A juror has been dismissed from the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex-trafficking trial after hearing five weeks of evidence.

Judge Arun Subramanian said he had “concerns” about the jury member’s “candour” and made the decision after it emerged the man – Juror 6 – had given inconsistent answers about where he lives.

This could indicate he potentially had an agenda, that he wanted to be on the panel hearing the Combs trial for a purpose, the judge said, and there was nothing the juror could say that would “put the genie back in the bottle”.

Diddy trial: Day 24 – as it happened

Questions over whether the juror, a black male, resided in New York or across the Hudson River in the state of New Jersey first arose at the end of last week – but defence lawyers argued dismissing him would disrupt the diversity of the jury.

However, the judge rejected this argument ahead of the start of Monday’s court session, excusing the juror and replacing him with one of the alternates, a white male.

A review of the juror’s answers to questions about his residency during jury selection, along with his subsequent responses to similar questions, revealed “clear inconsistencies”, the judge said.

“Taking these all together, the record raised serious concerns as to the juror’s candour and whether he shaded answers to get on and stay on the jury,” Judge Subramanian said.

Leaving the juror on the panel could threaten the integrity of the judicial process, he added.

“The court should not, indeed cannot, let race factor into the decision of what happens. Here, the answer is clear. Juror number six is excused,” Judge Subramanian said.

Special agent and paralegal testify

Following the juror’s dismissal, the sixth week of the trial began – with testimony from a paralegal specialist and a special agent, who both gave evidence as summary witnesses.

This means they were not involved in the criminal investigation into Combs, but were tasked with reviewing some evidence, including charts, phone records and data. In court, the aim is to provide context to the testimony heard so far and how it relates to the charges against the hip-hop mogul.

During paralegal specialist Ananya Sankar’s testimony, the court heard about texts appearing to reference “freak offs” – sexual encounters with male escorts which former girlfriends Cassie Ventura and “Jane”, two of three alleged victims to give evidence during the trial, both say Combs forced them into.

Cassie was in an on-off relationship with Combs from 2007 to 2018, while Jane – a pseudonym – dated him on and off from the beginning of 2021 to his arrest in September 2024.

Chicken soup and $4,000 cash

In messages from March 2016, Combs’s then chief of staff Kristina Khorram appeared to ask an assistant to set a hotel room up, with items requested including Gatorade, water and chicken noodle soup. “He wants you to go right away now please,” a message said.

In another text, Khorram asked workers to fetch $4,000 in cash and to ensure a male escort was given access to the hotel room, the court heard.

The court also heard about messages sent around the time of the bombshell civil lawsuit filed against Combs by Cassie in November 2023 – which was settled within 24 hours for a then undisclosed sum, revealed to be $20m during the trial.

By this time, Combs was seeing Jane. According to an audio file of a conversation, Jane told Combs after finding out about Cassie’s lawsuit: “I don’t know what I’m feeling… this is so word for word, it is crazy and it just feels sick to my stomach.”

On 28 November 2023, about two weeks later, Jane told Combs she felt he exploited her with their “dark and humiliating lifestyle”.

The following month, the court heard Jane said in a message to Khorram: “He said he would expose me and send videos to my baby daddy… I am traumatised by my time with him.”

Jane said she would not normally involve Khorram in such matters, but told her she needed help as Combs was having one of his “evil-ass psychotic bipolar” episodes.

Jane told Khorram that she was heavily drugged in the tapes.

Although it was not clear exactly what she was referencing, a message sent to Combs by Khorram around the time of the lawsuit seemed to show some friction between the pair.

“If you cannot be honest with me this doesn’t work,” she told him, according to the messages. Combs “keeping things” to himself put them in the “situation we are all in right now”, she added.

Towards the end of the court day, videos entered into evidence under seal were played by the prosecution. This means the jury and lawyers could see and hear what was happening, but members of the public in court could not.

Read more:
Everything you need to know about the trial
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
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Prosecutors have said they expect to conclude their case later this week. After this, Combs’s defence team will begin theirs.

Last week, Kanye West turned up at the court in Manhattan, New York, to support the rapper, spending about 40 minutes in the building watching proceedings on a monitor in an overflow room.

Combs’s mother, Janice Combs, and several of his children have also consistently shown up throughout the hearing.

Diddy denies charges of sex-trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy.

The trial continues.

Liam Gallagher has criticised a Scottish council for suggesting Oasis fans were “drunk, middle-aged and fat”.

The remarks were revealed following a freedom of information request that was sent to Edinburgh council – ahead of the band’s three sold-out shows in Scotland this August.

The documents expressed concerns that the Oasis Live ’25 tour would clash with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – the world’s largest performance arts festival.

