Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik delivered a powerful closing argument in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial on Thursday, wrapping up seven weeks of courtroom drama with a five-hour takedown of the music mogul. At the heart of her message? Diddy always got what he wanted—and used his influence, money, and a loyal inner circle to make it happen.
“He doesn’t take no for an answer,” Slavik said, a phrase she circled back to again and again as she laid out two decades’ worth of alleged crimes by the Bad Boy boss.
Drawing a line between the 2016 assault on Cassie Ventura and a 2023 attack on a woman identified only as Jane Doe, Slavik painted both incidents as part of a disturbing pattern: a calculated cycle of abuse, manipulation, and coercion that ran through Combs’ relationships, all enabled by a tight-knit crew of bodyguards, assistants, and staff.
She introduced the jury to the “Combs enterprise,” a team allegedly built to support Diddy’s criminal behavior—from drug runs to freak offs to bribes—and made clear that even those unaware of the full scope still played a role. “When someone commits a crime as part of a group, they’re more powerful and more dangerous,” Slavik stated.
Slavik walked the jury through the eight core crimes making up the racketeering charge—drug distribution, kidnapping, arson, bribery, sex trafficking, interstate prostitution, forced labor, and witness tampering—reminding them they only need to find two to convict.
She detailed how drugs were an essential ingredient in the freak offs—Diddy’s name for his sex parties involving girlfriends and male escorts—and how his team worked overtime to supply him with everything from cocaine to GHB. Slavik shared messages, testimonies, and transactions that tied his staff directly to the drug flow.
When it came to kidnapping and arson, she highlighted the 2021 firebombing of Kid Cudi’s car, calling Combs “100% behind” the act, backing it with Cassie’s testimony and email evidence that he warned her about the explosion in advance.
Bribery came into focus with Combs’ alleged $100,000 payment to a hotel security guard for a surveillance video of his assault on Cassie. While Diddy’s legal team said he was only trying to avoid bad press, Slavik argued that his texts showed he feared police involvement too.
The sex trafficking charges against Diddy, involving both Jane and Cassie, were front and center. Slavik laid out Jane’s story: the love bombing, the manipulation, the threats of eviction, and violence that ultimately forced her into continued “hotel nights.” She said plainly, “That’s coercion. And it worked.”
She broke down how Combs manipulated Jane with promises and punishments, hiring escorts while lying to her about romantic getaways, and maintaining control through financial pressure and threats to release sex tapes.
Slavik also challenged the defense’s portrayal of Cassie as a willing participant in freak offs. She argued that years of emotional and physical abuse stripped Cassie of agency, and that any explicit messages she sent were acts of survival. “When he was happy, she was safe,” Slavik told the jury.
Bringing it all together, Slavik didn’t mince words. “Up until today, the defendant was able to get away with these crimes because of his money, his power, his influence. That stops now.”
She ended with a final call to action: “It’s time to hold him accountable. It’s time for justice. It’s time to find the defendant guilty.”
