Closing arguments are being heard in court, after a six-week case against Sean 'Diddy' Combs. The prosecution describes the hip-hop mogul's "kingdom", in which "everyone was there to serve" - while drugs were "essential" to "freak offs". Follow the latest below.
Friday 27 June 2025 16:40, UK
The defence say Diddy did not kidnap Cassie in January 2009, after an event in LA in which she says he "stomped on her face".
They say he put her up in a hotel "for her own good," despite Cassie wanted to go back to his house to recover, and argue that it's not kidnaping, 鈥渨hen you want to go to the house of the guy you鈥檙e charging with kidnapping.鈥�
The defence's closing argument spends a fair chunk of its time talking about Capricorn Clark, Diddy's former assistant and the 17th prosecution witness in the trial.
Agnifilo says she was never kidnapped by Diddy, and did not witness a gun in the car when she went with him to rapper Kid Cudi's house in January 2012.
He says when she talks about wanting to "get her life back" she is really saying she wants to get back to the world he says Diddy created.
Agnifilio also says Diddy neither set fire to Kid Cudi's car, nor broke into his house.
Calling it "this nonsense with the Porsche", he says: "He did nothing to that man鈥檚 car - that's not his style鈥� he's a fighter鈥� 'you're messing with my girl; I'm coming to your house to fight'鈥� no weapons鈥� good old-fashioned John Wayne".
He calls the police's action over the arson "a terrible investigation".
Today, Diddy is sitting up close to the defence table, next to his lawyers Brian Steele and Alexandra Shapiro.
He's listening intently to Marc Agnifilo's testimony and looks much more engaged than yesterday.
There is not much defeat on his face today.
The prosecution's Maurene Comey is also watching on, taking sips from her water bottle, and at other times resting her face in her hand.
Painting a picture of Diddy and Cassie's relationship, defence lead Marc Agnifilo calls it "a great modern love story".
He says while the prosecution "is trying to get you to believe it's one-sided", it is in fact "a real relationship and they are in love".
Portraying the relationship, he goes on: "It isn't hard to pick a winner - Cassie flat won. It's not a secret, he's in jail. Marshall's service doing a good job keeping him safe but in jail."
'Cassie won'
"Cassie won鈥� It's like a slaughter, it's not even close, anyone telling you Cassie is the victim, she didn't see what was coming鈥� She matched him, she was like him, she was at a certain level, she was in love, it was a great modern love story鈥�
"It's complicated, but they are truly in love with each other and that is what defines their relationship, it is based on love, she said she was young鈥� they loved out loud."
They were 'best selves' during sex
He elaborately paints some of the text messages sent around their breakup as "the most beautiful words", telling the jury, "you will cry".
Agnifilo says Cassie made "the adult choice" when she chose to leave Diddy, adding: "If racketeering conspiracy had an opposite, it would be their relationship."
He says they were their "best selves" when it came to sex.
Cassie the 'gangster'
He then characterises Cassie in a much darker light, calling her "a gangster", and saying she "played [Diddy] good," by having a relationship with Kid Cudi under his nose, using a "burner phone" to try to avoid him finding out.
Marc Agnifilo says at no point have the defence challenged a single word Cassie told the court about the domestic violence she experienced at Diddy's hands.
He says there was no need to question her on being "hit or dragged" as it could all be seen in the video evidence, captured in the InterContinental Hotel in 2016.
He goes on: "In terms of owning a matter of personal responsibility - owning the DV [domestic violence], we own it. It happened."
He points out that Diddy is not charged with domestic violence, but is charged with both racketeering and sex trafficking. He says Diddy "is going to fight to the death to defend himself against what he didn't do".
Marc Agnifilo says this is a case about four things:
Referring to the "beautiful house" Diddy rents for his ex-girlfriend Jane, he said it was an example of a man who "takes care of people".
Pushing home the point that Diddy is still paying the rent on the apartment Jane lives in with her child, Agnifilo says: "Jane came up here and testified against him鈥� I hope she鈥檚 having a good day, but you know where she鈥檚 having a good day - in her house that he pays for."
Seemingly mocking the work of the special response teams who searched Diddy's homes in September last year, he said America's streets were "safe from Astroglide" [a commercial brand of lubricant].
He said they also found baby oil, and "a purse full of drugs," adding: "It's all worth it, thank goodness for the special response team, way to go fellas, you guys just do you."
Agnifilo says there is nothing about the businesses to make it a criminal case, meaning the officers have had to "take yellow crime scene tape and wrap it around his bedroom, hotel rooms, [places] you go with your girlfriends".
Riffing off the recent birthday of the world's most famous shark, he adds: "It's the 50th anniversary of Jaws - we need a bigger boat鈥� We need a bigger roll of crime scene tape."
Describing Diddy as "a self-made successful black entrepreneur", Agnifilo says the rapper built "wonderful, sophisticated, real businesses", adding they have "stood the test of time" and "employ people, giving them livelihoods and making them part of a family".
Agnifilo reminds the jury of all the government witnesses who spoke admiringly of Diddy, with one saying that working with him was the "greatest moment of my life".
He asks the jury: "Did they always like him? No way鈥� but they loved him, even the ones who are suing him."
Agnifilo goes on: "Was it always easy? No. Sometimes real things in life are hard, the lessons in life show that you can do something hard, you remember hard things".
He says such things "build character," claiming Diddy's companies practised "diversity, equity and inclusion" way before they became an accepted business practice.
But instead of recognising any of this, Agnifilo says the government has labelled his business a "racketeering enterprise," emphatically asking the court, "Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?".
He says this is an example of the "fake trial" he says is taking place.
Defence attorney Marc Agnifilo begins his argument by telling the court: "I have to move around, I can't stay in one place." He has already been pacing energetically around the court ahead of the jury being seated.
He says: "This trial is a tale of two trials."
He says the first has been told from the mouths of witnesses, from text messages, from videos and from the evidence.
Agnifilo says the second trial, given by the prosecutors, "is very different" - calling it "a trial of a lifestyle".
He refers to Diddy as having a "swinger" lifestyle, going on to say the prosecution has charged "threesomes as racketeering" and calling it an "exaggerated trial".
The jury is finally in, and defence attorney Marc Agnifilo is now delivering the closing argument.
