NEW YORK (news agencies) — The jury deliberating at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial heard testimony from 34 witnesses over the last seven weeks.
They included Combs’ ex-girlfriends Cassie and Jane, who said he forced them into drug-fueled sex marathons they called “freak-offs” and “hotel nights,” a sex worker they knew as “The Punisher,” personal assistants who said they witnessed his violence and facilitated his sexual exploits, and other women who accused him of abuse.
All of the witnesses were called by the prosecution. Combs waived his right to testify — not unusual for criminal defendants — and his defense team declined to call any witnesses of their own. Instead, they sought to undercut the allegations via cross-examination during the prosecution’s case.
Here are some of the key witnesses and what they said:
Cassie, the R&B singer whose real name is Casandra Ventura, dated Combs from 2007 to 2018 after he signed her to his Bad Boy Records label. Over four days, she told jurors Combs beat her and ordered her to have “disgusting” sex with male sex workers during multi-day “freak-offs.” She also said Combs raped her after she said she was ending their relationship.
In 2016, security cameras captured Combs hitting, kicking and dragging Cassie as she left his room at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles. The video was shown repeatedly throughout the trial. A hotel guard testified that Combs paid $100,000 to hide the video. It remained secret until CNN aired it in May 2024.
Jane, testifying under a pseudonym, dated Combs from 2021 until his arrest last September. The model said she repeatedly told Combs she didn’t want to have sex with other men but that he kept pressuring her. She said she felt “obligated” in part because he paid her rent.
Last year, Jane said, Combs put her in a chokehold, punched her in the face and forced her into an encounter with a sex worker. She said he told her: “You’re not going to ruin my night like this.” Both women said Combs threatened to release their sex videos if they refused his demands.
Rapper Kid Cudi testified that Combs broke into his home in late 2011 after learning he and Cassie were dating. His Porsche was firebombed a few weeks later. Cudi, whose legal name is Scott Mescudi, said he knew Combs “had something to do” with it, but Combs told him he wasn’t involved.
Cudi said he thought Combs was lying when he claimed he knew nothing about the car.
Daniel Phillip, an exotic dancer involved in “freak-offs” from 2012 to 2014, said he was paid $700 to $6,000 to have sex with Cassie while Combs watched and barked orders at them. He recalled the hip-hop mogul telling them: “You need to rub more baby oil on each other. You don’t have enough on.”
Another time, Phillip said, Cassie jumped into his lap — her body shaking — after it sounded like Combs was slapping and slamming her around an adjoining room. He said he stopped meeting the couple after seeing Combs throw a bottle at her before dragging her by her hair into a bedroom as she screamed.
Sharay Hayes, an exotic dancer known by the stage name “The Punisher,” said Cassie used the ruse of a birthday striptease to lure him to his first “freak-off.” He recalled seeing baby oil bottles in bowls of water and getting handed $800 in cash. Later, after Combs watched him have sex with Cassie, he said he was handed $1,200 more.
Combs kept his face hidden during their initial meetings, and Hayes said he didn’t realize it was him until he saw a message on a hotel room TV screen that said: “Essex House would like to welcome Mr. Sean Combs.”
Ex-Combs employee Capricorn Clark said Combs came to her home waving a gun the day of the break-in and demanded she get dressed and go with him because “we’re going to kill Cudi.”
