The United States prosecutors have accused the embattled music star, Sean Puffy Combs aka Puff Daddy of using his birthday celebration to obstruct justice in his criminal case.
In fresh court documents seen by the media, the US federal prosecutors claimef that Diddy, who is now incarcerated, enlisted family members to organise a publicity campaign earlier this month to mark his 55th birthday and sway a jury at trial.
The singer”s seven children had in a heartfelt Instagram video homage to their father sang “Happy Birthday.”
The caption read, “Happy Birthday Pops, we love you! ��❤️.”
But the prosecutors told the court that the celebration was all arranged to appease prospective jurors.
They claimed that Puff Diddy’s children uploaded the Instagram video to each of their social media accounts under his “carefully curated direction.”
According to the prosecutors, Puff Daddy kept an eye on audience participation from inside the Brooklyn-based Metropolitan Detention Centre and explicitly talked to his family about the video’s “desired effect on potential jury members in this case.”
The music star in September pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges when he appeared in court following his arrest by officers at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, New York.
According to the indictment made public on September 17, Puff Daddy was accused of running an “enterprise that he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labour or kidnapping, arson and other crimes.”
The 55-year-old was also charged with transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy.
