Op-Ed: How Diddy’s Trial Turned Misogyny Into A Celebration
After being acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering in his federal trial, Sean “Diddy” Combs received a standing ovation when he returned to jail from his fellow inmates, and according to his lawyer, the hip-hop mogul’s legal victory might have been the best thing he could do for incarcerated Black men in America.
“They all said: ‘We never get to see anyone who beats the government,’” Marc Agnifilo, who served as lead on Diddy’s defense team, told The Associated Press in a weekend interview days after the trial ended.
It is undeniable that despite insurmountable odds against him, Diddy managed to secure as much of a legal victory as plausibly possible. Rarely do federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York lose high-profile cases like the one lodged against the Bad Boy Records founder, however, last Wednesday morning, the third day of deliberations, the jury found the 55-year-old not guilty of one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Following the verdict, before Diddy exited the courtroom, he reportedly knelt to the ground in front of his chair and bowed his head in prayer, and after that, he turned toward the gallery and clapped, which led to an eruption of applause and cheering from the onlookers.
One can understand why Diddy, his family, friends, and supporters may be elated by this result, though to describe this as a win for incarcerated Black men in America sounds like yet another twisted way Diddy’s defense team has exploited existing attitudes about race, sex, and gender to their advantage.
Of all the disturbing details to pour out of the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, what infuriated me the most was the image of his supporters outside of the courthouse, spraying baby oil over each other and bouncing around in jubilation, after he managed to escape accountability for his most severe charges.
The issues of domestic violence, sexual assault, coercion and rape should not be treated with such flippancy, but they were arguably treated just as dismissively by Diddy’s lawyers.
In the defense team’s closing arguments, Agnifilo mocked the government’s closing argument and warned that prosecutors were employing a novel approach to sex crimes that risked turning the swinger lifestyle into potential crimes for all Americans.
“I guess it’s all worth it because they found the Astroglide. They found it in boxes, boxes of Astroglide taken off the streets. Whew, I feel better already,” he said in his closing remarks. “The streets of America are safe from the Astroglide!”
“They took Astroglide and they took baby oil, and that ends up being the evidence in this case, because his businesses are outstanding. There’s nothing about the businesses to find. There’s nothing about the businesses to make into a criminal case,” he continued.
“They go into the man’s bedroom. They go into the man’s most private life. Where is the crime scene? The crime scene is your private sex life. That’s the crime scene.”
Let Agnifilo tell it, by charging Diddy, federal prosecutors had launched an unjust attack on a prominent and wildly successful Black entrepreneur.
I found that argument absurd a year ago when it was first employed by his legal team, but based on social media, select podcasters, too many men I hear in the barbershop when getting a fade, and apparently this jury, it sounds less far-fetched.
Despite acknowledging the physical abuse between the couple, Agnifilo claimed in his closing argument that the relationship between Diddy and Cassie was “a great modern love story.”
“No one’s forcing her to do this,” Agnifilo said at one point. “She’s a woman who actually likes sex — good for her.”
I struggle to articulate just how soulless it is to describe coercion by way of physical abuse, blackmail, and financial control as “a great modern love story.”
Likewise, how infuriating it is to see so many get jolly after a rich Black man gets away with beating up a woman the way many white men often do.
And some of Diddy’s most famous supporters, like Hot 97’s Funkmaster Flex, couldn’t wait to pounce on some of those women following Diddy’s verdict.
In an Instagram post criticizing a statement from Cassie’s lawyers, Flex claimed that she was not a victim.
“YOU WAS YOUNG, DIDDY MADE BAD CHOICES AND YOU MADE BAD CHOICES!” he wrote. “WHEN DO U PLAN TO TEACH GIRLS NOT TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES YOU MADE? JUST MY OPINION! @cassie.”
In an appearance on TMZ presents United States v. Sean Combs: Inside the Diddy Trial, producer and reality TV personality Stevie J echoed those sentiments, alleging that because she received money as part of a civil settlement, she can not lay claim to any victimhood.
Neither man has been seen publicly speaking as passionately about why it’s wrong to put your hands on a woman and to force her to do things that she doesn’t want to do.
So, to tally this up, Diddy’s lawyers acknowledge Diddy’s abuse but frame it as part of a modern love story, while his most vocal supporters argue that, essentially, Cassie was beat up though the most important part of the story is that she is money-hungry, all while his fans douse themselves in baby oil in full-on mocking of the most outlandish aspects of the trial.
Meanwhile, Diddy himself has said nothing during the trial, and though he did initially publicly apologize to Cassie following the release of the leaked hotel footage of him beating her, that apology video was long scrapped from the internet.
As Diddy awaits sentencing, Agnifilo claims “He’s doing OK” and genuinely desires improvement and “realizes he has flaws like everyone else that he never worked on.”
“He burns hot in all matters. I think what he has come to see is that he has these flaws and there’s no amount of fame and no amount of fortune that can erase them,” he said. “You can’t cover them up.”
No, but with the right amount of money, perhaps you can escape the harshest consequences of the federal government, all while presenting it as some kind of victory for locked-up Black men writ large.
I understand the importance of symbolism, and I know that many Black men are languishing in prison over prosecutors who they feel overcharged them, a way many have argued was the case in Diddy’s trials.
However, I wish more men on Diddy’s team might consider what type of symbolism this victory on the women silently being abused by the men in their lives, with even less incentive now to want to speak up.
Some may look at Diddy as a hero for Black men, but I see him as another monster making the community look worse with these kinds of self-serving arguments being served to the public on his behalf.
SEE ALSO:
Diddy Please: Yes, You’re A Bozo For Cheering For Sean Combs
Why Sean Combs Was Never Going To Be Fully Held Accountable [Op-Ed]
Op-Ed: How Diddy’s Trial Turned Misogyny Into A Celebration was originally published on newsone.com
