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.
Image: 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.”
Image: 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
Image: 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.
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.
Donald Trump has waded into the debate surrounding Sydney Sweeney’s jeans ad.
The American Eagle ad, which features the 27-year-old actress, who starred in the HBO series Euphoria and White Lotus, has the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans”.
It has sparked a debate in the US over race and Western beauty standards.
Image: One of the Sydney Sweeney jeans ads. Pic: AP
In a Truth Social post, the US president described it as the “hottest ad out there”.
Hailing Sweeney as a “registered Republican”, he said the jeans are “flying off the shelves”, adding: “Go get ’em Sydney!”
Most of the criticism of the ad has centred on videos using the word “genes” instead of “jeans”, with one in which Sweeney says: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour. My jeans are blue.”
Critics argued the play on words potentially promotes eugenics, a discredited theory that believed humanity could be improved through the selective breeding of certain traits.
But others have defended the ad, saying the critics are reading too much into its message.
The video appeared on American Eagle’s Facebook page and other social media channels, but is not part of the ad campaign.
In a statement on Instagram on Friday, American Eagle Outfitters said the campaign “is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
Stocks in American Eagle Outfitters jumped by 23.3% after Mr Trump’s intervention.
They say all publicity is good publicity, and Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad is certainly notching up the column inches, especially now Donald Trump has intervened.
The US president must have been breathlessly excited when he found out Sweeney was a registered Republican because he wrote a Truth Social post in support of her before deleting it twice and reposting three times to correct various spelling and grammatical errors.
He clearly could not wait to get involved in the discourse.
“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the HOTTEST ad out there,” he wrote. “Go get ’em Sydney!”
In any other era, the president weighing in so heavily on one side of a pop culture issue would’ve been unusual.
But the current president knows people are talking about the ad around their dinner tables and at parties right now. By injecting himself into the discussion, they will now be talking about him too.
In his Truth Social post, which he reposted three times to fix various typos, Mr Trump compared the ad with “woke” ones “on the other side of the ledger” – as he criticised other companies, as well as hitting out at Taylor Swift.
“The tide has seriously turned – Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be,” he wrote.
Sky News has contacted Sweeney’s agent for comment.
Soulja Boy has been arrested and charged with possession of a firearm during a traffic stop.
The rapper, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, was a passenger in the car that was stopped in the Fairfax area of Los Angeles early on Sunday morning, the LAPD said.
“A passenger was detained and police arrested DeAndre Cortez Way for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm,” the statement added.
Possessing a firearm as a convicted felon is a felony.
The 35-year-old was booked into jail in the LAPD’s Wilshire Division shortly after 6am. It is not clear if he has since been released.
Police did not provide information on what prompted the traffic stop and who else was in the vehicle with Way.
Soulja Boy is yet to publicly comment on the incident.
Soulja Boy is best known for his 2007 hit Crank That, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks and landed him a nomination for best rap song at the Grammys.
The rapper was arrested and charged with a felony in 2014 for carrying a loaded gun during a traffic stop in LA.
In April this year, the Chicago hip-hop artist was ordered to pay more than $4m (£3m) in damages to his former assistant after being found liable for sexually assault, as well as physically and emotionally abusing them.
Police in Tennessee have discovered 14 improvised explosive devices in a man’s home as they were arresting him, the local sheriff’s office said.
Officers were executing a warrant in the home of Kevin Wade O’Neal in Old Fort, about 45 miles (70km) east of Chattanooga, after he had threatened to kill public officials and law enforcement personnel in Polk County.
After arresting the 54-year-old, officers noticed “something smouldering” in the bedroom where he was found.
Image: Kevin Wade O’Neal. Pic: Polk County Sheriff’s Office
On closer inspection, they discovered an improvised explosive device and evacuated the house until bomb squad officers arrived at the scene.
Fourteen devices were found inside the property – none of which detonated.
Image: Improvised explosive devices were found in Kevin Wade O’Neal’s home. Pic: Polk County Sheriff’s Office
Image: Kevin Wade O’Neal’s home in Old Fort, Tennessee. Pic: Polk County Sheriff’s Office
O’Neal was charged with 11 counts of attempted first-degree murder, corresponding to nine officers and two other people inside the property when the suspect tried to detonate the devices.
He also faces 14 counts of prohibited weapons and one count of possession of explosive components.