Prosecutors detail decades of alleged abuse in Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex-trafficking trial

NEW YORK (TNND) — Opening statements in the federal sex-trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs began Monday after a 12-person jury was selected.

When entering the courtroom, Combs hugged his lawyers and gave a thumbs-up to his family and friends. Combs' mother and some of his children attended, including three of his daughters.

"This is Sean Combs,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson told the Manhattan jury, according to The Associated Press, which was permitted to be in the courtroom. ”... During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant’s crimes. But he didn’t do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and cover them up.”

Johnson said those crimes included kidnapping, arson, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment, including sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, transportation for purposes of prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy. He faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on all charges.

However, the defense claims the trial of Combs is a misguided overreach by prosecutors, who are trying to turn consenting sex between adults into a prostitution and sex trafficking case, one of Combs' eight lawyers, Teny Geragos, said during her opening.

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, according to The Associated Press. “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' violent outbursts, often fueled 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."

Prosecutors argued Combs coerced women into drugged-up group sexual encounters he called "freak offs," "wild king nights" or "hotel nights" and kept them in line through violence. A common form of violence he is accused of includes choking, hitting, kicking and dragging women, often by the hair.

An example Johnson gave the jury was about a night when Combs allegedly kidnapped an employee and threatened his one-time girlfriend, R&B singer "Cassie," whose legal name is Casandra Ventura and who is expected to be a key witness.

Johnson said Cassie was far from the only woman that Combs beat and sexually exploited during her opening.

Combs told Cassie that if she defied him again, he would release video of her having sex with a male escort — video that the prosecutor called “souvenirs of the most humiliating nights of her life," Johnson said.

Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in November 2023, accusing the artist of rape and repeated physical abuse over roughly a decade. The lawsuit was settled privately without Combs commenting on the allegations or admitting wrongdoing.

Ventura’s allegations garnered a lot of attention after CNN aired hotel surveillance footage from 2016, showing Combs beating, kicking and dragging Ventura.

The judge in the case ruled that the video can be shown as evidence during the trial despite Combs’ lawyer’s attempts to get it excluded, arguing in part that it is “wholly inaccurate” and altered. CNN has strongly denied any claims altering the footage. After the video was aired, Combs posted a video to Instagram apologizing and said he was "disgusted" by his actions. He did not name Ventura during his apology.

Prosecutors immediately showed the CNN video as proof of violence when calling the trial's first witness to the stand.

The first witness of the trial, Israel Florez, worked as hotel security in 2016. He is now a Los Angeles police officer. Florez said he knew who Combs was because he interacted with him sitting by the elevator in the hotel in only a white towel and slouching in a chair after responding to a report of a woman being in distress.

Florez said that Combs was by the elevators "with a blank stare... like a devilish stare, just looking at me."

As he was escorting Ventura and Combs back to their room, Florez said that Ventura tried to leave and Combs said to her, "You're not going to leave." Florez said he told Combs, "If she wants to leave, she's going to leave."

As Ventura left, Florez said that Combs told him, "Don't tell nobody" while holding a stack of money. Florez said he considered it a bribe and told Combs, “I don’t want your money. Just go back into your room.”

Jurors ended up seeing the video four times, including once in which Combs' lawyer tried to poke holes in Florez's recollection of events.

The second witness, Daniel Phillip, said he was a professional stripper who was paid $700 to $6,000 to have sex with Ventura while Combs watched and gave instructions, with the first encounter happening in 2012. Phillip 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.

Johnson said Combs would beat Cassie over the smallest slight, such as leaving a "freak off" without permission or taking too long in the bathroom. He also allegedly threatened to ruin Cassie's singing career by releasing public videos of her engaging in sex with male escorts.

The lengths Combs' inner circle went to to help him hide the attack on Cassie included giving a security guard a brown paper bag full of $100,000 cash while Combs' bodyguard and chief of staff stood by, according to Johnson. "This is far from the only time that the defendant’s inner circle tried to close ranks and do damage control."

Prosecutors added that Combs allegedly beat another woman last year, identified only as Jane, when she confronted him about enduring years of "freak offs" in dark hotel rooms while he took other paramours on date nights and trips around the globe.

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’ head down in a jealous rage, Geragos said, noting that she didn't want to justify Combs’ violence but that the fight wasn’t evidence of sex trafficking.

The sex parties are central to Combs' sexual abuse, prosecutors say. Combs’ 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.

Geragos claimed Combs' accusers want money and told the jury that Cassie demanded $30 million when she sued him, and another witness acknowledged demanding $22 million in a breach of contract lawsuit.

The embattled music mogul was arrested in September 2024, about roughly six months after federal authorities raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

An unsealed indictment accused Combs of "abusing, threatening and coercing victims to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct" between at least 2008 and the present.

"Sean Combs led and participated in a racketeering conspiracy that used the business empire he controlled to carry out criminal activity, including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and the obstruction of justice," the indictment read.

Further details revealed sex performances known as "freak offs" where Combs allegedly organized transportation of commercial sex workers across state lines and internationally. Victims were reportedly given party drugs during extended sex performances.

Further details revealed sex performances known as "freak offs" where Combs allegedly organized transportation of commercial sex workers across state lines and internationally. Victims were reportedly given party drugs during extended sex performances.

There are four alleged victims expected to testify during the trial. In the indictment, they are identified as “Victim-1,” “Victim-2,” “Victim-3,” and “Victim-4,” as all of Combs’ accusers have not been named publicly.

The trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks, five days a week, Monday through Friday.

Court is set to resume at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

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Editor's note: The National News Desk's Anissa Reyes & Taylor Fishman and The Associated Press contributed to this article.