Sean Combs: The jury watches more Freak Off videos.

Summary

Dateline NBC: Sean Combs – The Jury Watches More "Freak Off" Videos

Episode Release Date: June 24, 2025

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Introduction

In this gripping episode of Dateline NBC, host Andrea Canning delves into the high-stakes racketeering trial of music mogul Sean Combs, also known as Diddy. Since pleading not guilty to all charges, Combs' case has captivated audiences with its intricate details and explosive revelations. This episode, part of the ON Trial series under Dateline True Crime Weekly, provides an in-depth analysis of recent courtroom developments and their potential impact on the trial's outcome.

Trial Overview

The trial has reached a critical juncture as the prosecution begins to wind down its case. A key development occurred when a Homeland Security agent took the stand, presenting a trove of new evidence, including text messages, videos, and voicemails. These materials aim to solidify the prosecution's claims against Combs, particularly focusing on allegations of sex trafficking and involvement in illicit activities.

Quote:

"He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him."
— Andrea Canning, [01:25]

Prosecution's Use of Evidence

The prosecution has introduced multiple "Freak Off" videos—recordings from parties hosted by Combs—that are intended to demonstrate the alleged coercive and drug-fueled environment in which sex trafficking occurred. These videos are central to the prosecution's narrative, portraying Combs as orchestrating illicit activities under the guise of extravagant parties.

Quote:

"They want to really hammer home their points, especially when it comes to several of these charges."
— Mark Agnifolo, [02:38]

Potential Backfire for the Prosecution

Legal analyst Mark Agnifolo discusses the strategy behind presenting extensive video evidence. While the prosecution aims to leave no doubt about Combs' involvement, there is a risk of "prosecutorial overload." Overwhelming the jury with repetitive or graphic material may lead to skepticism or diminished impact.

Quote:

"The jury can feel like this is overkill. They can also feel as though these women… look like they were having a good time and that there's consent there."
— Mark Agnifolo, [03:04]

Key Evidence Highlighted

The Homeland Security agent introduced a series of graphic videos and voicemails that depict Combs in various compromising situations. Notably, during a four-day span in December 2021, Combs allegedly filmed 50 "Freak Off" videos. While only a selection has been presented to the jury, these clips are intended to showcase the extent of Combs' involvement in organizing and participating in the alleged illicit activities.

Quote:

"And this is to protect the anonymity of someone like Jane. This is to also protect the identities of some of these escorts."
— Mark Agnifolo, [03:43]

Defense Strategy

The defense, led by attorney Mark Agnifolo, has adopted a minimalistic approach by choosing not to call any witnesses. This strategy focuses on challenging the prosecution's evidence and emphasizing reasonable doubt rather than presenting an alternative narrative through witness testimony. Agnifolo argues that introducing their own witnesses could inadvertently weaken their position.

Quote:

"If you start calling witnesses that you don't absolutely need, you can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
— Danny Savalos, [13:27]

Jury's Reaction

Observations from the courtroom reveal a mixed reaction among jurors. While some appear visibly uncomfortable and take meticulous notes, others remain indifferent or show signs of disengagement. The varying reactions underscore the complex nature of the evidence and its potential to influence individual jurors differently.

Quote:

"Some look uncomfortable watching... others seem to be paying close attention and taking notes."
— Mark Agnifolo, [04:36]

Legal Insights

Legal analyst Danny Savalos provides valuable context on the role of "summary witnesses" like the Homeland Security agent. These witnesses present critical data in an organized manner, ensuring the jury comprehends the extensive evidence without becoming overwhelmed by detail.

Quote:

"In a case like this, text messages, hotels, any of this data that comes in is critical because it's more reliable than just somebody getting on the stand."
— Danny Savalos, [11:00]

Additionally, Savalos explains the defense's decision to forgo witness testimonies, highlighting the importance of focusing on creating reasonable doubt rather than potentially undermining their case with unnecessary testimonies.

Conclusion and Next Steps

As the trial progresses, the interplay between the prosecution's compelling evidence and the defense's strategic approach to instill doubt will be pivotal. The forthcoming jury deliberations are anticipated to be intense, with the weight of the presented evidence hanging in the balance. Dateline NBC promises to continue providing comprehensive coverage, shedding light on every critical development in this high-profile case.

Quote:

"This is quietly the most important part of the case."
— Danny Savalos, [10:58]

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Produced by: Franny Kelly
Senior Producers: Allison Orr and Liz Brown Karloff
Executive Producer: Paul Ryan
Music by: Jesse McGinty
Additional Contributors: Liz Cole, Senior Executive Producer of Dateline

For ongoing updates and detailed analysis from inside the courtroom, subscribers can visit Dateline Premium.