One note warned that there would be a “substantial amount of older fans”, and that because “middle-aged men take up more room”, age and size should be considered in crowd control planning.

Another note suggested “medium to high intoxication” should be expected at the concert.

An additional remark said there was some “concern about crowds of Oasis on weekends as they are already rowdy, and the tone of the band”.

It also expressed concern for the “safety” at the Edinburgh Fringe – including for its performers.

“Many performers are considering not attending for that weekend,” one note read.

Liam Gallagher was not impressed – and left the following message for the council on his social media.

“To the Edinburgh council I’ve heard what you said about Oasis fans and quite frankly your attitude f****** stinks I’d leave town that day if I was any of you lot.”

In a second post, he said: “I’d love to see a picture of all the people on the Edinburgh council bet there’s some real stunning individuals.”

David Walker, from the Oasis Collectors Group, has described the comments as “a nasty, sneering stereotype”.

“It’s a jaundiced view,” he added.

Local councillor Margaret Graham said that it is usual practice for the council to “prepare extensively” for major city events.

The culture and communities convener also said: “We’re very proud to host the biggest and best events in Edinburgh throughout the year, which bring in hundreds of millions of pounds to the local economy and provide unparalleled entertainment for our residents and visitors.

“As with any major event which takes place in the city, we prepare extensively alongside our partners to ensure the safety and best possible experience of everyone involved – and Oasis are no different.”

Around 210,000 fans are expected to attend the three Edinburgh gigs.

Oasis made their comeback announcement in August last year – ahead of the 30th anniversary of their debut album Definitely Maybe, released on 29 August 1994.

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Liam and Noel Gallagher’s return also marks 15 years since the last time the brothers performed together before their infamous fallout – which was prompted by a backstage brawl before a Paris festival in August 2009.

Liam damaged one of his elder brother’s guitars, causing Noel to dramatically quit – ending the partnership that had propelled them to fame and fortune.

“It is with some sadness and great relief… I quit Oasis tonight,” Noel later said in a statement. “People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”

The feud continued over the years, with the pair exchanging insults publicly – Liam on social media, Noel more when asked about his brother in interviews – but reportedly never speaking in person.

When his documentary As It Was was released in 2019, Liam told Sky News he had wanted to “break [Noel’s] jaw” after he apparently refused permission for Oasis music to be featured in the film.

But after 15 years, they have now made amends – giving thousands of Oasis fans the chance to see them play live once again.

Their top hits include Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger, Stand By Me, Lyla and The Importance of Being Idle.

Video game actors in the US have ended their strike after nearly a year of industrial action, over the use of artificial intelligence by game studios. 

More than 2,500 US performers were barred from working on games impacted by the strike while the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) negotiated a deal with studios.

Now, after more than 11 months of discussions, a “tentative” agreement has been reached.

“Patience and persistence has resulted in a deal that puts in place the necessary AI guardrails that defend performers’ livelihoods in the AI age, alongside other important gains,” said SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

Actors were banned from working with major game makers like Activision, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Formosa, Insomniac Games, Take 2 and WB Games.

Other studios were also impacted by the strike, as actors took industrial action in solidarity.

“We are pleased to have reached a tentative contract agreement that reflects the important contributions of SAG-AFTRA-represented performers in video games,” said Audrey Cooling, spokesperson for the video game producers, to Sky News.

“It delivers historic wage increases of over 24% for performers, enhanced health and safety protections, and industry-leading AI provisions requiring transparency, consent and compensation for the use of digital replicas in games.”

In the UK, actors protested in solidarity with their American counterparts, while Equity, the UK actors’ union, called for a similar wide-reaching agreement between UK studios and actors.

Earlier this week, the British Film Institute (BFI) released a report detailing the risks posed by AI to the UK screen sector, including video games, and described it as a “direct threat”.

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The scripts of more than 130,000 films and TV shows, YouTube videos, and databases of pirated books have been used to train AI models, according to the report.

AI poses a particular threat to some video game voice actors, according to one expert, because of the nature of their work creating animal or monster sound effects.

“The generic stuff is the easiest thing for generative AI to replace,” Video Games Industry Memo author George Osborn told Sky News previously.

“Just saying to the model, ‘make 200 monster noises’ is much easier than convincingly [making AI] sound like it is having a conversation with someone,” he said.

Unlike the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike in 2023, which saw blockbusters like Deadpool 3 and Gladiator 2 delayed and entire TV series cancelled, huge delays to games were unlikely.

Games take years to make and any game already in development before September 2023 was exempt from the strike.

Tensions have risen in the game actor community since the industrial action began, as studios appeared to hire international actors to replace the striking US workers.