Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs argued that their client should be freed from prison immediately because his infamous freak-off tapes were displays of amateur pornography rather than sex crimes.
Combs’ legal team, which was led by Alexandra Shapiro and Nicole Westmoreland, made the surprising argument during an appeal hearing before three federal judges in New York on Thursday.
The disgraced music mogul’s legal team also argued that Combs was treated unfairly at his federal trial last year and that he deserves to be freed under the First Amendment.
According to Combs’ lawyers, the 56-year-old was wrongfully convicted under the Mann Act (a federal law banning the transportation of people across state lines for sex crimes) because he was recording amateur pornography, which the US Constitution protects as freedom of speech.
“Freak-offs and hotel nights were highly choreographed sexual performances involving the use of costumes, role play, and staged lighting, which were filmed so Combs and his girlfriends could watch this amateur pornography later,” his lawyers argued.
“Pornography production and viewing of this sort is protected by the First Amendment and thus cannot constitutionally be prosecuted,” Combs’ legal team added.
His attorneys also argued that Judge Arun Subramanian, who oversaw the case and sentencing, improperly relied on allegations that Combs was ultimately acquitted of.
“We made it abundantly clear,” Shapiro said during the hearing. “The District Court should not consider the acquitted conduct.”
As for her client’s 50-month sentence, Shapiro argued it was the “highest sentence ever imposed on a Mann Act defendant under the same-based defense level.”
Combs’ team demanded the troubled record exec’s “immediate” acquittal and release, or “at least” free the “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper and resentence him to less time.
But Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik called the defense team’s amateur pornography argument “meritless” because Combs is “entirely differently situated from adult film distributors.”
“He hired and transported commercial sex workers to have sex with his girlfriends for his own sexual gratification, sometimes directly participating in the sex acts,” the prosecutors argued in response.
Slavik also agreed that Judge Subramanian “correctly applied” the acquitted conduct when considering the “aggravated manner in which [Combs] committed his Mann Act offenses.”
However, the panel of appellate judges didn’t seem persuaded by either party, and one of the judges even said they were “lost” during Combs’ team’s argument.
Combs, who didn’t appear at Thursday’s appeal hearing, was convicted of transportation for prostitution in July 2025 following his September 2024 arrest on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
While a single charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison per count, Combs was convicted on two counts. However, he was acquitted of the higher racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
He was sentenced in October 2025 and moved from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to a low-security federal prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey, that same month.
Judge Subramanian told Combs that his punishment would mean “hard time in prison, away from your family, friends and community” during the imprisoned music mogul’s sentencing hearing, but added that Combs “will have a life afterward.”
“Mr. Combs, you’re being sentenced for the offenses of conviction, not the crimes he was acquitted of,” the judge continued. “However, under law, the court ‘shall consider’ the nature of the offense and characteristics of the defendant.”
As Page Six previously reported, Combs’ release date was pushed up from June 4, 2028, to April 25, 2028, last month.
The surprising development came after Combs was accepted into a drug-abuse rehabilitation program in November 2025, which may often lead to shorter prison sentences.
“Mr. Combs is an active participant in the Residential Drug Abuse Program and has taken his rehabilitation process seriously from the start,” a rep for Combs said in a statement at the time.
They added, “He is fully engaged in his work, focused on growth and committed to positive change.”
Combs previously had his release date pushed back from May 8, 2028, to June 4, 2028, after he allegedly violated multiple prison rules.
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