Transcript

[Andrea Canning]

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[Andrea Canning]

This is ON Trial a special series from Dateline True Crime Weekly bringing you daily coverage from the Sean Combs racketeering trial. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. I'm Andrea Canning and it's Monday, June 23rd. Just a heads up. In this episode, we're going to be talking about some graphic details and harrowing subject matter at the Federal Courthouse in downtown New York. The prosecution is winding down its case. Today, a Homeland Security agent was on the stand introducing new text messages, videos and voicemails. Prosecutors want in evidence. The the jurors, of course, watched and listened to these videos and voice notes, some of which were explicit. NBC News correspondent Chloe Meloss was in the courtroom watching their reactions. And now, rather than standing on the sidewalk in the middle of a heat wave, Chloe is in an air conditioned office to tell us why this could potentially backfire for the prosecution. Hey Chloe.

[Mark Agnifolo]

Hey Andrea.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay, so at this point in the trial, it seems that the jurors should understand what a freak off is. Or a hotel night, or a wild king night. What argument is the prosecution making by playing more video from these nights?

[Mark Agnifolo]

Well, when you talk to one of our legal analysts, Danny Savalos, he would say that this is typical, this is prosecutorial overload. They want to really hammer home their points, especially when it comes to several of these charges. The two sex trafficking counts that he faces, as well as the transportation to engage in prostitution. And what better, better way to do that than show you more freak off videos?

[Andrea Canning]

But how does that backfire, though? By continuing to hammer it home, if you will.

[Mark Agnifolo]

From what I've been told by lawyers like Danny, it's that the jury can feel like this is overkill. They can also feel as though these women like Jane or Cassie Ventura do not look like they were being forced or coerced into these drug fueled sex parties that actually they look like they're having a good time and that there's consent there. So again, we haven't seen these videos. There was a four day period in December of 2021 that Combs filmed actually 50 different freakoff videos. And the jury saw some of those today. So we don't know what's on them.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah. And you're saying that because they're not allowing people in the courtroom to see the videos, just the jurors.

[Mark Agnifolo]

Right. They're under seal, Andrea. And this is something that just the jury and the defense and prosecutors get to see. This is to protect the anonymity of someone like Jane. This is to also protect the identities of some of these escorts. I just want to point out that while these videos are being played, Combs, mother Mama Combs, that's her nickname, was staring straight at the jury, looking for their reaction. And Combs was kind of looking around. He doesn't seem as stressed today as he has in previous weeks.

[Andrea Canning]

And you were also watching the faces of the jury. We know that it's a bad idea, obviously to try to read jurors faces because you just never know what they're thinking. And Joe Tecopina told us that on Friday. What, what were you seeing though? Just what were their expressions? Regardless of, you know, what's going on in their brain, some look uncomfortable watching.

[Mark Agnifolo]

The videos, while others seem to be paying close attention and taking notes. You know, in the past we've seen some jurors even wince. They've already seen freak off videos, but I don't think you can ever, you know, get used to seeing these. And so everybody has a different tolerance. And I think that that's what's really going to happen during these jury deliberations is there's also an age divide here. And what are different people's opinions of consent and of this type of what Combs team would say is just a kinky lifestyle.

[Andrea Canning]

This federal agent, he brought up other evidence as well. Was there anything impactful or interesting in the text messages that were brought up, Chloe?

[Mark Agnifolo]

Well, we heard a lot about Christina Karam, also known as KK today. We saw that she was across many text messages with Combs. And she was also in touch with a travel agent named Jessica Ruiz to set up these hotel nights. She saw, you know, what credit cards were being used, and she really was com right hand. But again, remember, she put out that statement, you know, vigorously denying any sort of criminal involvement and that she had nothing to do with anyone being sex trafficked. But it's interesting, right? The government's last witness is this Homeland Security investigator. We don't see KK on the stand.

[Andrea Canning]

Chloe. There's a moment in one of these voicemails where Combs realizes he's run out of baby oil.

[Mark Agnifolo]

It's another one of those audio text messages, right? Also known as voice notes for all the hip people out there. But Combs, he really loved voice notes, and he would send a lot of them, whether it was to Jane, his former girlfriend, or whether it was to KK in. And one of those that you're referencing, he sounds out of breath and very concerned that he's run out of these seven bottles of baby oil, and he thought that that was enough. And KK's like, I got you. She responds in a text message, and then he miraculously has baby oil show up at his hotel room door. Assuming it's an assistant brought it there.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah. So how does this fit into the RICO conspiracy charge?

[Mark Agnifolo]

I think a lot of the evidence that we've seen today and on Friday from this special agent is that Combs also set up these hotel nights and hired these escorts all on his own. And he interfaced with the travel agent. He was very aware where these escorts were flying from, and that he would sometimes talk to these escorts himself over text message. And in one instance, you have Sean Combs talking to this woman named Bridget, who runs Cowboys for Angels, this escort service. And he actually writes to her over. Over a text message saying, stop raising my rate. I am a long timer. And he says he couldn't even perform.

[Andrea Canning]

Chloe, you're saying that this escort couldn't make it happen, so to speak.

