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Diddy's legal team wants to make sure no other potential witnesses speak out about their client's case before they head to trial next year.
According to a report TMZ published on Sunday, November 3, attorneys for Sean "Diddy" Combs filed a request for a gag order after they accused one witness in particular, Courtney Burgess, of making false claims. Burgess recently spoke to multiple news outlets after he responded to a grand jury subpoena and testified about the alleged evidence in his possession. Combs' attorneys said Burgess' claims fan the flames of the conspiracy theories spreading throughout the Internet, which could make it impossible for their client to have a fair trial.
"These stories have spread rapidly through the media and created the impression that such videos exist, which is false, and that the government is actually crediting his sensational claims, which is profoundly prejudicial," Combs' attorneys, Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos, wrote in a letter.
Burgess reportedly testified that he once had, or had seen, video footage of celebrities engaged in Combs' "freak offs." The music executive said he once had 11 flash drives containing eight sex tapes of eight celebrities involved in sex acts with people Burgess described as victims. He also said "two or three" of those victims may have been minors at the time. He said he got the flash drives from his former business associate Kim Porter, who also gave him the original manuscript of her long-rumored book.
Combs attorneys believe Burgess' claims aren't true and refer to them as an "extortion scam." They also claim it's a "deluge of improper pretrial publicity." Their goal is to try and keep other potential witnesses quiet until the trial begins in May 2025. The prosecution reportedly objected to the gag order in the past because some witnesses might be plaintiffs who have civil cases against Combs, which is outside of their jurisdiction.
Combs was arrested and charged with sex trafficking and racketeering charges. He pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trail behind bars at a jail in Broklyn.