Team Diddy Asserts Rape Comparisons in Controversial Legal Filing

Team Diddy's controversial filing attempts to downplay the severity of sexual assault claims, igniting debate among legal experts and advocates.

On April 25, 2025, Sean 'Diddy' Combs and his legal team filed opposition (Filing #271) against expert witness Dr. Dawn Hughes in the ongoing federal case concerning the rap mogul. This unconventional filing, described by critics as “lame,” includes members of Team Diddy such as Teny Geragos, Marc Agnifilo, Alexandra Shapiro, Jason Driscoll, and Anna Estevao. Their arguments have sparked significant criticism for their perceived absurdity.

One of the more contentious points made by Team Diddy states that rape is not underreported. They argue that since crimes like drunk driving and tax evasion are not included in the same data surveys as sexual assault, these crimes may actually be more underreported. The team posits that, “Hughes seeks to testify that rape is ‘underreported,’ but the question remains as to how such testimony affects a jury's determination of guilt in a sex trafficking case, rather than merely indoctrinating jurors with their assumptions.”

While the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) indicates that sexual assault is reported less frequently than many other crimes, the defense claims there are significant limitations in these surveys. They assert that the survey excludes crimes like tax evasion and drunk driving, which they argue may also exhibit markedly low report rates.

Team Diddy also takes issue with Dr. Hughes's characterizations of sexual assault, labeling her claims as "extreme." The filing states, “Once on the stand, she presents more extreme assertions, including that ‘sex crimes and crimes against women are the most underreported crimes we have.’”

To conclude their lengthy submission, the defense department flattens the credibility of all expert witnesses in sexual assault and women's advocacy. They declare, “In summary, Hughes’s testimony, like many others from sexual assault and battered women’s advocates, is rife with ‘conceptual, evidential, and other general problems.’” Critics are pointing out that these increasingly desperate arguments are a troubling trend for Team Diddy as the case continues.