, Cassie Ventura, had a right to speak about her experience as a victim. Ventura has already settled her lawsuit over abuse, rape, and sex trafficking at the hands of Combs last year.
The attorney said that a gag order "inappropriately silence victims who are proactively seeking justice through the civil justice system." Wigdor also believes that Ventura has a right to rebut statements made about her in the press.
"The relief Mr. Combs seeks is particularly inappropriate given that his family and representatives have themselves made extrajudicial statements to garner the exact attention he claims he wants to diminish. These survivors and their attorneys should not be silenced and prevented from pursuing their claims publicly, or from speaking their truth, during the pendency of Mr. Combs’s criminal case," Wigdor added.
Combs' alleged victims deserve to have their say, especially if their names are being dragged in the press. The music mogul has a mounting list of allegations against him, and these feeble attempts to silence alleged victims will do nothing to help Combs in the end.
