It’s day two of the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs federal court trial in New York, with a number of witnesses taking to the stand to give evidence against the US rapper so far today.
A former male escort Daniel Phillip, who was paid thousands of dollars to have sex with Mr Combs’ girlfriend Casandra Ventura (Cassie), was first up to the stand as he shared his own memories of the rapper’s now infamous ‘freak off’ parties.
Ms Ventura, who is heavily pregnant, also appeared to speak in front of the jury, as her former partner faces charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.
Ms Ventura bravely took to the stand to share her own traumatic experiences during her relationship with Diddy, which allegedly included him dragging across a hotel room floor and regularly abusing her, while forcing her to have sex with other men while he watched.
While she has gone into detail about what allegedly happened during the ‘freak off’ parties, which saw the 55-year-old own around 1000 bottles of baby oil, she has now shared with the court perhaps the only thing she enjoyed about these harrowing sexual parties.
Asked what she enjoyed, if anything, about the ‘freak offs,’ Cassie Ventura broke down in tears.
“The time spent with him,” she said. She added that she felt like it was the only time she could get with him.
“I felt disgusting. I was humiliated. I didn’t have the words to put together at the time how horrible I really felt, and I couldn’t talk to anybody about it,” Ventura added.
Ventura said she tried to ‘gently’ bring up not wanting to do ‘freak offs’ with Combs.
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“I didn’t want to upset him or make him angry with me for even sharing it,” she said. “But I would just tread it lightly when I brought it up. Sometimes I would email him about it. I didn’t want anything bad to happen.”
The 38-year-old, who is now married, had suggested that some of the ‘freak offs’ could last as long as fourdays, with her former partner having a number of rules on how she should look and dress during the parties.
She also shared more details on the first time the two engaged in sex, suggesting that she was given ecstasy while on a boat in Miami.
A woman expected to testify against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs during the criminal trial is reportedly prepared to do so under her real name.
Diddy’s trial is set to kick off in New York today (5 May) with jury selection, as the 55-year-old faces five felony charges, which includes sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
“Combs relied on the employees, resources and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled — creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice,” prosecutors allege in the 14-page indictment.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all five charges, and in a statement last month his legal team described his accusers as ‘former long-term girlfriends, who were involved in consensual relationships’.
“This was their private sex life, defined by consent, not coercion,” they said.
Prosectors allege that the Bad Boy Records founder coerced women into drug-fuelled sex acts at his ‘Freak Off’ parties.
And even though a number of men and women have alleged in lawsuits that Combs abused them, the criminal trial will highlight the claims of four women.
Three of the four women have requested for their identities to be hidden from the public.
But Sky News reports that one of the accusers, who has been referred to as Victim 1 in court documents, is prepared to testify under her real name.
Once the trial is underway, it is possible that prosecutors could show jurors security camera footage of Combs allegedly punching, kicking and then dragging singer Cassie in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
Cassie filed a now-settled lawsuit in late 2023 saying Combs had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape after they met in 2005.
After the video aired on CNN last year, he said: “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.
“I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
The trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks and will be held five days a week, from Monday through to Friday.
Combs, who has been held without bail since his September arrest, is currently in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Warning: this article discusses SA and domestic abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A number of court documents have detailed what could have been part of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ disturbing ‘freak off’ parties.
The record executive and music producer is set to sit in a Manhattan federal courtroom next week (5 May) for one of the USA’s biggest celebrity trials ever.
Diddy has been accused of heading up a sex-trafficking among other charges, which have effectively ended his career in unceremonious circumstances.
Allegations have gone as far as mentioning certain celebrities’ names in documents, linking them to Diddy in some way.
Now, the former cultural titan has been behind bars in New York since his arrest in September, away from the mansions he owns in Los Angeles and Miami, where many of his freak-off parties would take place.
What has Diddy been accused of?
Diddy has rejected an 11th hour plea deal from prosecutors, believing that the jury that will sit in on his trial will clear him of the numerous accusations made against him.
The evidence lined up against the ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ rapper could land him behind bars for life.
He has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution, all of which he pleaded not guilty to on 17 September.
The 55-year-old’s attempts at bail have been turned down.
Diddy has been accused of abusing his ‘power and prestige’ to drug sex workers at his ‘freak-off’ parties, while also allegedly having ‘abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct’ since 2008.’
What do the court documents say?
Monday 5 May will see the start of the long-awaited trial, which is set to last eight weeks, with the focus on the ‘freak-offs’ he would host involving female victims and male sex workers.
Federal prosecutors claim that Combs arranged and watched these marathon sex events, while masturbating and recording participants.
An investigator claimed: “These were not consensual parties.
“These were coercive, manipulative events designed to break down victims and keep them dependent.”
The victims were said to have been given powerful controlled substances, many times against their will, so that they would be ‘obedient and compliant’ during the days-long sessions.
Significant pieces of evidence
One of the most shocking discoveries made by investigators was to do with the almost 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant that were found in Diddy’s Miami and Los Angeles mansions.
The raids were said to be ‘unprecedented in scale and disturbing in content’ by federal agents.
Another detail in the indictment said that these parties were so draining that participants would need IV fluids, so they could ‘recover from the physical exertion and drug use.’
Claims from Diddy’s lawyer
Diddy’s new lawyer Marc Anifilo, called the case a ‘witch hunt’ and said that the decision to bring it to court was ‘deeply disappointing.’
He added: “Mr Combs is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal.
“We look forward to clearing his name,” Anifilo said outside a courthouse.
Three months before the trial date, Anthony Ricco, a lawyer for Diddy, announced he would no longer represent him due to ‘sufficient reasons’.
