Diddy's legal team asks judge to place gag orders on victims' attorneys on eve of trial
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Sean 'Diddy' Combs' legal team is asking the judge to muzzle other attorneys from commenting on the disgraced Bad Boy mogul's case.
In a letter filed Tuesday, Combs' attorneys said despite their prior request for a gag order, several attorneys who represent alleged victims and witnesses continue to muddy the jury pool with 'negative publicity' towards their client.
Combs' team specifically named Douglas Wigdor, who represents Comb's ex Cassie Ventura, for speaking to the media.
'Absent a Court order, we expect the publicity to not only continue, but escalate as trial commences,' they wrote in the letter to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian.
'Indeed in recent weeks, lawyers for government witnesses have commented on pretrial litigation and continued to broadcast prejudicial statements.'
They pointed to Wigdor's comments concerning Combs' request to keep the surveillance video of the rapper pulling and dragging Ventura by the hair inside a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016 as she tried to escape.
Despite the defense attorneys' attempt to keep the video out from being played for jurors, the judge ruled it will remain as evidence.
The decision is a big blow for Diddy as his attorneys claim the video initially aired by CNN was 'edited' and 'manipulated'.
Wigdor told DailyMail.com he plans to file a response to the gag order request.
'We will vigorously oppose the motion seeking an extraordinary sweeping gag order as it is an obvious attempt at controlling and silencing victims and their counsel in contravention of well-established legal and ethical precedent,' Wigdor said. 'Given this, it should come as no surprise that Combs fails to cite even one case to support his request.'
Defense attorneys also called out Lisa Bloom, who is also representing another prosecution witness.
Although that witness has not been named, Bloom is representing former singer Dawn Richard, who was a former member of Combs' girl group, Danity Kane.
Bloom, who has appeared on DailyMail.com's podcast The Trail of Diddy, has said Richard is in fear for her life.
Richard filed a civil suit against Combs and claims the disgraced Bad Boy mogul sexually assaulted her, deprived her of food and sleep and refused to pay her adequately.
Her case is among dozens of claims filed against Combs in New York, California, Florida and Nevada.
Bloom is also representing another alleged victim, who filed his case in the U.S. District Court of Southern New York under the name John Doe.
According to his lawsuit, Doe claims he also was an aspiring entertainer in Las Vegas when he met Combs in 2007.
The man claims he was hired to preform a strip show in a hotel rom in Las Vegas. Doe claims he was offered drinks and baby old was applied on his body that made him disoriented and weak.
'While in this state, Doe was allegedly instructed by Combs to "engage in acts such as masturbating while Combs and the woman engaged in sexual intercourse,"' according to the lawsuit.
Doe claimed the abuse went on for at least five years. During that period, Doe said he was trapped in a 'vortex of exploitation and fear' and subjected him to sexual assaults, death threats, clandestine recording, blackmail and psychological manipulation.'
In an exclusive statement to DailyMail.com, Bloom fired back at Combs' attorneys.
'How hypocritical that Mr. Combs and his attorneys, having made public statements many times, now want to silence me,' Bloom said on Tuesday. 'Accusers and their attorneys have every right to speak out.
'I am very proud to represent my brave clients, Dawn Richard and John Doe, in litigation against Mr. Combs. I look forward to attending Mr. Combs' upcoming criminal trial in New York and continuing to advocate for my clients consistent with the law and the ethical rules.'
Combs has denied all allegations in his criminal case and the various civil litigation.
His defense attorneys said the threesomes were consensual, and the Bad Boy mogul was a swinger.
Combs' attorneys said Diddy did nothing wrong during his sex parties, which prosecutors claimed were drug-fueled 'freak offs'.
Federal prosecutors filed a third superseding earlier this month with additional charges of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs, 55, faces the same three federal offenses he was originally charged with related to directing a vast criminal enterprise through which he assaulted and trafficked women with the help of his various businesses from at least 2004 to 2024.
He remains in a Brooklyn jail as he awaits for jury selection on May 5.
'Now that the trial witnesses have been identified and trial is imminent, a narrow order restricting the statements of counsel for anticipated witnesses for the duration of trial appropriately balances the constitutional interests at stake,' Combs' attorneys wrote in their April 28 letter to the judge.
'And there is no other remedy that could effectively mitigate the pretrial publicity. For instance, change of venue would do nothing to cure the amount of global press attention.'
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