Nolte: The Diddy Jury Didn’t See a Major Crime and Neither Did I

Granted, I did not obsessively follow the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial, but I did read the extensive summaries published in the left-wing Hollywood trades that desperately wanted Diddy convicted.

Still…

The Sean “Diddy” Combs not-guilty verdicts on the most serious charges seem right to me. He’s obviously an abusive, manipulative, pervert, but being those things within a consenting relationship with another adult is not and should not be against the law, much less put you in prison for life.

How can you traffic someone who admits she could’ve walked away from her so-called trafficker whenever she wanted? That’s not trafficking. That’s transactional. These women stayed with an abusive degenerate because of what this abusive degenerate offered them: fame and fortune.

One woman claimed Diddy threatened to not pay her $10,000 per month rent if she refused him. My first thoughts were 1) you have your own place? and 2) ten thousand dollars?

I’m sorry, but that sounds more like the relationship between a john and a prostitute than trafficking. And now she sounds like someone who regrets what she lowered herself to and needs to rationalize away her responsibility as a crime against her — when it wasn’t.

I understand how kids are sex-trafficked, or illegals smuggled in from another country, who don’t know the language or country. These women were not that. They knew the language, knew the country, and had plenty of options (if only because they’re gorgeous and men would’ve lined up to protect them). So, all I see are young adult women who made some very, very, very bad life choices.

All I see is disgusting behavior committed by … consenting adults.

Diddy is a villain, an abuser, a pig, and a pimp. But nothing I read convinced me that the women were victims in a criminal sense. Instead, they merely added another page to one of mankind’s oldest stories: people so damaged by ambition, they chose to sell their soul… I’m relieved they now regret their behavior. That’s the first step in saving your soul. But if you agree to be abused and pimped by a pig and a villain, that’s not a crime.

As far as Diddy’s two convictions under the Mann Act, I’ve always felt that was a stupid law, a way for the government to pile charges on a basic soliciting charge. If you sleep with the hooker in a local hotel, you get your wrist slapped. If you drive the hooker from Milwaukee to Chicago for the sex, it’s ten years in prison. That’s ridiculous.

I sure wish these women would’ve reported the alleged physical abuse to the authorities before the statute of limitations was up. But they made a choice not to and then made a choice to stick around. Diddy is almost certainly going to burn in Hell, but no one should go to prison because a consenting adult comes to regret their consent.

Plenty of good came out of this trial. Diddy is worse than disgraced. He’s a national joke, a pariah, and there will be no coming back from this. This “Bad Boy’s” legacy has been reduced to a closeted homosexual and cuck `gripping a bottle of baby oil.

Not all of it was good, though. Holding up women with legions of choices as helpless victims sends a terrible message to young girls who must be taught they have the power to walk away.

I’m happy to be talked out of my opinion on this, but we only know what we know, and I only see moral crimes.

John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.