Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs is back in court as his sex-trafficking and racketeering trial continues on Wednesday, as the court was sent into chaos after prosecutors asked that juror #6 be dismissed over a ‘lack of candor.’
The now white-haired mogul has been wearing glasses and sweaters as he listens to the prosecution’s witness accuse him of using his wealth and fame to coerce women and employees into criminal activity.
Diddy’s lawyers are cross-examining his ex-girlfriend and alleged victim Jane, who is testifying under a pseudonym.
Jane claims she was abused by the rapper and made to participate in drug-fueled ‘freak-off’ sex marathons.
She is one of several witnesses to accuse Combs of violence toward them, including his former girlfriend the R&B singer Ventura Cassie.
Diddy, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could put him in prison for life.
Prosecutors want a juror axed from the jury
Before the jury came in on Tuesday, prosecutors asked the judge to strike juror #6 from the jury.
The judge said an unspecified ‘issue’ had come up for the government.
The motion related to the juror in question is sealed, so no further details were mentioned in court.
On Wednesday, Diddy’s lawyers ‘vigorously’ objected and accused prosecutors of a ‘Thinly veiled effort to dismiss a black juror.’
Prosecutor Maurene Comey replied that they had seen ‘what appeared to be a lack of candor with the court that raises serious issues with us.’
The judge is still to rule on whether the judge will be dismissed, pending an official response from the defense.
All the explosive testimony from inside Diddy courtroom on Daily Mail’s podcast The Trial
To hear all the explosive testimony from singer Cassie Ventura and the other witnesses in Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs’ trial, tune in to Daily Mail’s hit podcast The Trial.
From sworn testimony to video evidence and the rapper’s every subtle move, our team of journalists take you inside the courtroom of the world’s biggest celebrity case.
Daily Mail has been following Diddy’s downfall from the very beginning. Join us as we hear from experts involved in the case, and members of the rapper’s inside circle.
Diddy escort who was named at trial breaks silence to share harrowing details of Freak Offs
A former escort forced to have sex with Diddy’s ex Cassie Ventura at the disgraced mogul’s notorious ‘Freak Off’ parties has broken his silence to give ‘some credence’ to her testimony.
Ventura took the stand as a star witness in Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs’ sex trafficking trial, breaking down in tears as she told how she was forced to participate in elaborately choreographed sex marathons that routinely involved male escorts.
Shawn Dearing was among the more than 10 men hired to perform at Diddy’s parties, it was revealed during the R&B singer’s testimony.
Jane testified she gave escorts erection pills
In court on Tuesday, jurors heard that Jane did ‘not have fun having to wind these guys up and wait for them to be erect.’
In order to cut her time with entertainers short, she purchased erection pills called ‘Rhino pills’ to help the escorts.
Jane has testified of multiple freak off incidents she called ‘hotel nights’ with the music mogul and a number of different escorts, including Diddy’s former personal trainer Paul.
Diddy and Jane fight over mogul’s ex Gina Huynh
In 2021, Jane told jurors how she a picked out a ‘Love’ bracelet as a gift from Diddy. In early 2022, Jane became upset after she saw Gina post a photo on Instagram wearing a ‘Love’ necklace that matched her bracelet.
‘To see these things were deeply hurtful to me,’ Jane said.
‘Have her delete all that s*** like you made me delete all the food posts,’ Jane texted Diddy, in reference to Instagram stories that Diddy had her delete that indicated she was with him.
Court hears Jane was jealous of Diddy and Yung Miami’s relationship
In court on Wednesday, Jane testified how it was ‘heartbreaking’ to learn that Diddy was dating Caresha Brownleee aka Yung Miami in 2022.
Jane said how she saw Diddy took Yung Miami on a yacht vacation for her birthday in February 2022, around the same time as Jane’s birthday.
She consequently FaceTimed Diddy and asked him to come home a day early from his trip.
‘I said if you don’t come here now we’re not going to do anything you want to do,’ she explained.
It was the first time she played ‘hotel night’ cards – threatening him to not follow through with freak offs.
‘If you don’t get your ass out that island we’re not going to have a party.’
Jane says longest freak off lasted three days
Jane told the court during cross-examination that the longest freak off or hotel night she had with Diddy was on New Year’s Eve 2022, and it lasted for three days.
She said she had sex with three men.
Diddy’s attorney Teny Geragos then asked Jane if she became upset days later when the mogul took another girlfriend, Gina, on a trip.
The court was then shown a text message Jane sent Diddy:
It’s not right how you’re treating me right now. We had such an amazing New Year’s Eve and the last thing I’d expect is coming at me sideways….speaking to me about another female.
You completely had your way and more with me New Year’s eve week. Ignoring us for days. Shows where your care is and it’s not for me. Cold. We had been so good.
