Sean 'Diddy' Combs Denied Gag Order to Prevent Alleged Government Leaks Ahead of Trial, Judge Rules
Oct. 27 2024, Published 2:40 p.m. ET
Sean "Diddy" Combs has suffered a legal setback.
According to court papers, the disgraced rapper, 54, and his attorneys were denied a gag order request by New York judge Arun Subramanian to keep government officials from disclosing information to the media as Combs continues to be jailed on s-- trafficking and racketeering charges.
"To be clear, this order isn’t based on a finding that there has been any wrongdoing thus far, as the Court has made no findings at this juncture relating to defendant’s allegations that information related to the case has been leaked," Subramanian made clear in the Friday, October 25, documents.
"The point of this order is to help ensure that nothing happens from now on that would interfere with a fair trial," the judge said of the looming May 2025 court date.
The update comes after the Making the Band alum and his lawyers accused federal agents of giving the shocking 2016 footage of Combs appearing to physically assault former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway to the media.
In legal documents, the mogul's attorneys claimed the government was aiming to "mortally wound the reputation and the prospect of Sean Combs successfully defending himself against these allegations."
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"Rather than using the videotape as trial evidence, alongside other evidence that gives it context and meaning, the agents misused it in the most prejudicial and damaging way possible," the papers stated.
Despite the allegation, the federal government made it clear to the judge that was not the case. "The Government was not in possession of the video before its publication by CNN," they stated in a letter. "There is thus no colorable factual basis for the defendant’s claim that the Government leaked the video to CNN, let alone that it was leaked ‘in violation of grand jury secrecy.'"
Combs was arrested in September and charged with racketeering, s-- trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
"We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sean 'Diddy' Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community," the musician's lawyer Marc Agnifilo said in a statement after Combs was taken into custody. "He is an imperfect person but is not criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court."
Page Six obtained the legal documents.