Sean Combs's Ex-Girlfriend Will Continue Testimony About Unwanted Sex
The 18th day of testimony in the federal trial of Sean Combs will continue on Friday with a woman who described the encounters she had with a succession of men at the music mogul's direction as a 'Pandora's box' of unwanted sex.
The woman, who is testifying under the pseudonym 'Jane,' is the second witness put forward by prosecutors as a victim of sex trafficking by Mr. Combs, who also faces charges of racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. Mr. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his lawyers have strongly denied that any of his sexual arrangements were nonconsensual.
The first of those witnesses, Casandra Ventura — the singer known as Cassie, who was in an off-and-on relationship with Mr. Combs for 11 years — has played a prominent role in Mr. Combs's legal troubles over the last year and a half. Her bombshell lawsuit, filed in November 2023, led to the government's investigation, and a leaked hotel security video showing Mr. Combs brutally assaulting her has been a key piece of evidence, shown to jurors repeatedly since the trial began four weeks ago.
Before Jane took the stand on Thursday afternoon — under strict conditions from the court to protect her privacy — little had been known about her. In filings before the trial began, prosecutors referred to her in filings only as 'Victim-2,' saying that the 'financial losses, dependency and social isolation' she experienced during her relationship with Mr. Combs from 2021 to 2024 'made her more vulnerable to his coercion.'
At the start of her testimony, she described herself as a single mother who was earning her living through social media promotions when she met Mr. Combs in 2020 on a trip to Florida. They began flirting, and gave each other nicknames: She was Bert and he was Ernie, after the 'Sesame Street' characters. By early 2021, she said, they were in a passionate, intimate relationship (though Mr. Combs was clear that he was seeing other women at the same time).
What she says happened next parallels parts of Ms. Ventura's testimony. Mr. Combs brought Jane to a Miami hotel suite where she said she saw 'assistants' setting up with lights and beverages, and draping bedsheets over the furniture. Mr. Combs invited a male escort to the room and gave the two detailed sexual directions, she testified, while the famed music producer watched and masturbated.
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