REVEALED: The wildest Diddy conspiracy theories to emerge from his trial
Internet trolls have tried to connect some of America’s biggest names – from Barack Obama and Kamala Harris to Beyoncé and Jay-Z – to Diddy’s alleged misconduct.
Prince and Kim Porter were brought into the discourse posthumously with theorists alleging both detailed Diddy’s alleged exploits before their deaths.
Others even went as far as baselessly claiming Los Angeles‘ deadly Palisades Fire was set in an attempt to burn evidence that would be essential to Diddy’s trial.
Diddy arrives to court
The disgraced mogul arrived to his trial on Wednesday in a beige sweater.
He took a seat next to his attorney Nicole Westmoreland.
Court heard on Tuesday that Jane received about $150k from Diddy in 3 years
Jane told the court on Tuesday that throughout her three and a half year relationship with Diddy, she received about $150,000 from him.
‘I never counted but I’d assume, yeah,’ she replied when asked about the sum.
Diddy’s lawyers then pressed, asking her whether she has ‘always gravitated towards providers?’
Jane replied: ‘I do find men who are successful attractive as a woman. My ideal partner is a protector and provider.’
Jane still loves Diddy, she told the jury Tuesday
Jane admitted during cross-examination Tuesday that she still loves her ex and alleged victimizer Diddy, who smiled as she recalled the good times they shared.
When asked if she wanted to ‘cuddle with Diddy’ during their relationship, she replied: ‘And give him foot rubs.’
Diddy was nodding as Jane spoke and described him as her ‘baby.’
‘You used to hug him and cuddle him?’ attorney Teny Geragos asked her.
‘And bathe him,’ Jane answered before adding that she would also put on Diddy’s favorite show – Dateline.
‘We’d watch it for hours,’ she said with a smile.
The court then heard voice notes where Diddy called Jane his ‘crack pipe’ because he was ‘addicted’ to having sex with her. In her own voice note, Jane said she felt the same.
Jane is grilled about her time with Diddy by his lawyers
Diddy lawyer Tony Geragos asked Jane on Tuesday if she ‘regretted’ many of the choices she made while in a relationship with Diddy.
‘I resent him for leading me into the lifestyle he led me into,’ she replied.
‘My choices were made under a lot of emotional pressure,’ Jane added.
Geragos then asked if Jane felt ‘resentful that you had sex with other men for a long time.’
Jane answered: ‘Yes I resented the way he went about introducing me to this lifestyle …
It was built under a lot of emotional manipulation and pressure, yes I do resent that very much.’
The Diddy attorney questioning Jane
Diddy lawyer Teny Geragos began her cross-examination of Jane on Tuesday asking about her meetings with prosecutors and her relationship with Diddy.
Jane said Friday was the first time she had seen Diddy since his September arrest.
She also revealed the government gave her immunity to testify.
Prosecutors asked judge for privacy measures for alleged Diddy victim ‘Jane’
Prosecutors asked the judge to turn the livestream in the overflow room when alleged victim Jane is on the stand.
They said they want to avoid a situation where nonredacted information is shown to those in the overflow and press rooms.
Exotic dancer describes the moment he realized his burqa-wearing employer was Diddy
On the latest episode of the Mail’s ‘The Trial of Diddy’ podcast, reporter Marjorie Hernandez interviews Sharay Hayes, a male exotic dancer who testified in court that he was paid to give sexual massages to Cassie Ventura while being watched by a masked Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
My brother was an early Diddy ‘victim’… the warning signs were there from the start
Dirk Swain was on his first night out after escaping what should have been certain death.
The 20-year-old had just recovered from being shot in the head after a college football game – and finally felt ready to embrace his second chance at life.
But as he stood on the stairs of a New York gymnasium waiting to enter a celebrity charity event thrown by a relatively unknown 22-year-old music producer called Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, the expectant atmosphere began to change.
Minutes later, Dirk took his final breaths.
Read the full story here:
How P Diddy’s alleged crimes began in the 80s – and the disturbing reason he was called ‘Puff’
DEEP DIVE delves into Diddy’s 30-year reign of excess and debauchery in unprecedented detail, starting with his ‘crazy’ fits of rage as a student in the 1980s that earned him the disturbing ‘Puff’ nickname.
Contained within hundreds of pages of civil court documents are the horrifying details of his tempestuous relationship with Cassie Ventura – which ultimately led to the floodgates opening.
Among the many allegations contained within the papers are claims that Diddy filmed fellow A-list celebrities taking drugs and having sex with prostitutes. In many cases, the name of the celebrities involved have been kept anonymous by court order.
Read the interactive story here:
Diddy trial getting a later start Wednesday
Diddy’s sex-trafficking trial is set to begin at 12.30pm EST.
