NOTE: The next article accommodates disturbing particulars and video footage. Please learn at your individual discretion.
The trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs started on Could 12 in Federal District Court docket in Manhattan as attorneys delivered their opening statements after the jury was lastly set.
The primary witnesses additionally took the stand Monday afternoon, kicking off the high-profile trial that may look at the intercourse crimes the hip hop mogul has been accused of.
Prosecutors allege that Diddy, 55, used his fame and energy on the high of the hip-hop world to sexually abuse ladies from 2004 to 2024. He pleaded not responsible after his September arrest and has remained held with out bail at a federal lockup in Brooklyn.
The ultimate stage of jury choice for the sex-trafficking trial was delayed on Could 9 over considerations that some jurors would possibly get “chilly ft” earlier than the high-profile case started. By Monday, the jury and alternates — 12 males and 6 ladies — have been chosen and seated within the courtroom.
The jury is basically nameless, that means their identities are recognized to the courtroom and the prosecution and defence, however gained’t be made public. Choose Arun Subramanian advised the jurors that the courtroom “will preserve your names and identities in confidence.”
Subramanian reminded the jurors to guage the case solely based mostly on the proof introduced in courtroom.
“Something you’ve seen or heard outdoors the courtroom will not be proof,” the choose added. “It have to be disregarded.”
The primary witness
Prosecutors used the trial’s first witness, Israel Florez, a former safety officer at a Los Angeles resort, to introduce recordings of Combs beating his then-girlfriend, the singer Cassie Ventura, on the resort in March 2016.
Florez stated that when he responded to a name of girl in misery on the sixth flooring of the resort, he got here throughout Combs, carrying solely a towel and sitting on a chair “slouched down, like with a clean stare … like a devilish stare, simply taking a look at me.”
He stated he seen that the resort’s flooring show was destroyed and advised Combs it’ll be charged to the room. As he escorted Ventura and Combs to their room, he stated Ventura indicated she needed to go away and Combs advised her: “You’re not going to go away.” Florez stated he advised Combs: “If she desires to go away, she’s going to go away.”
After Ventura left, Florez stated, he was on the brink of depart their room when Combs referred to as him again. Florez stated he was holding a stack of cash with a US$100 invoice on high, telling him: “Don’t inform no one.”
Florez stated he thought-about it a bribe and advised him: “I don’t need your cash. Simply return into your room.”
In all, prosecutors confirmed the jury two cellphone movies and three resort surveillance movies associated to the assault by Combs on Ventura.
Florez testified that he recorded the resort’s video of the assault on his cellphone as a result of he needed to explain what he noticed to his spouse and feared she wouldn’t consider him.
Second witness
Following Florez, Daniel Phillip – a male stripper – took the stand, as prosecution dove straight into questions on Combs’ alleged violent streak.
He advised the courtroom that he was working as a stripper in 2012, when Ventura referred to as him and requested that he meet her and Combs on the Gramercy Park Lodge.
Ventura, he stated, advised him she needed to do one thing particular for her boyfriend and requested Phillips to therapeutic massage her with child oil whereas Combs watched. She was carrying a pink lack outfit, with darkish sun shades and excessive heels in the course of the encounter.
He stated that Combs was carrying a white gown and sat close by, watching, whereas Phillips had intercourse with Ventura. He was paid a couple of thousand {dollars} for the encounter – but it surely wouldn’t be the one time he was solicited for intercourse work from the pair.
Nonetheless, he stated he stopped accepting cash from the couple and ended their relationship when he noticed Combs turn into violent towards Ventura at some point.
He stated Ventura was sitting at her laptop when Combs referred to as to her from the bed room. When she replied to “maintain a second,” he stated, Combs got here out of the room.
“Mr. Combs walked over to Cassie, grabbed her by her hair and began dragging her by her hair into the bed room,” Phillip stated.
He stated he then heard what seemed like Combs slapping her as she screamed and stated: “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
On direct questioning, Phillip had testified that he didn’t ask for cash throughout his encounters with Ventura and typically he wasn’t paid, saying: “In my head, I used to be simply excited I used to be on this world and comfortable to be concerned with folks of such notoriety.”
On cross-examination, defence lawyer Xavier Donaldson tried to assault Phillip’s credibility, mocking the slogan of the male evaluate present firm Phillip labored for and its slogan that it “offered the final word women night time expertise.”
Phillip testified that when he acquired to the door of the New York resort room the primary time he met Ventura, she advised him that his boss had advised her that she needed to give him $200 upon his arrival. “After which she handed me $4,000.”
Opening assertion — Prosecution
Assistant U.S. Lawyer Emily Johnson pointed at Diddy as she stated he was “bigger than life” to the general public, however there was “one other aspect” to the rapper that wasn’t extensively shared with the world.
“To the general public he was Puff Daddy or Diddy. A cultural icon. A businessman. Bigger than life,” Johnson stated. “However there was one other aspect to him. A aspect that ran a prison enterprise.”