Other claims made against Diddy
Prosecutors claim that Diddy was behind a decades-long criminal enterprise that fronted as a music empire.
They claim that abuse, coercion, and exploitation were a regular instalment in his work and personal life.
Key witnesses like Diddy’s former partner, Cassandra Ventura, better known as Cassie, could be influential in the final decision.
Cassie filed a civil suit against Diddy in 2023, accusing him of rape and a decade of physical and emotional abuse.
They settled the case a day later, though footage would later be released by CNN that showed Diddy dragging her by her hair via surveillance footage captured in a California hotel.
While his team tried to exclude the footage from the trial, the court ruled it as admissible.
Federal prosecutors also haven’t revealed if there are any additional charges pending, as the record executive faces decades in prison if found guilty.
Judge Arun Subramanian also stated in a final procedural earlier this week that Diddy had turned down a plea offer.
Warning: this article discusses sexual assault and domestic abuse which some readers may find distressing.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial is set to begin today (5 May) eight months after his arrest on three charges – but people following along will not be able to watch it on TV unlike some other previous high-profile cases.
The music producer and record executive will stand in front of a judge and jury of 12 to defend himself against the numerous allegations made against him.
A 14-page indictment claimed that Diddy was the head of a criminal enterprise that fronted as a record label, Bad Boy Records, and that he had used threats of violence to force and abuse women into taking part in drug-fuelled orgies called ‘freak-offs’.
Prosecutors said these were ‘elaborate and produced sex performances’, and that 1,000 bottles of baby oil were found in raids of his New York and Miami mansions.
The indictment further added that the parties were so exhausting that participants would require IV fluids to ‘recover from the physical exertion and drug use.’
How long will Diddy’s trial last?
The trial could last anywhere from eight to 10 weeks, with Diddy looking at a potential sentence of life behind bars if found guilty.
Diddy has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn since his arrest, having been denied bail on numerous occasions.
His lawyer continues to claim he is an ‘innocent man’ as they look to clear his name.
In what is set to be one of the US’ biggest celebrity trials ever, millions will have their eyes on the Manhattan federal courtroom this week as proceedings begin.
However, the court case will not be televised due to an old US law.
Why won’t Diddy’s trial be televised?
Combs is facing federal criminal charges, which means that the presence of ‘electronic media’ is banned according to a procedural rule passed in 1946.
Under the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, it reads: “[E]xcept as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.”
In 1972, the Judicial Conference of the US adopted a prohibition against ‘broadcasting, televising, recording, or taking photographs in the courtroom and areas immediately adjacent thereto.’
Though this also applied to civil cases, the rules for federal civil proceedings are slightly more flexible, with some instances allowing recording at the discretion of the judge.
Criminal trials at state level do however allow cameras in court.
This does mean that those wanting to keep up with the case will have to wait for courtroom sketches and reporting after the session.
What has Diddy been charged with?
Diddy has been charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution according to the Southern District of New York.
Racketeering conspiracy can land him a maximum sentence of life in prison, while sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion also has a maximum sentence of life in prison in addition to a mandatory minimum of 15 years.
Transportation for purposes of prostitution carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
A party planner for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ has shared harrowing details about the rapper’s ‘freak-off’ parties.
Combs, 55, is currently incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, while he awaits trial.
He was arrested at a hotel in Manhattan in September before being charged with racketeering and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion.
Combs has denied the allegations against him and issued a plea of not guilty after he was accused of using his ‘power and prestige’ to drug sex workers for his alleged ‘freak-offs’.
“As alleged in the Indictment, for years, Sean Combs used the business empire he controlled to sexually abuse and exploit women, as well as to commit other acts of violence and obstruction of justice,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in September.
“Today, he is charged with racketeering and sex trafficking offences. If you have been a victim of Combs’ alleged abuse – or if you know anything about his alleged crimes – we urge you to come forward.”
A legal statement from Combs’ representatives said that ‘in court the truth will prevail’, adding: “Mr Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone – man or woman, adult or minor.”
Meanwhile, an anonymous party planner, who claims to have worked with Diddy in the mid-noughties, has revealed some harrowing details about the ‘freak off’ parties.
Speaking to The New York Post – who claims to have independently verified the planner’s identity – they said: “Everywhere you looked, you’d see yourself reflected again and again.
“You can imagine what it would look like when people are naked and having sex on the floor, on the couches, wherever.
“… It was definitely a vibe he wanted to put out there, that everywhere you looked there would be sex happening. It was wall-to-wall debauchery.”
The planner said she was hired to arrange food and drink, as well as entertainment and decor, but had no say in who was invited or the sexual element of the events.
“He was hiring both men and women who called themselves ‘models,’ but it seemed obvious, at least to me, that they were actually sex workers,” she said.
“But that wasn’t my role; that would be the role of a member of his team. I just handled the mainstream stuff.”
Apparently, there was no expense spared for the parties, with the planner claiming they cost around $500,000 (£387,000) per event.
“This is for both the mainstream part, and then the sex party afterwards,” she claimed.
Another planner, who claims to have worked with Diddy in 2004 and 2005, also revealed some of the alleged requirements he had for female attendees.
“We would do a weigh-in, if necessary,” they told the New York Post.
“The girls had to be young and hot, so I always had a scale nearby in case I needed to make sure.
“The number was 140 pounds, but if a girl was really tall, there was a little bit of discretion involved.
“No flab, no cellulite. Not overly pierced or tattooed. No short hair. And the girls had to be young and hot.”
LADbible has reached out to Diddy’s reps for comment.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
