Baby oil, Sean 'Diddy' Combs and the #MeToo movement
For nearly two months, as the sex-crimes trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs played out in a federal courtroom in New York, most journalists worked from a large overflow room alongside members of the public.
The hip-hop mogul's supporters were among those watching from the overflow room. When Combs' accusers took the stand, they cackled, booed and hissed profanities, according to Paste BN reporters KiMi Robinson, Patrick Ryan and Aysha Bagchi. In the courtyard outside, some supporters wore "Free Puff" and "Free Diddy" T-shirts and hats.
Diddy's supporters − and the rapper himself − were elated when the jury acquitted him of the most serious counts of sex trafficking and racketeering. But advocates for sexual assault survivors saw in the verdict another setback in the #MeToo movement.
👋 Paste BN Editor-in-Chief Caren Bohan here. Welcome to The Backstory, our newsletter exclusively for subscribers (that’s you!). I’ll be taking you behind the scenes of our breaking news coverage, scoops and unique storytelling.
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Ventura Fine testified to years of abuse, lasting trauma
As he learned of the verdict, Combs, 55, held up his hands in prayer in a gesture of gratitude to the jury.
Outside the courtroom, some Combs fans drenched themselves in baby oil, a reference to the lubricant cited in witness testimony by ex-girlfriends who alleged that he coerced them into marathon sex sessions with male escorts.
Among advocates for sexual abuse survivors, the Diddy verdict was seen as a blow to the #MeToo movement that rose up over accusations against producer Harvey Weinstein, singer R. Kelly and other power players in the entertainment industry.
“We are almost in a backlash moment,” Treva Lindsey, a gender studies expert at Ohio State University, told Paste BN. “We’re revisiting how we talk about violence and power and wealth and celebrity, and how to hold people accountable.”
But an attorney for Casandra "Cassie" Ventura Fine, Douglas H. Wigdor, said his client was in a "good place" after the music mogul was acquitted on the racketeering and sex trafficking charges but found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
On the witness stand, Ventura Fine alleged that she was subjected to years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse that left her recovering from severe trauma. Ventura Fine, who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant when she testified, recently welcome her third child with husband Alex Fine.
Combs could have faced life in prison had he been convicted of the most serious charges. Each of the prostitution-related counts carries a maximum 10-year sentence.
"We're pleased that he's finally been held responsible for two federal crimes, something that he's never faced in his life," Wigdor said to reporters on July 2. "He still faces substantial jail time."
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