“Throughout this trial you will hear about 20 years of the defendant’s crimes. However he didn’t do it alone. He had an interior circle of bodyguards and high-ranking workers who helped him commit crimes and canopy them up,” Johnson added.
She stated these crimes included kidnapping, arson, medicine, intercourse crimes, bribery and obstruction. Diddy appeared to lean again in his chair as she spoke to the courtroom.
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Johnson advised jurors a couple of night time particularly the place Diddy allegedly kidnapped an worker and threatened Ventura, a key witness within the trial.
Diddy allegedly advised Ventura that if she defied him once more he would launch tapes of her having intercourse with a male escort. Johnson referred the the tapes as “souvenirs of probably the most humiliating nights of her life.”
That was “simply the tip of the iceberg,” Johnson stated, telling jurors that Ventura was removed from the one girl Diddy allegedly beat and sexually exploited.
Johnson stated that Diddy used violence to maintain folks in line and to not go in opposition to him.
She described a second when he suspected that Ventura was dishonest on him. She stated that he kidnapped one in every of his workers to assist discover Ventura and once they discovered her, she stated, he “beat her brutally, kicking her within the again and flinging her round like a rag doll.”
“For 20 years, the defendant, with the assistance of his trusted interior circle, dedicated crime after crime. That’s why we’re right here as we speak. That’s what this case is about,” Johnson stated.
Prosecutors additionally mentioned Diddy’s drug-fuelled intercourse events he referred to as “Freak Offs,” “Wild King Nights” or “Lodge Nights.”
Diddy’s firm paid for the events that have been allegedly held in resort rooms throughout the U.S. and abroad. His workers staged the rooms along with his most well-liked lighting, further linens and lubricant, in line with Johnson.
Johnson additionally famous that “this case will not be a couple of superstar’s non-public sexual preferences.”
Diddy compelled ladies, together with Ventura, to take medicine and interact in sexual exercise with male escorts whereas he gratified himself and typically recorded them, Johnson alleged.
Johnson went on to explain Diddy’s behaviour as a sample of violence, sexual abuse and blackmail. “He typically referred to as himself ‘the king,’ and he anticipated to be handled like one,” she stated.
She stated that Diddy would beat Ventura over the smallest slights, equivalent to leaving a “Freak Off” with out his permission or taking too lengthy within the lavatory.
The prosecution stated that though Ventura agreed to take part in a “Freak Off” initially as a result of she liked Diddy, “she knew it was not one thing she needed to do.”
Johnson additionally described one “Freak Off” by which Ventura “felt like she was choking” when Diddy “made an escort urinate into her mouth.”
Diddy allegedly threatened to wreck Ventura’s singing profession by releasing to the general public movies of her participating in intercourse with male escorts, the prosecutor stated.
“Her livelihood relied on preserving him comfortable,” Johnson stated.
Johnson additionally stated that Diddy brutally beat Jane — a pseudonym — when she confronted him final yr about enduring years of “Freak Offs” in darkish resort rooms whereas he took different paramours on date nights and journeys across the globe.
They described Jane as a single mom who began spending time with Diddy in 2020. She stated that Jane needed Diddy to put on condoms, however many occasions he refused.
She stated that Diddy chased the lady round a house, kicking in locked doorways as she tried to cover from him. Johnson stated Diddy finally put Jane in a chokehold and kicked her to the bottom.
Desirous to get to a different “Freak Off,” Diddy yelled on the girl and advised her she wasn’t going to wreck his night time, Johnson stated.
She stated Diddy then punched her within the face, kicked her whereas she was curled up on the bottom, dragged her by her hair and slapped her so onerous she fell over. Then he demanded that she name an escort, cowl up her black eye and ingest ecstasy, the prosecutor advised jurors.
“Like with Cassie, the defendant’s violence had gotten him what he needed,” Johnson stated.
Johnson stated that Diddy managed Jane financially and discouraged her from working as a result of he “needed her to be out there at a second’s discover” and commenced paying her hire.
Because the prosecution completed its opening assertion, Johnson warned jurors that they may see the violence the ladies endured for themselves.
She stated they may watch movies of Ventura and Jane as they “fake they get pleasure from themselves throughout Freak Offs,” and they’re going to see Diddy “brutally beating Cassie throughout a Freak Off at an L.A. resort.”
Opening assertion — Defence
Teny Geragos, one in every of Diddy’s attorneys, delivered the defence’s opening statements, saying, “Sean Combs is an advanced man, however this isn’t an advanced case.”
She accused the federal government of attempting to show consensual sexual relationships into intercourse trafficking, including “it is not going to work.”
“This case is about Sean Combs’ non-public, private intercourse life,” Geragos stated, “which has nothing to do along with his lawful companies.”
The defence admitted that Diddy is violent, “has a foul mood” and that he takes medicine. However they are saying he’s not responsible of what he has been accused of.
“There was an incredible quantity of noise round this case over the previous yr,” Geragos advised jurors, including, “It’s time to cancel that noise.”
