Sean “Diddy” Combs has pleaded not guilty to a superseding indictment filed against him earlier this month, which alleges he forced employees to work long hours with little sleep under the threat of physical and reputational harm.
The rapper’s trial was initially scheduled to begin on May 5th, but a judge has allowed him extra time to prepare for his defense, so jury selection will begin on that date, with his trial date pushed back to May 12th.
The rapper’s legal team has been working overtime to discredit all of the prosecution’s evidence against him, including the infamous tape of him beating his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in a hotel hallway, claiming that CNN, who first published the video, heavily edited the clip.
“All CNN video footage was substantially altered in significant respects. This includes covering the time stamp and then changing the video sequence,” his attorneys allege. “It also includes speeding up the video to make it falsely appear that the actions in the video are taking place faster than they are. As a result, the CNN videos do not fairly and accurately depict the events in question.”
His attorneys also allege that CNN destroyed the original copy, which the news outlet denied.
“CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source. CNN aired the story about the video several months before Combs was arrested,” CNN said in their response.
After the video hit the internet, Diddy immediately recorded an apology video, calling the behavior “inexcusable” and adding that he was taking “full responsibility.”