Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs forced women into ‘freak offs’, jurors told – as hotel CCTV is played in court
Sean “Diddy” Combs’s public persona was that of a “charismatic” hip-hop mogul – but behind the scenes he forced women into “freak off” sexual encounters with escorts and blackmailed them with videos, prosecutors alleged during the first day of his trial.
In the courtroom in Manhattan, New York, Combs blew a kiss to his mother and family members supporting him, before listening intently as opening statements from the prosecution and defence outlined the details of the high-profile case.
The hip-hop mogul, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution, and strenuously denied all allegations of sexual abuse.
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Sean Combs’s family arrive at court
His defence lawyers say all sexual encounters were consensual and that the case is really about nothing more than Combs’s sexual preferences, which they say should remain private. Combs is a “flawed individual”, they argue, but not a racketeer or a sex trafficker.
The court also heard evidence from two witnesses – a former hotel security guard and a male escort.
But first, prosecutor Emily Johnson gave her opening statement.
“To the public, he was Puff Daddy or Diddy,” she told the court, describing Combs as a “business icon” and “larger than life”.
However, there was another side to the rapper, she says – a side that “ran a criminal enterprise”, she said. He sometimes “called himself the king”, Ms Johnson said, and expected to be treated like one.
“This is Sean Combs,” Ms Johnson told jurors as she pointed at Combs, who leaned back in his chair. “During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant’s crimes.”
Those crimes, she said, included kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction.
There are no cameras in the court building, so court artists capture the scenes inside. Sketch: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
Ms Johnson said Combs beat and sexually exploited his former long-term girlfriend Cassie, who was named in court, and compelled the singer and other women to take drugs and have sex with male escorts.
He threatened to ruin Cassie’s career by publicly releasing videos of these sexual encounters, which were dubbed “freak offs”, jurors heard.
“Her livelihood depended on keeping him happy,” the prosecutor said.
Jurors will hear testimonies from alleged victims who will talk about “some of the most painful experiences of their lives”, Ms Johnson continued. “The days they spent in hotel rooms, high on drugs, dressed in costumes to perform the defendant’s sexual fantasies.”
Combs and Cassie pictured in 2017. Pic: zz/XPX/STAR MAX/IPx 2017/AP
‘This is not a complicated case’
But Teny Geragos, who is on Combs’s defence team, painted a very different picture.
“Sean Combs is a complicated man,” she told the court. “But this is not a complicated case. This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money.”
Ms Geragos conceded that Combs could be violent and said she understood some jurors might not condone this, nor his “kinky sex”. But the rapper is “not charged with being mean”, she said, and his lifestyle may have been indulgent, but it was not illegal.
She also claimed Combs’s accusers were motivated by money.
Cassie hotel footage shown in court
Pic: CNN via AP May 2024
After the opening statements, the first witness, Israel Florez, was called to the stand.
Now a police officer in LA, in March 2016, Mr Florez worked as a security guard at a hotel in Los Angeles, where Combs was filmed on CCTV seemingly attacking R&B singer and model Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura.
After CNN aired video of the attack last year, the rapper apologised in a video on social media and said he was “disgusted” by his actions.
Video footage of this incident was shown in court as Mr Florez gave his testimony.
He told the court he recognised Combs after responding to a call of a woman in distress on the sixth floor of the hotel. The rapper was wearing only a towel and socks, Mr Florez told the court, and had “a blank stare, like a devilish stare, just looking at me”.
He said that as he was escorting Ms Ventura and Combs to their room, she indicated she wanted to leave and the rapper told her: “You’re not going to leave.”
Combs then offered him money and told him “don’t tell nobody”, Mr Florez said.
Read more:
The rise and fall of Sean Combs
Diddy – a timeline of allegations
Everything you need to know about the trial
The second witness, Daniel Phillip, used to work as a male escort, the court was told. He said he met Ms Ventura at a hotel in Manhattan, where he thought he was attending a bachelorette party.
However, he said he ended up having sex with Ms Ventura as Combs watched and masturbated, and that he was paid several thousand dollars.
Mr Phillip said he had several subsequent encounters with the then couple, which lasted between an hour and 10 hours, and that he witnessed or heard the rapper being violent on two occasions.
He told the court he did not intervene as Combs was powerful, and that he feared for his life. His evidence will continue tomorrow.
The trial is expected to last about eight weeks. Combs faces up to life in prison if he is convicted.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has accused the US of a coup attempt after Donald Trump approved CIA operations in the country to tackle alleged drug trafficking.
Mr Trump confirmed his decision, first revealed by The New York Times, as he said large amounts of drugs were entering the US from Venezuela – much of it trafficked by sea.
“We are looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” he said.
When asked why the coastguard wasn’t asked to intercept suspected drug trafficking boats, which has been a longstanding US practice, Mr Trump said the approach had been ineffective.
“I think Venezuela is feeling heat,” he said.
Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday evening. Pic: Reuters
Maduro hits back
He declined to answer whether the CIA has the authority to execute Mr Maduro, who denies accusations from Washington that he has connections to drug trafficking and organised crime.
The US has offered a $50m (£37m) reward for information leading to his arrest.
