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Los Angeles Times
03-07-2025
- Los Angeles Times
For survivor advocates, Diddy verdict is ‘a huge setback' as accused artists prep comebacks
When Lauren Hersh, the national director of the anti-sex trafficking activist group World Without Exploitation, heard Wednesday that Sean 'Diddy' Combs was convicted only on the two least serious charges against him, she felt grief for his former partner Casandra Ventura and his other accusers. 'I think this is a travesty,' Hersh said. 'It shows there is culturally a deep misunderstanding of what sex trafficking is and the complexity of coercion. So often in these cases, there's an intertwining of horrific violence and affection.' Hersh, the former chief of the sex trafficking unit at the Kings County district attorney's office in Brooklyn, said that Combs' verdict — guilty on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted on one for racketeering and two for sex trafficking — is a mixed message about Combs' conduct. But it will likely be felt as a step backward for the movement to hold powerful men to account for alleged sex crimes. In a cultural moment when other music stars like Marilyn Manson and Chris Brown have mounted successful comebacks after high-profile abuse investigations and lawsuits, Hersh worries the Diddy verdict may deter prosecutors from pursuing similar cases against powerful men and chill the MeToo movement's ability to seek justice for abuse victims. 'It's a huge setback, especially in this moment when the powerful have continuously operated with impunity,' Hersh said. 'It sends a signal to victims that despite the MeToo movement, we're still not there in believing victims and understanding the context of exploitation. But I'm hoping it's a teachable moment to connect the dots with what trafficking is and understanding the complexity of coercion.' The charges against Combs were not a referendum on whether he had abused Ventura or the myriad other women and men involved in his 'freak-off' parties, where group sex and drug use intertwined into an allegedly decadent and violent culture around Combs. Combs' defense team freely admitted that his relationship with Ventura was violent, as seen in an infamous 2016 videotape of Combs beating Ventura in an elevator lobby at the InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles. Marc Agnifilo, one of Combs' lawyers, said in closing arguments that Combs has a drug problem but described his relationship with Ventura as a 'modern love story' in which the hip-hop mogul 'owns the domestic violence' that plagued it. 'The defendant embraced the fact that he was a habitual drug user who regularly engaged in domestic abuse,' federal prosecutors wrote in a hearing about Combs' possible bail terms. The jury decided that Combs' conduct, however reprehensible, did not amount beyond a reasonable doubt to a criminal racketeering organization or sex trafficking. Yet the case's impact on movements within music and other industries to hold abusers to account is uncertain. Many civil suits against the music mogul are still moving through court and could affect his depleted finances. Combs' reputation has been thoroughly tainted by the lurid details of the trial and strong condemnations from his many accusers. Still, for victim advocates, the verdict was a bitter disappointment. Reactions within the music world were swift and despairing. 'This makes me physically ill,' said Aubrey O'Day of Danity Kane, the band Diddy assembled on his popular reality TV show 'Making the Band,' on social media. 'Cassie probably feels so horrible. Ugh, I'm gonna vomit.' 'Cassie, I believe you. I love you. Your strength is a beacon for every survivor,' wrote singer Kesha, who in 2014 sued producer Dr. Luke, accusing him of assault. Kesha has frequently altered the lyrics of her hit single 'TikTok' in performances to lambast Combs. Even longtime Diddy antagonist 50 Cent seemed to acknowledge his partial victory. 'Diddy beat the feds that boy a bad man,' 50 Cent wrote on Instagram, before referencing a famous mobster notorious for evading convictions. 'Beat the RICO he the gay John Gotti.' Mitchell Epner, a former assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey who prosecuted numerous sex trafficking and involuntary servitude cases, said that despite some recent high-profile sex trafficking cases that ended in convictions, Combs' charges were never going to be easy to prove. 'In recent years, we've seen prosecutions of Ghislaine Maxwell in the Jeffrey Epstein case, Keith Raniere of NXIVM and R. Kelly, where they are trafficking in order to feed the traffickers' sexual desire,' Epner said. 'But this indictment was all about Sean Combs sharing women with people he was paying. He wasn't receiving money, he wanted to be a voyeur. That technically fits the definition of sex trafficking, but it wasn't the primary evil Congress was thinking about.' The hurdles for accusers to come forward with claims against powerful men, and for juries to discern between transgressive sexual relationships and criminally liable abuse beyond a reasonable doubt, make such cases difficult to prosecute. In the absence of convictions, some recently accused artists have already mounted successful comebacks. Shock-rocker Marilyn Manson had been under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department since 2021, when several women accused him of rape and abuse including 'Westworld' actor Evan Rachel Wood and 'Game of Thrones' actor Esmé Bianco. Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in January that the statute of limitations had run out on Manson's domestic violence allegations, and that prosecutors doubted they could prove rape charges. 