[Mark Agnifolo]

Yeah, it sounds like this escort could not perform the sexual duties required. And these are the text messages. Now on the back end between Combs and this woman Bridget from Cowboys for Angels, saying that, like, regardless of what happens, that's not our problem. You still have to pay them for their time and their companionship. This is very clear that Combs knew that he was hiring escorts. And again, that goes towards transportation to engage in prostitution. And this also goes towards the RICO conspiracy charge because one of the predicate crimes is sex trafficking.

[Andrea Canning]

Was the defense able to undermine any of this on cross examination?

[Mark Agnifolo]

There were some text messages between Jane and a particular escort, Cabral, in which she is booking his travel for him, in which she seems very excited about having him come. She says she, you know, wants him to FaceTime her right now. But when she took the stand, she said that a lot of those FaceTimes combs was with her and that he would get turned on by watching her have sexy conversations with these escorts. So again, she has maintained that she was forced, even though these text messages seem really loving and willing in nature.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay, thank you, Chloe. When we come back, the federal agent testifying today is what's called a summary witness. We've asked NBC News legal analyst Danny Savalos to join us to explain what that is and to talk to us about some breaking defense news.

[Danny Savalos]

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[Andrea Canning]

Danny, thank you for joining us again.

[Danny Savalos]

Thanks for having me.

[Andrea Canning]

You're going to do us, right? And you're going to make explaining a summary witness interesting, right?

[Danny Savalos]

I don't know if I can do that, but I can explain what they do.

[Andrea Canning]

Please do.

[Danny Savalos]

So oftentimes when you have documents, records and data, you need a witness to essentially organize information for the jury. But they have to take the stand and explain what they did to organize it so that the jury can understand why. And it's admissible as evidence and it can be really, really dry. But it's quietly the most important part of the case.

[Andrea Canning]

Why is it so important?

[Danny Savalos]

Because in a case like this, text messages, hotels, any of this data that comes in is critical because it's more reliable than just somebody getting on the stand.

[Andrea Canning]

And are they also confirming kind of what the prosecution has said, confirming that it's accurate and that this is backing up everything you've heard?

[Danny Savalos]

Oh, sure. I mean, that's what they have to do. I mean, if you didn't have these summary witnesses, the jury would have to comb through all of this information and summarize it themselves.

[Andrea Canning]

So the prosecution has called a couple of these summary witnesses. Their testimony, of course, has been less dramatic than, you know, say Kid Cudi or Cassie or. Why would a prosecutor want to close their case, you know, with the testimony of people who are somewhat removed from the story?

[Danny Savalos]

Because the people themselves are not what we call percipient witnesses. So an employee of the government, obviously he wasn't at the freak offs, he or she. And they can't testify as eyewitnesses, but they're testifying about facts and data and information that really may not lie in the same way that a witness, an eyewitness to something that happened may misremember or, or lie or fabricate and also.

[Andrea Canning]

Kind of wrapping everything up. Right, sure.

[Danny Savalos]

Yeah, yeah. And exactly. And you know, the government has a tough decision to make in terms of do they want the flashier witnesses at the end or do they want these sort of drier witnesses? And it could be that the strategy is, well, since this is the information that we think is the most important, even if it's a little less sensational than Kid Cudi and his burning car. Then we will put it at the end.

[Andrea Canning]

This morning, before the jury was even sworn in, defense attorney Mark Agnifolo dropped some big news. What was it?

[Danny Savalos]

Yeah, that the defense wouldn't be calling any witnesses. And candidly, to defense attorneys everywhere, this really isn't a surprise. For a couple different reasons. Number one, the government has the burden of proof to the highest degree beyond a reasonable doubt. So for that reason, it's very common, including in my cases, to call no witnesses at all and simply make your entire defense case about pointing out reasonable doubt in the government's case. Because if you start calling witnesses that you don't absolutely need, you can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It is a huge risk because of that burden of proof. Nobody wants to be the cautionary tale of the defense attorney who had a pretty good case going and then started calling witnesses who torpedoed his own case.

[Andrea Canning]

So the defense's case is really through cross examination.

[Danny Savalos]

Oh, definitely. And in my opinion, this is just my experience, but that's not that uncommon in these federal cases where the government just has a ton of evidence. And if you call one or two witnesses, that almost looks worse than calling zero witnesses. And you know, for those people wondering, well, why pay these high priced lawyers if they weren't gonna call any witnesses? That's not really the measure. The measure is what gives you the best chance to raise reasonable doubt as to the government's case. And by the way, I would say the only, the only part that is no surprise whatsoever is that they were never going to call combs.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, Danny, you always do make it interesting. You came through. Thank you so much for that.

[Danny Savalos]

Thank you.

[Andrea Canning]

Thanks for listening. We'll be back with a new episode tomorrow. If you want to read the latest developments and analysis from inside the courtroom, check out the NBC newsletter. Diddy on trial go to nbcnews.com diddy to find that. On Trial is produced by Franny Kelly with help from the Dateline True Crime Weekly team. Our senior producers are Allison Orr and Liz Brown Karloff. Original Music by Jesse McGinty. Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.

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