Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs praises judge and chooses not to testify as trial draws to a close
Prosecutors and defence lawyers have rested their cases in the sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, bringing more than six weeks of testimony against the hip-hop mogul to a close.
The high-profile trial has heard from more than 30 witnesses, including the rapper’s ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, as well as former employees of his company Bad Boy Entertainment, male escorts, law enforcement officers and hotel staff.
But one person jurors won’t hear from is Combs himself.
Confirming this to Judge Arun Subramanian, the rapper said he had discussed the issue of testifying “thoroughly” with his team and made the decision not to give evidence. He also thanked the judge and told him he was doing an “excellent job”.
Cassie Ventura was heavily pregnant when she testified at the start of the trial. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
After the prosecution rested, the defence team moved for the judge to acquit the 55-year-old – a fairly standard move – saying attorneys for the government had not provided evidence to prove any of the charges filed.
They then presented a brief case themselves, submitting more text messages as evidence to show Combs and his girlfriends were in loving, consensual relationships, and making a few stipulations about testimony, but calling no witnesses. This lasted for less than an hour.
They have previously conceded Combs has been violent in the past, something he is “not proud” of, but said this did not make him a sex trafficker.
Combs has remained in jail without bail since he was arrested in New York in September last year.
Throughout the trial, defence lawyers have made their case for exoneration through their questioning of witnesses called by the prosecution, including several who gave evidence reluctantly or after they were granted immunity to testify.
Prosecutors argue Combs coerced and forced Cassie and another former girlfriend, who testified under the pseudonym Jane, into “freak off” sex sessions with male escorts, and used his business empire to facilitate these, as well as drug use, and cover up bad behaviour.
Jurors have seen several clips of explicit footage. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
During the first week of the trial, Cassie, 38, spent four days giving evidence. Heavily pregnant at the time, she told jurors she felt pressured to take part in hundreds of “freak offs” with male sex workers as Combs watched.
She told the court they became so frequent during their relationship, which began in 2007 and ended in 2018, that they were “like a job”, and she had barely any time for her own career.
The singer and musician gave birth two weeks after her testimony, her friend and former stylist confirmed as he gave evidence himself in court.
Jane testified for six days about similar sexual performances, which Combs referred to as “hotel nights”, “wild king nights” or “debauchery” with her, the court heard. Like Cassie, she said she felt coerced into engaging in them because she loved the music star and wanted to please him.
Jane dated Combs on and off from early 2021 to his arrest in 2024.
Jurors have been shown several recordings of these sex sessions, lasting more than 40 minutes in total. The footage was shown on monitors and jurors used headphones, keeping it private from the media and members of the public in court.
In her opening statement, defence lawyer Teny Geragos called the videos “powerful evidence that the sexual conduct in this case was consensual and not based on coercion”.
Read more:
Everything you need to know about the trial
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
What we learned from Cassie’s testimony
The trial also heard from Mia, another alleged victim who testified under a pseudonym. Mia was a former employee of Combs, who told the court he sexually assaulted her on several occasions in the years she worked for him.
She had never told anyone about the alleged abuse until the investigation into Combs, she said, telling the court she was ashamed. “I was going to die with this,” she said, becoming tearful on the stand. “I didn’t want anyone to know ever.”
The trial has been eventful, with one juror dismissed and replaced by an alternate after it emerged he had given conflicting evidence about where he lives. The judge said he had “serious concerns” that not being truthful about this could potentially mean he wanted to be on the jury for a particular reason.
And at one point, Combs was warned by the judge for nodding enthusiastically toward jurors during a section of cross-examination by his lawyers. The judge said he could be excluded from the trial if it happened again.
Court is not in session on Wednesday. The trial continues on Thursday, when closing statements from the legal teams will begin.
Entertainment
Reginald D Hunter: Summons against comic by Campaign Against Antisemitism quashed for seeking to have him ‘cancelled’
A judge has quashed a summons against comedian Reginald D Hunter, brought privately by Campaign Against Antisemitism, ruling it “abusive” and intended to get the comedian “cancelled”.
