Civil rights speakers are calling the #MeToo movement dead after a jury found Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs not guilty of the most serious sexual charges he faced, including racketeering and sex trafficking.
The decision has stirred a wave of reactions, particularly among women who expressed feelings of “sadness” and “anger”, with many echoing a sentiment of being “not surprised” by the ruling, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
This verdict raised crucial questions about societal attitudes towards consent and the implications for the #MeToo movement in an era still rife with misogyny.
On the face of it, the trial proceedings seemed devastating for Diddy. The jury, comprising eight men and four women, had the daunting task of sifting through what Judge Arun Subramanian described as “clear evidence of violence and lawlessness”. However, the lack of a conviction on the sexual trafficking charges indicates a “troubling disconnect in how consent is understood within the judicial framework” to several women in the legal field.
One civil rights commentator claimed: “For most women (and many men) who watched video evidence of violent assault and read the testimony of witnesses – describing years of violence, threats, rape and humiliation – this verdict felt like a heartbreaking letdown, and a grim and inevitable one too.”
