If acquitted, could Diddy rebound? TMZ's Harvey Levin weighs in
(NewsNation) — Harvey Levin hedges a little when asked whether Sean 'Diddy' Combs could rebound and flourish professionally if a jury were to acquit him in his sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
The TMZ executive producer said there are precedents of celebrities who have fallen from grace, only to find success after scandals or prison sentences. Among them: lifestyle maven Martha Stewart, quarterback Michael Vick and late pop star Michael Jackson.
'It is easy to take a snapshot,' Levin told 'Banfield' on Friday. 'I've just seen things turn out way different than what you would think at the end of a saga like this.'
Ex-mobster Michael Franzese on Diddy trial: 'We didn't beat up women'
He added: 'I'm not going to say there's any resurrection for Diddy if he is found not guilty. I'm not going to say that. All I'm saying is I've just been surprised so much in this job.'
Diddy is accused of coercing and threatening women and staging marathon sexual 'Freak Offs,' and jurors have seen infamous 2016 surveillance video of Combs attacking his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.
Although the testimony at times has been harrowing, Levin said the music mogul may benefit from the trial not being televised.
Also complicating the calculus, he said, is the political comeback of Donald Trump, who was convicted of felony crimes last year before being elected to a second term as president.
'People get written off all the time,' Levin said. 'There was this thing with cancel culture, where you looked the wrong way and you were gone. The pendulum has swung now.'
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