The 56-year-old US comic had been accused of three counts of sending an offensive communication on three different occasions – 24 August, 10 September and 11 September last year – to Heidi Bachram on X.
The summons was quashed at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday by District Judge Michael Snow following an application by the defence.
Judge Snow ruled that the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) charity’s motive in seeking to prosecute Hunter was “to have him cancelled” and that the prosecution was “abusive”.
Bought as a private prosecution, rather than by the state, the judge said the charity was seeking to use the criminal justice system “for improper reasons”.
The CAA describes itself as a volunteer-led charity, “dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law”.
In his ruling, Judge Snow said: “The CAA have demonstrated by the misleading and partial way in which it summarised its application and its wilful, repeated, failure to meet its disclosure obligations, that its true and sole motive in seeking to prosecute Reginald Hunter is to have him cancelled.
“I have no doubt that the prosecution is abusive.
“My view of the conduct of the CAA is consistent with them as an organisation which is not ‘playing it straight’ but is seeking to use the criminal justice system, in this case for improper reasons.”
Hunter at Westminster Magistrates’ Court earlier this year.Pic: PA
‘Inadequate’ summary and failure to flag compliance probe
Judge Snow said the summary of Ms Bachram’s tweeting in the application case summary was “wholly inadequate”.
He added: “It did not reveal the extent of her tweets directed against Reginald Hunter in the period immediately preceding the complaints (her tweets were sent between 15 August and 11 September 2024).
“The summary misled me into believing that his comments were addressed to her involvement with the Jewish faith as opposed to his response to attempts that were being made to have him ‘cancelled’.”
The judge said the CAA had failed to inform him of a compliance investigation by the Charity Commission into the CAA in November 2024.
CAA accused of ‘weaponising’ the court
Hunter’s lawyer Rebecca Chalkley KC told the hearing on Tuesday that “very little was disclosed” to the judge and the “lack of candour” meant the summons should be quashed.
Ms Chalkley said: “It calls into question the whole juridical process as judges before issuing summonses need to have everything in front of them.”
The lawyer told the judge: “You were led to believe in papers in front of you that the CAA was no more than a charity, that it had no history – as since demonstrated as a vexatious litigant – no complaints, no criticism in Parliament, no investigations by the Charity Commission.”
The lawyer added: “The CAA are weaponising and using the courts for their own political agenda and not just in this case.”
The CAA’s prosecutor Donal Lawler told the hearing that the charity had complied with its duty of candour.
Hunter regularly tours the UK and has appeared on comedy panel shows Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Have I Got News For You and 8 Out Of 10 Cats.
A crowdfunding campaign he launched to help him cover his legal fees raised over £58,000 in less than six months.
Chris Rea, known for hits including Driving Home For Christmas and The Road To Hell, has died after a short illness, according to a family spokesperson.
A statement on behalf of his wife and two children stated: “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris.
“He passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family.”
Chris Rea arrives at the Odeon Leicester Square for the opening of the London Film Festival in 1996. Pic: PA
The Middlesbrough-born musician was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had his pancreas removed in 2001, and in 2016 he suffered a stroke.
Follow our blog for the latest reactions to Chris Rea’s death
Rea found fame in the late seventies and eighties with hits such as Fool (If You Think It’s Over), Let’s Dance and The Road To Hell.
Known for his gravelly voice and latterly for his slide guitar playing, he was nominated for a slew of top awards, including Brit Awards, at the height of his success and sold millions of records.
File pic: Glenn Ashley/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Rea’s debut album, titled Whatever Happened To Benny Santini?, a reference to the stage name his record label wanted him to adopt, was released in 1978.
His track Fool (If You Think It’s Over), from the album, went on to be nominated for a Grammy.
He did not find such success again for a few years, but by the time his eighth album On The Beach was released, he was a star in the UK and around Europe, with sporadic hits in the US.
When Road To Hell was released in 1989, he became one of the biggest solo stars in the UK. Two of his studio albums – The Road To Hell (1989) and Auberge (1991) – went to number one in the country.