“How long will the CIA continue to carry on with its coups?” he asked after Mr Trump’s comments on Wednesday evening, saying calls for regime change harkened back to “failed eternal wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In a message to the American people, he said in English: “Not war, yes peace. The people of the US, please.”
President Nicolas Maduro. Pic: Reuters
US targets ‘drug boats’
Mr Trump also alleged Venezuela had sent a significant number of prisoners, including individuals from mental health facilities, into the US, though he did not specify the border through which they reportedly entered.
On Tuesday, he announced America had targeted a small boat suspected of drug trafficking in waters off the Venezuelan coast, resulting in the deaths of six people.
According to the president’s post on social media, all those killed were aboard the vessel.
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Footage of the strike was released by Donald Trump on social media. Pic: Truth Social
The incident marked the fifth such fatal strike in the Caribbean, as the Trump administration continues to classify suspected drug traffickers as unlawful combatants to be confronted with military force.
War secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the strike, according to Mr Trump, who released a video of the operation.
The black-and-white footage showed a small boat seemingly stationary on the water. It is struck by a projectile from above and explodes, then drifts while burning for several seconds.
Mr Trump said the “lethal kinetic strike” was in international waters and targeted a boat travelling along a well-known smuggling route.
There has also been a significant increase in US military presence in the southern Caribbean, with at least eight warships, a submarine, and F-35 jets stationed in Puerto Rico.
A 39-year-old man died in hospital alone, miles from his family, after being detained by US immigration officials.
Ismael Ayala-Uribe, who had lived in the US since he was four, fell ill while in an immigration detention centre in California.
Ismael Ayala-Uribe was well known in the local Latino community
He complained of a fever and had a persistent cough in the weeks before he died, according to his mother Lucia.
She said he was initially treated by medical staff inside the detention centre but was returned to his cell.
He was eventually taken to hospital for a scheduled surgery to remove an abscess on his buttocks, but died before he was able to have the operation.
His family were never told he was in hospital, learning of his death via a knock on the door from police.
“They’re the ones that notified us that he had passed,” his brother, Jose Ayala, told Sky News.
“We were not even aware that he was in the hospital or even had a scheduled surgery. Then we got a knock on our door a little after 5.30 one morning.
“I believe he would still be alive today if he was never detained. He got sick while in detention, and they did not seem to take care of him.”
Ismael’s brother Jose speaks to Sky News
Why was he detained?
Mr Ayala-Uribe’s death raises questions about the conditions inside the centre he was held in, and if a sudden surge of immigrants being detained by this administration has left the system stretched beyond breaking point.
He had moved to the US from Mexico with his family as a child.
He did have DACA – deferred action for childhood arrivals – status, granted to those who have arrived while under the age of 18. But this was removed in 2016, after he was convicted of drink-driving.
In August, he was arrested by immigration agents at a car wash in California where he had worked for 15 years.
He was held for five weeks at Adelanto, a privately owned, run-for-profit, immigrant detention centre. A lawyer for his family said he was, as far as they are aware, a healthy man before he was detained and had no medical need.
But Mr Ayala-Uribe’s mother, who was visiting him every eight days and speaking to him on the phone a couple of times a day, said she noticed him getting progressively unwell.
Ismael’s brother and mother, Lucia
“He started with lots of fever,” Ms Ayala said. “He said they weren’t listening to him. The last time I saw him his face was drained, he told me he was not OK, he told me he couldn’t take it any more.”
Beginning to cry, wiping away tears, she added: “I feel powerless that I couldn’t do anything to help my son.
“I never imagined I was going to bury one of my sons. It feels terrible, they took a piece of my heart away.
“I would like something to change. If we cannot save him, at least we can save others that are still inside.”
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Inside Trump’s immigration raids
ICE defends detention treatment
The cause of Mr Ayala-Uribe’s death is still under investigation.
Sky News requested comment from the company which owns the detention centre where he was held, and they deferred to ICE, the US immigration and customs enforcement agency.
In a statement, ICE said: “Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay.
“At no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergency care.”
The Trump administration says it’s targeting criminals and people in the US illegally. But campaigners say Mr Ayala-Uribe’s death should not be viewed in isolation.
Images from Ismael’s funeral service
Since Donald Trump took office, at least 15 people have died in immigration detention.
Democrat senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock wrote a letter to the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, asking for more information about these deaths.
The senators claimed 10 people had died between January and June, and that it was the highest rate in the first six months of any year publicly available.
Sarah Houston, a lawyer for the Immigrant Defenders Law Centre, claims immigrants are being mistreated in custody.
Read more from Sky News:
The people fighting back against ICE raids
Why US capital feels like it’s reaching tipping point
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ICE raids: ‘This is like Vietnam’
“This administration’s main goal is to harm, to torture individuals and to try to force them out,” she said.
“The great increase we see in human rights abuses, in deaths, is a direct result of the administration’s decision to pack these detention centres as much as they can.”
Mr Ayala-Uribe’s funeral was held this week. Dozens of extended family and friends wore t-shirts bearing his face. A mariachi band played as his casket was lowered into the ground and his mother heaved with sobs.
As they absorb their loss, the effort to carry out the biggest mass deportation operation in US history continues.
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