Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ trial is in its second day at a New York City courthouse. The music mogul is currently accused of a variety of charges including including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution, after being arrested in September.
He denies all allegations made against him and has had several bail pleas rejected. 12 jurors were sworn in at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in lower Manhattan on Monday following a delay due to concerns that some of them might drop out over the weekend if the panel was finalised on Friday as originally planned.
Lawyers for the musician had requested a delay, but the prosecutors had opposed. The proposed jurors were asked if they were familiar with several celebrities who may come up during the trial.
Here, we are bringing you the live updates from the courtroom.
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Cassie claims longest Freak Off was four days
The singer said she spent a “big chunk of her life” recovering from drug use and dehydration after Freak Offs.
Jury dismissed for lunch
The jury has been dismissed for their lunch break.
Cassie’s reason for moving to Los Angeles
The singer moved to Los Angeles from New York in pursuit of love, he said.
“I moved because I was in love and wanted to be near him,” she told the court. Diddy paid her rent during her time in New York, she said, explaining that he also paid the rent for where she lived and had his own keys that he could use “whenever he wanted.”
Cassie left confused over relationship status
The singer told the court that she believed she was in a monogamous relationship with Diddy but later realised they weren’t.
She told the court: “I didn’t get that he was him. he was Puff Daddy, and Puff Daddy has many women,” before explaining how she became jealous after seeing him with other women. She added: “He likes the company of women, and I had to just really learn that over time, despite what he would tell me just between us.
Diddy had Cassie’s career ‘in his hands’
She told the jury that she believed the music mogul had her career “in his hands”.
Speaking from the dock, she said: “I wanted to be around Sean for the same reasons as everyone else at the time — just this exciting, entertaining, fun guy that also happened to have my career in his hands.
Cassie fell in love with Diddy before seeing ‘different side’
Once Cassie started dating the musician, she cut ties with her management firm. She later fell in love with the mogul after a trip to Miami. She told the court: “I travelled with him everywhere, I was in studios, I was just like [his] little shadow for a while.” She explained their relationship was “fun”, and it was her “first adult, real adult relationship.”
Cassie’s husband asked to leave court during some questioning
A judge has ruled that Cassie’s husband, Alex Fine, can be in the courtroom for most of the hearing – but not all of her testimony.
Judge Arun Subramanian, acting on a defence request, stated that Alex must leave when the questioning turns to the allegations that Diddy raped her in 2018.
Diddy’s lawyers claim they may use Alex as a witness later in the trial. Prosecutors argued that Fine is part of the emotional support system for Cassie, who is pregnant with their third child and should be in the courtroom when she testifies.
In open court, a lawyer for Combs asked that Cassie’s husband not be allowed in the courtroom while she testifies because he might be called as a witness.
Cassie left ‘confused’ after being kissed by Diddy on her birthday
Cassie told the court that she saw Diddy around once a month at social events in 2006.
The year after, while celebrating her 21st birthday in August 2007 in Los Angeles, she claims he kissed her in a bathroom. Addressing the court, she said: “I was just really confused at the time,” adding that she was a “young, new artist,” who “just didn’t really know the lay of the land when it came to things like that.”
How did Cassie and Diddy first meet?
Cassie said she first signed a contract with Diddy’s company, Bad Boy Records, in 2006. Prior to this, she knew Diddy was a “larger than life” entrepreneur, and she was 19 when they met.
Cassie didn’t know how to ‘refuse Freak Offs’
The musician said she felt an off feeling when Diddy first proposed a ‘Freak Off’.
Speaking on the stand, she said: “I also felt a sense of responsibility. It was him sharing something like that with me. I was confused, nervous but also loved him very much and wanted to make him happy so, I knew it wasn’t something I wanted to be doing especially as regularly as it became, but again, I was just in love and wanted to make him happy.”
How long were Cassie and Diddy together?
Ventura claims Diddy ‘frequently’ assaulted her
Taking to the stand, Combs’ ex-girlfriend told the court that she would be “frequently” assaulted.
The musician, who wore a long brown dress, claimed he would “bash on my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me.” When asked how often this happened, she responded: “Too frequently.”
She claims she endured busted lips, black eyes and knots in her forehead. Recalling the incident of Diddy assaulting her at a Los Angeles hotel, Cassie claimed they were at a “Freak Off.” She said it was a “sexual encounter called voyeurism,” during which the rapper would watch her have sex with another man.
