Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team is still fighting for him to be freed from prison, and this time, his attorneys are hinging his freedom on how “prostitution” is defined legally.
Diddy’s legal team argues the court applied the modern interpretation, when, at the law’s inception, “prostitution” essentially covered any sex outside of marriage and was originally designed to regulate women’s behavior, but in Diddy’s case, the individuals involved were men.
Although the Mann Act has seen several updates over the years, the defense argues that a judge could still side with a traditional, historical interpretation and is asking for a judge to either outright reverse the convictions or grant him a new trial.
Diddy’s attorneys maintain he did not even violate the current definition of prostitution because he never engaged in sexual activity with the workers in question and only watched. His ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, testified that the disgraced music mogul “only ever watched her have sex with others.” The filings further add that payments were for “time,” not explicitly for sexual acts and that he did not profit from them.
Sentencing is set for next month but Diddy is still hoping to receive a pardon from Donald Trump.