It’s been a long and emotional morning inside the courtroom, where I’m seated just a few rows behind Combs during his hearing.
The courtroom is packed with at least 30 members of Combs’ entourage, including his mother and all of his children except one.
One of his ex-girlfriends is also seated in the back row. She had made numerous allegations of abuse against Combs, but has since written letters of support in favour of Combs being released from jail.
For most of the morning, Combs maintained a non-reactive demeanour, sitting back in his seat and listening quietly as prosecutors accused him of ruining his victims’ lives.
The court is now breaking for lunch, and will resume at 14:00 local time (19:00 BST).
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Sean “Diddy” Combs’ defense team is highlighting the accomplishments of the rapper as a Black man in the music industry and his cultural significance to Black people — a tactic that was similarly used during OJ Simpson’s trial, CNN reporter Lisa Respers France says.
Here’s what the defense said today on this topic:
“Mr. Combs starting his own record label as a Black, young male back then was almost kind of jokeable,” defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland said today. “This changed the industry, and it changed the culture, but more importantly, it changed countless individuals’ lives.”
France says the defense is leaning into Combs’ Blackness, and that’s what Simpson’s team did as well.
“O.J. Simpson was a man who spent almost his entire life and career trying not to be defined as a Black man. But then when he was charged with a crime, his defense team leaned into that Blackness to say, ‘you know, look, this Black man can’t get a fair trial in America,’” France said.
Combs’ defense team is making his significance in Black culture the focal point.
“And they’re not wrong about that, but they want you to focus on that, and less so what he was accused of doing,” she said.
https://www.cnn.com/entertainment/l...ng-10-03-25?post-id=cmgb2xrh500053b6nuttjclwc
| TMZ