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His famous song Driving Home For Christmas, first released in 1986, features in this year’s M&S Food Christmas advert – which sees comedian Dawn French sing along to the single in her car.
Speaking about the song during the 2020 Mortimer And Whitehouse Gone Fishing Christmas special, he told comedian Bob Mortimer: “I was on the dole when I wrote that.
Chris Rea arrives at the Mojo Awards in 2009. Pic: PA
“My manager had just left me. I’d just been banned from driving, right. My now wife, Joan, she had to drive down to London, picked me up in the Mini, and take me home, and that’s when I wrote it.”
The singer returned to his blues roots after a string of health problems.
“I wasn’t frightened of dying,” he once said in an interview.
“It did look like the end, but what got me through was the thought of leaving a record that my two teenage daughters could say, ‘That’s what Papa did – not the pop stuff, but the blues music. That’s what he was about’.”
Chris Rea arrives at the Odeon Leicester Square for the opening of the London Film Festival in 1996. Pic: PA
Entertainment
Stars and fans including Liam Gallagher, Paul Weller and David Beckham gather for Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield’s funeral
Stars including Liam Gallagher, David Beckham and Paul Weller have gathered to pay tribute to The Stone Roses star Gary “Mani” Mounfield.
The Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassist died last month at the age of 63.
The coffin is carried from the ceremony by Alan Wren (L), Liam Gallagher (R) and John Squire (2nd R). Pic: PA
Pic: PA
His death came two years after that of his wife, Imelda Mounfield, who was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in November 2020. The couple welcomed twin boys in 2012.
He had been due to travel the UK later this year for an in-conversation tour sharing memories of his rock experiences.
Liveblog: Famous faces say final goodbye to Stone Roses bass player
The funeral, which was held at Manchester Cathedral, drew hundreds of fans, including a guard of scooter riders with black bands and a photo of Mani on their bikes.
Arriving at the service, The Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown said Mani was “a brother to me”, calling him a “beautiful human being”.
Some of the biggest names of British 1990s music were at the ceremony, including Oasis star Liam Gallagher, singer-songwriter Paul Weller, Primal Scream frontman Bobbie Gillespie and Bez, from the Happy Mondays.
Tim Burgess, lead singer of The Charlatans, Elbow frontman Guy Garvey, Ian McCulloch of Echo & The Bunnymen, Mike Joyce, drummer from The Smiths, Inspiral Carpets keyboardist Clint Boon, and former Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook also came to pay tribute.
Liam Gallagher. Pic: PA
David Beckham. Pic: PA
Former Manchester United players David Beckham and Gary Neville were also among hundreds of mourners arriving for the service.
Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Coronation Street star Sally Lindsay were also in attendance.
Paul Weller. Pic: PA
Bez from the Happy Mondays. Pic: PA
Hundreds more fans gathered outside the cathedral and applauded as the cortege arrived, and as I Wanna Be Adored – one of The Stone Roses’ biggest hits – blared from the speakers.
The coffin, which was decorated with artwork from the cover of The Stone Roses – the band’s self-titled debut album – had travelled around eight miles from Heaton Moor in Stockport to the cathedral.
Gallagher, along with The Stone Roses drummer Alan Wren – also known as Reni – and bandmate John Squire carried the coffin from the ceremony after the service.
Mani was part of the Stone Roses’ classic line-up alongside Brown, Squire and Wren.
Pausing briefly as he went into church, Brown said he was there to celebrate “what a beautiful human being that he was”.
Asked what his bandmate meant to him, the singer said: “Everything. He’s a brother to me.”
Guy Garvey, from Elbow, arriving for the funeral service of former The Stone Roses and Primal Scream bass player Gary Mounfield, who was known as Mani
Actress Sally Lindsay. Pic: PA
Forming in 1983, Mani was part of The Stone Roses until they split in 1996, playing on both the eponymous debut album, released in 1989, and their 1995 follow-up, Second Coming.
The “Madchester” band was known for blending indie with acid house, psychedelia and pop.
Mani went on to play with Scottish band Primal Scream for 15 years, leaving in 2011 to rejoin the reuniting Roses.
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