Sean (Diddy) Combs had violent outbursts, defence concedes in trial, but denies sex trafficking
Larry Neumeister and Michael R. Sisak | The Associated Press | Posted: May 12, 2025 1:55 PM | Last Updated: 9 hours ago
Music mogul facing 5 charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering
WARNING: This story may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
The public knew Sean (Diddy) Combs as a larger-than-life cultural icon and business mogul, but in private, he used violence and threats to coerce women into drug-fuelled sexual encounters that he recorded and held over their heads, a U.S. federal prosecutor said Monday in opening statements at Combs's sex trafficking trial.
"This is Sean Combs," assistant U.S. attorney Emily Johnson told the Manhattan jury, pointing at Combs, who leaned back in his chair as she spoke. "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 — and she alleges his inner circle helped him get away with them.
"This case is not about a celebrity's private sex preference," she said.
Defence lawyer Teny Geragos countered in her opening statement that prosecutors are overreaching, saying that while her client could be violent, the state is attempting to twist consenting sex between adults into a racketeering and sex trafficking case.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
"Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case. This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money," Geragos told the eight men and four women on the jury. "There has been a tremendous amount of noise around this case over the past year. It is time to cancel that noise."
Geragos conceded that Combs's violent outbursts, often fuelled by alcohol and drugs, might have warranted domestic violence charges, but not the sex trafficking and racketeering counts he faces.
She also told jurors they might think Combs is a "jerk" and might not condone his "kinky sex," but "he's not charged with being mean. He's not charged with being a jerk."
Witnesses describe violence from Combs
With the trial's first witness, Israel Florez, prosecutors went right to proof of violence by showing footage of Combs attacking the R&B singer Cassie, his longtime girlfriend, outside a Los Angeles hotel's elevators in March 2016. Jurors ended up seeing the video four times, including once in which Combs' lawyer tried to poke holes in Florez's recollection of events.
In the video, Cassie is seen with a bag at the elevators just before Combs rounds a corner, strikes her and throws her to the ground. He then kicks her multiple times before dragging her back toward their room.
After CNN aired video of the attack last year, Combs apologized and said he was "disgusted" by his actions.
Florez, who worked hotel security in 2016 and is now a Los Angeles police officer, said he knew who Combs was when he saw him sitting by the hotel's elevators while responding to a report of a "woman in distress."
He said Combs was wearing only a towel and was slouching in a chair "with a blank stare … like a devilish stare, just looking at me." He said that as he was escorting Cassie and Combs to their room, Cassie indicated that she wanted to leave and Combs told her: "You're not going to leave."
Florez said he told Combs, "If she wants to leave, she's going to leave."
Cassie left, and Florez said Combs called for him while holding a stack of money with a $100 US bill on top and telling him, "Don't tell nobody."
Florez said he considered it a bribe and told Combs, "I don't want your money. Just go back into your room."
Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, was expected to testify Tuesday.
The second witness called, Daniel Phillip, said he was a professional stripper who was paid $700 US to $6,000 US to have sex with Cassie while Combs watched and gave instructions, with the first encounter in 2012. He said he stopped meeting with them after he saw Combs throw a bottle at her and then drag her by her hair into a bedroom as she screamed.
Combs watched Monday's proceedings attentively. When he entered the courtroom, he hugged his lawyers and gave a thumbs-up to family and friends. The case has drawn intense public interest, and the line to get into the courthouse stretched down the block. Combs' mother and some of his children attended, including three daughters who left the courtroom when the testimony turned lurid.
The five-count indictment could land Combs in prison for at least 15 years if he is convicted on all charges. He has been imprisoned at a federal jail in Brooklyn since his arrest in September.
Women coerced into 'freak-offs'
Prosecutors say Combs coerced women into drugged-up group sexual encounters he called "freak-offs," "wild king nights" or "hotel nights," then kept them in line by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, often by the hair.
The sex parties were a central part of Combs' sexual abuse, according to prosecutors. Combs's company paid for the parties, held in hotel rooms across the U.S. and overseas, and his employees staged the rooms with his preferred lighting, extra linens and lubricant, Johnson said. Combs compelled women, including Cassie, to take drugs and engage in sexual activity with male escorts while he gratified himself and sometimes recorded them, Johnson said.
Combs would beat Cassie over the smallest slights, such as leaving a freak-off without his permission or taking too long in the bathroom, Johnson said. Combs also threatened to ruin Cassie's singing career by publicly releasing videos of her sexually involved with male escorts, the prosecutor said.
"When she tried to run away, he always found her," Johnson said. "Her livelihood and her safety depended on keeping him happy."
She told jurors that Cassie was far from the only woman Combs beat and sexually exploited, alleging that Combs had raped a former employee, and that staff helped to transport women across state lines for the purpose of sex acts.
Last year, Combs brutally beat another woman — identified only as Jane — when she confronted him about enduring years of freak-offs in dark hotel rooms while he courted other paramours, the prosecutor said.
Geragos argued that Combs and Jane had a "toxic and dysfunctional relationship" and she willingly engaged in freak-offs because she wanted to spend time with Combs. Their fight a year ago started when Jane slammed Combs's head down in a jealous rage, Geragos said, noting that she didn't want to justify Combs's violence but that the fight wasn't evidence of sex trafficking.
Cassie sued Combs in 2003. The lawsuit was settled within hours of its filing, but it touched off a law enforcement investigation and was followed by dozens of lawsuits from people making similar claims.
Geragos claimed Combs' accusers were motivated by money. She told jurors that Cassie demanded $30 million US when she sued him, and that another witness will acknowledge demanding $22 million US in a breach of contract lawsuit.
"Ask yourself, why are they making this allegation now? What is their motive? For many of them the answer is simple: Money," Geragos said.
She also conceded that Combs is extremely jealous and "has a bad temper," telling the jury that he sometimes got angry and lashed out when he drank alcohol or "did the wrong drugs." But, she said, "domestic violence is not sex trafficking."
The Associated Press doesn't generally identify people who say they are victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has done.
The trial is expected to last at least eight weeks.
Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.