Stephen A's Take: Stephen A responds to the legal strategy of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs not testifying.

Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.

---

🎙️ Segment Summary: Sean “Diddy” Combs Trial Commentary

This segment from The Stephen A. Smith Show focuses on the legal strategy in the ongoing trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is facing serious charges including sex trafficking and racketeering.

---

⚖️ Key Points

• The trial is in its sixth week and expected to conclude before July 4th.
• Diddy will not testify in his own defense.
• Stephen A. supports this decision, calling it “wise” due to:
  • Incriminating evidence already presented, including:
  • A video of Diddy allegedly assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
  • Testimonies about coercive behavior and disturbing personal conduct.
  • The risk of jury bias: Even if actions aren’t technically illegal, jurors may still convict based on perceived moral wrongdoing.
• Stephen A. argues that Diddy cannot present himself as a sympathetic figure, and testifying could worsen his situation.

---

🧠 Tone and Analysis

• Serious and analytical: The tone is measured, with a focus on legal strategy and public perception.
• Candid: Stephen A. doesn’t shy away from the gravity of the accusations or the optics of the case.

---

Support the show: http://www.youtube.com/@stephenasmith

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
We have an important update on the trial of Seawan
Diddy Combs, now in its sixth week. The judge overseeing
the trial says he expects things to wrap up before
July fourth. Multiple sources have confirmed to people that Combs
will not take the stand in his own defense, despite
the high profile nature of the proceedings and the serious

(00:24):
charges he faces. The decision comes as both legal teams
prepare for what will be the final phase of the trial.
No question is a wise decision by showing Diddy Combs, ladies, gentlemen,
he can't just find his own behalf. Sex trafficking and racketeering.
I understand the specificity of the charges, but not with
the incriminating evidence that has already been put out there

(00:47):
about him. You got a video of him beating up
his girlfriend, his ex girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, snatching a throw
on her to the ground, kicking a throwing a viositor,
stuff like that. We've got tests the moony about some
of his proclivities and some of the things that he
compelled her to do. Whether he forced her or she

(01:09):
did so willingly of her own volition is something that's
open for debate. In a lot of people's eyes. But nevertheless,
there's nothing about him that's a sympathetic figure. Now, if
there was a way that he could get on that
stand and be a sympathetic figure as opposed to somebody
who can definitively convince you that sex trafficking and racketeering

(01:29):
has nothing to do with him, I don't know how
you can okay him testifying on his own behalf. I
can't see that. I don't see that. That's just where
I'm at with it, seriously, because ultimately, if you get

(01:51):
on the stand and you raise your right hand and
used a way to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth, so help you God, and
they start asking you about some of your behaviors, Yeah,
you can sit up there and say it's not sex
trafficking or racketeering. You could say it's not against the law.
But if the jury deems it heinous, we all know
that juries can decide the hell with the specifics of

(02:14):
the charges, we want your ass in jail. You got
to go, And that's the issue here. So with that,
I say to you, he's making the right decision. As
hard as it is to sit there and let people
talk about you and have to listen to what they
have to say for weeks upon weeks at a time,
while you give no retort to debunk those claims, those

(02:37):
salacious claims, those insidious, incendiary claims they aim against you. Hey,
him opening his mouth might not be the wisest thing.
So when I saw the news that he wasn't going
to testify on his own behalf, I was like, it's
pretty smart because I don't think that he can garner

(03:01):
any sympathy from a jury, and I don't even think
it's about the charge of sex trafficking racketeering. I think
the things that have been said about him, that have
been introduced about him, that X's and former employees and
others have said about him, are so incriminating unless you
can flat out point out that their lives, he shouldn't speak.

(03:29):
I think he's making the right decision. That's where I
stand with it.