OPINION: DIDDY DIDN’T JUST BEAT THE CHARGES — HE BEAT THE SYSTEM

Sean “Diddy” Combs is sitting in jail. But don’t confuse that for justice.

What unfolded in that courtroom — after eight weeks of harrowing, public testimony — wasn’t justice. It was theater. A staged performance with an ending that felt preordained. The prosecution tried to strip away the myth and reveal the man. But in the end, the system did what it always does for the rich, powerful, and well-connected: it flinched.

Yes, Sean “Diddy” Combs was convicted — but only on two minor counts. He walked away from the ones that actually mattered. The ones that would’ve labeled him for what he is: not just a problematic celebrity, but a predator.

And I’m disgusted.

He didn’t beat the charges because he was innocent. He beat them because he’s famous. And in this country, fame doesn’t just buy you influence. It buys you insulation. Protection. Escape.

I would know. I was Diddy’s publicist. I helped build the myth that just carried him through the fire.

We turned a man into a monument. Glossy. Bulletproof. A brand, not a human being. Now, as a jury shrinks away from the horror laid bare in open court, I can say it plainly: he won because he was believed — not by the women, not by the public, but by a culture and a court system that still confuses charisma with character.

Let’s not sugarcoat what we saw. That surveillance video of Diddy dragging Cassie Ventura down a hallway — it wasn’t ambiguous. It was violence. And then came her voice: trembling, pregnant, but unwavering on the stand. She testified about the so-called “freak-offs,” about being beaten, humiliated, and treated like property. About trying to escape — and being dragged back like she was a thing, not a person.

And still, the jury turned away.

Why? Because his lawyers reframed abuse as passion. They called it a “modern love story.” They painted Cassie not as a victim but a “gangster,” as if a woman who has sex can’t be raped, can’t be terrorized, can’t be hurt. It was misogyny dressed up as strategy. And it worked.

Because the law let it.

The defense didn’t even have to deny the violence. That part was on tape. They just shifted the blame, muddied the waters, and walked their client right through the cracks. What we got wasn’t a verdict. It was a cop-out. A slap on the wrist that left a bruise not on him, but on every woman watching.

This wasn’t just a jury failure. It was an institutional one.

The industry stayed quiet. Executives looked away. Rappers and moguls — people who knew exactly what kind of man Combs is — posted their silence like it was a virtue. It wasn’t.

There will be a rebrand. A carefully orchestrated “comeback.” The word healing will be thrown around like glitter. He’ll talk about redemption. Philanthropy. Reflection. Don’t buy it. The machinery is already moving.

But we don’t have to let it work this time. We’ve seen too much.

This case wasn’t just about Combs. It was about all of us — about a system that protects men like him and punishes women for surviving them. How far have we really come since Weinstein? Cosby? The promises of #MeToo?

We said we’d listen to women. We said we’d believe them. We said we’d change.

And yet — here we are.

This was supposed to be a turning point. Instead, it’s a gut check. A mirror held up to our culture, reflecting just how little progress we’ve actually made.

Because yes, Sean Combs is behind bars. But don’t get it twisted — the system that failed those women is still walking free.

The real verdict — the one that matters — isn’t in the transcript. It’s what we do next.

We can forget. Move on. Stream the comeback single. Or we can hold the line.

We can demand more from the courts. From the media. From the industry. From ourselves.

Because this verdict didn’t just fail Cassie. It failed every survivor who watched and waited and hoped.

It’s time we listened.

And it’s time we stopped applauding the man — and started believing the women.