'While we are unable to bring charges in this matter,' Hochman said in a statement then, 'we recognize that the strong advocacy of the women involved has helped bring greater awareness to the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault.' Bianco told The Times that, 'Within our toxic culture of victim blaming, a lack of understanding of coercive control, the complex nature of sexual assault within intimate partnerships, and statutes of limitations that do not support the realities of healing, prosecutions face an oftentimes insurmountable hurdle. Once again, our justice system has failed survivors.' Manson has denied all claims against him. He has since released a new album and mounted successful tours. Meanwhile, R&B singer Chris Brown was recently the subject of 'Chris Brown: A History of Violence,' a 2024 documentary that shed new light on a 2022 lawsuit where a woman accused Brown of raping her on a yacht owned by Combs in 2020. That lawsuit — one of many civil and criminal claims made against Brown over the years, beginning with the infamous 2009 incident in which he assaulted his then-girlfriend Rihanna — was dismissed. In 2020, Brown settled another sexual assault lawsuit regarding an alleged 2017 incident at the singer's home. Brown currently faces criminal charges around a 2023 incident where he allegedly assaulted a music producer with a tequila bottle in a London nightclub. Brown denied the claims in the documentary, and his attorneys called the film 'defamatory.' He sued Warner Bros. Entertainment for $500 million. He is currently on a stadium tour that will stop at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood in September. Combs, meanwhile, may still face a range of criminal and civil consequences. He could be sentenced from anywhere up to the maximum of 10 years apiece on each prostitution charge, or to a far lesser sentence. Some experts said it's possible he may be sentenced to time served and walk away a free man soon. Though it's too soon to know what kind of future awaits Combs should he return to public life, it's hard to imagine a return to the heights of influence that defined his '90s tenure at Bad Boy Entertainment, or his affable multimedia-mogul personality in the 2000s. A fate similar to the former hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons seems most likely — reputationally tarnished and culturally irrelevant. Still, his supporters thronged outside the New York courtroom waving bottles of baby oil — an infamous detail of the trial — in a pseudo-ironic celebration of his acquittal on the most serious charges. If Combs wants to ever return to music, he'll have at least one ally in Ye, the embattled Nazi-supporting rapper who showed up in court to bolster Combs. Ye featured the incarcerated mogul on his song 'Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine,' and released clothing featuring the logo of Combs' old fashion label Sean John. President Trump, another convicted felon and alleged sexual assailant who quickly returned to the heights of power, has said he is open to pardoning Combs. 'It's not a popularity contest,' he has said, regarding a Combs pardon. 'I would certainly look at the facts if I think somebody was mistreated.'
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Meet our new U.S. attorney, a ‘big fan' of accused sex trafficker Andrew Tate
Alina Habba is our new chief federal prosecutor and she very recently told accused sex trafficker and rapist Andrew Tate that she's a "big fan" of his. Heaven help us. (Photo by) It's not every day we get a chief federal prosecutor who has admitted being a big fan of an alleged sex trafficker and rapist, but here we are. There are lots of reasons to be concerned about Alina Habba, whom President Trump named as the new interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey on Monday. But chief among those is her drooling over online influencer Andrew Tate. 'I'm a big fan,' Habba told Tate when both appeared on a podcast in January. When Habba told Tate this, she knew that Tate and his brother had been accused by Romanian authorities of trafficking women, forcing them to appear in pornographic videos that were posted online, and that the two men face charges of 'sexual aggression' in the United Kingdom. 'I'm a big fan.' I'm not going to try to understand the appeal of someone like Andrew Tate, who seems transparently odious. A writer at conservative site The Federalist who claims to have rebuked his moral pitfalls nonetheless argues Tate speaks about masculinity in a way that 'boys desperately need to hear.' I assume she's not talking about Tate's 'Pimping Hoes' podcast, but who knows nowadays. But even assuming it's true that Tate has tapped into the minds of boys who need to feel good about themselves, he's been accused of sexual assault in multiple countries, including the United States (a woman suing him in Florida alleges he lured her to Romania and coerced her into sex work). Why would our new federal prosecutor consider herself a big fan of him? What is she a big fan of? Perhaps sensing her comments would be a big problem, about two weeks ago, Habba talked to Jan Jekielek of the Epoch Times and tried to walk back her Andrew Tate fangirling — while still claiming that she hadn't said what she said. 'What I said was — it's some great manipulation — so the Tate brothers, you know, have a tremendous social media presence in terms of, and what we were discussing were politics in the U.K. He was talking about running. And I am always passionate about people that are vocal against certain things,' she said. She's passionate about people who are vocal against certain things, got it. Love the clarity. Lauren Hersh, national director of anti-trafficking organization World Without Exploitation, told me she was 'deeply concerned' about Habba's interaction with Tate. Hersh said it's troubling that an attorney who is going to be our state's new chief prosecutor 'would respond to Andrew Tate with any sort of praise.' 'For me it's less about the gushing and more about the fact this is a person who's tasked with holding accountable those who exploit. If this is her perspective on someone who is a self-admitted misogynist with very serious allegations of exploitation, I'm concerned how she will hold accountable those who exploit in the state of New Jersey. That's really the crux of this for me,' she said. I asked the U.S. Attorney's Office to comment and I did not hear back. At the White House on Monday, Habba called New Jersey a 'neglected state,' citing crime in places like Newark and Camden. Perhaps we don't have enough sex traffickers for her to gush over. Reaction to Habba's appointment from Democrats here in New Jersey has been mixed. Sen. Cory Booker has yet to issue a statement. On News12 Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy was respectful, though he seemed irked that Habba implied New Jersey is infested with crime. 'I wish her well. She seems like a very significant talent,' Murphy said. 'This is historically a nonpartisan position, so I'm expecting and assume she'll continue that tradition.' No mention of her playing footsie with an alleged sex trafficker. Luckily, Sen. Andy Kim knows enough to be horrified. 'The announcement of Alina Habba to be interim US Attorney in New Jersey is an unacceptable partisan choice that will leave New Jersey ill-prepared to take on dangerous challenges like gun violence and drug trafficking. We must do better to keep our communities safe,' Kim said in a statement. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
