Diddy's Lawyers Appeal Conviction on First Amendment Grounds

Lawyers for Sean Combs, the hip-hop mogul known as Diddy, argued before a panel of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York on Thursday that his conviction on prostitution-related charges should be overturned, claiming the activities amounted to protected First Amendment expression through amateur explicit content production.

Combs, 56, was convicted in July 2024 on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the Mann Act, which prohibits moving individuals across state lines for illegal sexual activity. The charges stemmed from his arrangement of travel for male escorts to participate in sex acts with his then-girlfriends, singer Cassie Ventura and another woman identified in court as Jane. Prosecutors presented evidence from an eight-week trial that Combs supplied drugs to the women to sustain multi-day encounters, which were filmed and later viewed by Combs and his partners. These sessions, described in testimony as "Freak Offs" or "hotel nights," involved what witnesses called choreographed performances with costumes and role-playing.

A jury acquitted Combs of more serious charges, including racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, which...