Geragos advised the jury that there could also be a number of factors in the course of the trial “the place you suppose he’s a jerk, he’s imply. However he’s not charged with being imply. He’s not charged with being a jerk. He’s charged with working a racketeering enterprise.”
She stated that “home violence is a really severe matter” and “a foul, unlawful downside and is one thing the legislation addresses.”
“We take full accountability that there was home violence on this case,” Geragos added.
She stated that Diddy has “a little bit of a distinct intercourse life” however his authorized staff will “struggle for his freedom all through the subsequent eight weeks.”
His defence staff stated that lots of his romantic relationships lasted for years. “These ladies have been sturdy, succesful, and so they have been have been in love with him,” Geragos stated.
“The proof goes to indicate you a really flawed particular person, but it surely is not going to present you a racketeer, a intercourse trafficker or anyone transporting for prostitution,” she added.
Geragos stated that Diddy’s violent outbursts may need warranted home violence prices. She condemned his actions within the now-infamous safety digital camera recording of him beating then-girlfriend Ventura at a Los Angeles resort in 2016.
Geragos referred to as the beating “horrible, dehumanizing violence,” however argued to jurors that “it isn’t proof of intercourse trafficking. It’s proof of home violence.”
She additionally advised jurors that they’ll witness the “closure” between Ventura and Diddy once they see one another for the primary time in six years when she takes the witness stand.
The defence additionally argued that Diddy and the lady recognized as Jane had a “poisonous and dysfunctional relationship.”
She stated that Jane willingly engaged in “Freak Offs” as a result of she needed to spend time with Diddy. After listening to the proof, Geragos stated, “You would possibly suppose, ‘Wow, he’s a extremely dangerous boyfriend.’ However the proof will present you a succesful, sturdy girl, willingly engaged of their relationship.”
Gergaos stated that the struggle between Jane and Diddy described by the prosecution, began after Jane allegedly slammed Diddy’s head down in a jealous rage.
Geragos stated that she didn’t wish to justify Diddy’s violence, however argued that the struggle isn’t proof of intercourse trafficking.
Whereas wrapping up her opening assertion, Geragos stated that the accusers have been motivated by cash and famous their civil lawsuits in opposition to the hip-hop mogul.
She advised the jurors that Ventura demanded $30 million when she sued him and one other witness will acknowledge demanding $22 million in a breach of contract lawsuit.
“I would like you to ask your self, what number of thousands and thousands of causes does this witness, swearing to inform the reality and nothing however the reality, should lie?” she stated, including, “For a lot of of them. The reply is cash.”
Who was in attendance
Diddy’s mom Janice and a few of his kids, together with King Combs, Justin Combs, Likelihood Combs, Jessie Combs, D’Lila Combs and his stepson Quincy Brown, have been in attendance for opening statements on Could 12. They have been escorted previous a crowd of media and would-be trial watchers and introduced straight into the constructing.
Janice Combs (2nd R), mom of Sean Combs, arrives at federal courtroom for the intercourse trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs in New York Metropolis on Could 12, 2025.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Quincy Brown, Likelihood Combs, D’Lila Star Combs, Justin Combs, Diddy Combs kids arrive for the continuation of the jury choice section of the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial on the Southern District Manhattan Federal courtroom on Could 12, 2025 in New York Metropolis.
John Lamparski/Getty Pictures
Quincy Brown (R), stepson of Sean Combs, and King Combs (2nd R), son of Sean Combs, arrive at federal courtroom for the intercourse trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs in New York Metropolis on Could 12, 2025.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
The courtroom solely seats about 100 folks, and journalists will seemingly get two to 3 dozen of these seats whereas a whole bunch of different folks line up for an opportunity to observe the intercourse trafficking trial unfold.
On Monday, the road to get into the federal courthouse stretched all the best way down the block.
Press and jurors wait to enter for the continuation of the jury choice section of the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial on the Southern District Manhattan Federal courtroom on Could 12, 2025 in New York Metropolis.
John Lamparski/Getty Pictures
What he’s on trial for
U.S. prosecutors allege that for 20 years, behind the scenes, Diddy was coercing and abusing ladies with assist from a community of associates who helped silence victims by means of blackmail and violence.
Diddy faces an indictment that features descriptions of “Freak Offs,” that are outlined within the courtroom doc as “elaborate and produced intercourse performances that Combs organized, directed, masturbated throughout, and infrequently electronically recorded.”
Quite a few witnesses have come ahead to accuse Diddy of terrorizing folks into silence by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, in line with prosecutors. One indictment alleges that Diddy dangled somebody from a balcony.
Though dozens of women and men have alleged in lawsuits that Diddy abused them, this trial will spotlight the claims of 4 ladies.
Combs is charged with intercourse trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to interact in prostitution. He has denied all the costs in opposition to him and has rejected a plea deal, selecting to go to trial as an alternative.
If discovered responsible within the New York courtroom, he might face life in jail.
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International Information will probably be masking the Diddy trial in its entirety. Please examine again for updates.
— With information from The Related Press
