Editor’s Note: This story contains discussions of domestic violence, rape or sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or abuse, you can find resources and discreet ways to get help on the National Domestic Violence Hotline website or the National Sexual Assault Hotline website.
(NewsNation) — A close friend of Sean “Diddy” Combs for more than 35 years said he “never” witnessed the music mogul hitting women and maintains Combs is innocent of sex trafficking and racketeering charges, despite new evidence and witness testimony emerging in court.
Charlucci Finney, speaking Monday on NewsNation’s “CUOMO,” strongly defended Combs as the trial continued with three witnesses supporting Cassie Ventura’s claims of abuse and fear. Newly released photos showed Ventura with a swollen lip after a 2016 hotel incident.
“I’m a father of two daughters, right? So I wouldn’t be here … if I ever, if I’ve ever saw anyone, my friends, especially him, hit a woman,” Finney told NewsNation.
“It looked like, you know, like I was saying drug-induced high, or whatever, whatever you want to call it. But that’s not, that’s not the Sean that I know that you see in the hallway” Finney said of the video showing Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend.
Federal prosecutors have released images from Combs’ New York hotel room before his 2024 arrest, showing bags of drugs, prescription bottles under the alias “Frank Black,” $9,000 in cash and bottles of baby oil and lubricant.
Finney disputed prosecution claims that participants in alleged “Freak Offs” were coerced, saying all participants were “willing, consenting adults.”
Cassie ‘brought the people in’: Diddy’s best friend
He said Ventura, not Combs, was responsible for bringing sex workers to these encounters.
“How you going to make a sex worker fly in town or come … somewhere and leave … unharmed and unscathed? .. I never heard, like, that in my life,” Finney said.
“He didn’t bring anyone in. Cassie brought the people in,” Finney alleged.
Finney said he remains in contact with Combs during his custody and that the music mogul is focused on clearing his name while worrying about his family, including his children, mother, sisters, nieces and nephews.
“We stand prayed up, and the evidence is going to show that he’s not guilty of these crimes that they’re alleging,” Finney said. “They have to prove them charges.”
Combs faces federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and remains in federal custody after being denied bail multiple times.