The defense said they expect to conclude their cross-examination of the mogul’s ex and accuser Jane on Thursday morning.
Prosecutors said they plan on conducting a short redirect on Thursday so Jane can make a flight to Europe on Friday.
Dr Phil reveals stunning prosecution error and hidden ‘poison’ that everyone has missed
Just four weeks into the trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and I want to prepare you for the possibility that these proceedings could come to a sudden, screeching halt.
I spent most of my professional career around courtrooms as a consultant for trial attorneys, instructing them, not on the legal aspects of cases, but on the human elements, specifically how jurors responded to their arguments.
At this moment in the Combs trial – with the prosecution expected to wrap up its arguments in the coming days – I question whether the jury has been presented with enough evidence to reasonably expect them to find a legal basis to convict.
And for that reason, I predict the judge may be tempted to essentially throw the case out of court.
Read Dr Phil’s full analysis here:
Diddy gets huge win in court as judge says psychologist can’t get back on the stand
A ruling by judge Arun Subramanian delivered a blow to the prosecution’s case, as they will not be able to recall an expert witness to explain victim behavior.
A significant part of the prosecution’s case against Diddy relies on whether the jury believes his alleged victims were coerced into the so-called freak-offs or that they were willing participants.
To prove that victims were coerced, prosecutors brought in expert testimony from clinical psychologist Dawn Hughes, who also testified for Amber Heard during her case against Johnny Depp.
Hughes told the court last month that victims may say things they don’t mean – like wanting to participate in certain sexual acts – as a means of survival. She said victims who are subject to violence also disassociate which can affect their memory.
Her testimony was meant to explain why Diddy’s alleged victims stayed with him and continued sending loving messages appearing to consent to what they now say was sex trafficking.
However, Judge Arun Subramanian ruled that Hughes could not speak to the jury about coercive control, which can make victims become reliant on their abusers and keeping the abuse a secret, as reported by USA Today.
Prosecutors wanted Hughes to come back on the stand to explain to jurors why victims stay in relationships with abusers.
They wrote Hughes is needed to explain ‘how different forms of abuse combine, the “environment of fear and obedience’ that impacts a victim’s decision-making and emotions, and how abuse is ‘interspersed with rewards, positivity, affection, and normalcy” to create attachment and dependency.’
Diddy’s lawyers, on their part, asked the court to not allow more expert testimony, arguing that ‘Hughes’s use of broad generalizations about typical behaviors, divorced from any examination of the alleged victims in this case, is contrary to guidelines regulating Hughes’s profession.’
On Tuesday, the judge sided with the defence and ruled that Hugues will not get back on the stand.
Dawn Hughes arrives at Diddy’s trial on May 21.
All the celebrities mentioned in Diddy trial so far
Diddy’s ex-assistant Capricorn Clark exposed the mogul’s list of celebrities enemies and many other A-listers have come up in testimony.
The trial has even inspired deep fake videos that use AI-generated images to falsely claim that certain celebrities, such as Oprah and Jennifer Lawrence, have been mentioned in the mogul’s sex-trafficking case.
Here is a list of all the celebrities talked about in the trial so far:
Inside Diddy’s bizarre bisexual NBA roleplay where he starred as Michael Jordan
Diddy‘s wildest sexual fantasy involved a twisted NBA roleplay – casting himself as Michael Jordan, his ex-girlfriend as Kobe Bryant and the male escort she regularly slept with as Shaquille O’Neal – the ex testified on day two of the fifth week in the disgraced rap mogul’s sex trafficking trial.
‘Jane’, who testified under a pseudonym, said the hip hop mogul’s obsession with ‘cuckold’ scenarios may have been a way to live out his bisexual fantasties without physically engaging with men – because he was ‘too ashamed’ to do so openly.
Jane described the ‘Freak Offs’ she attended during their relationship as filled with extravagant sexual roleplay where participants gave each other nicknames inspired by legendary basketball stars.
Read the full story here:
Diddy and the ‘nerd defense’ strategy
Diddy has been sporting a much different look during his trial than he did while he was a free man, sparking speculation that he could be trying ‘the nerd defense.’
His hair and goatee are now nearly all white, as the mogul no longer has access to Just For Men hair dye that was found in his Miami mansion.
He has also been pairing black framed glasses with a white collared short under a neutral toned sweater, as noted by The New York Times.
The ‘nerd defense’ is based on the idea that dressing defendants in glasses has a subliminal effect on the jury, which will see the accused as someone less likely to engage in criminal activity.
The term was actually coined by Harvey Slovis, who represented Diddy during his 1999 trial for gun possession.
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Diddy trial chaos as prosecutors try to eject juror over ‘serious’ ethics breach: Live updates
