Jury hears recording of Sean 'Diddy' Combs attempting damage control after sex crimes allegations went public
NEW YORK — A jury on Monday heard recordings of Sean 'Diddy' Combs appearing to attempt damage control with a woman he allegedly coerced into dehumanizing sexual performances after a bombshell lawsuit blasted sex crimes allegations against him into public view.
The witness, testifying under the pseudonym 'Jane,' took the stand late Thursday and has testified that she became romantically involved with Combs a few months after they met in late 2020. Not long after they started seeing each other, the single mom from California said Combs began financially supporting her and pushing her to participate in marathon, days-long sexual performances with male sex workers and escorts that he 'framed as love.'
She said she began to push back by late 2023, telling Combs he was treating her like 'an animal.'
On Monday, Jane said she fainted upon realizing the truth of her toxic dynamic with Combs when singer Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura filed suit against him in November 2023, alleging Combs had terrorized her for years with horrific physical abuse and coerced her into degrading sexual performances. Combs settled the explosive lawsuit in 24 hours for $20 million, jurors heard earlier in the trial. The feds then began investigating him.
'There were three specific pages that was just a harrowing reference to what I was experiencing,' Jane testified in Manhattan federal court. 'I was just bewildered, just in shock.'
In a text confronting Combs, Jane wrote, 'I feel like I'm reading my own sexual trauma.'
In an audio recording played for the jury, a distraught Jane is heard telling Combs she was sick to her stomach and had been crying for three days about the suit, mirroring her experience 'word for word.' She identified background noise on the choppy recording as Combs writing with a Sharpie on a notepad, something she said he did often.
Combs, who recorded the call, is heard repeatedly questioning Jane about whether she was recording and saying he thought 'freak offs' were 'kinky shit' she enjoyed.
'(I) close my eyes and I have these f—ed up things in my head,' Jane tells Combs.
In court, she testified, 'I was referring to these really bad thoughts that I would have about these nights … every time I would get a flashback, I would just want to wash it away.'
Later on the call, a groveling Combs tells Jane, 'I need your support.'
'Please as a friend,' Combs is heard saying.
Earlier, jurors saw multiple examples of Jane expressing pain and agony to Combs about being coerced into realizing his revolting sexual fantasies, in one text, telling him, 'Even on two of my own birthdays, you forced men on me for days.' In response, she said he would typically threaten to take away the roof over her head, gaslight her, or resort to 'love bombing'— showering her with affection as a manipulation tactic.
'He always wanted to make me feel like these were independently things that I wanted, and they were not,' she testified.
Jane, who the judge has ordered members of the public and media not to identify, is expected to be the final witness of three who will testify that Combs sexually exploited and psychologically abused them.
Ventura, who was in a relationship with the Bad Boy Records co-founder for 11 years, testified that he violently assaulted her an inestimable number of times and coerced her into 'hundreds' of sexual performances with men hired off the internet, such as on Craigslist and various websites for male escorts and performers.
Ventura said Combs dictated her appearance and that he and his staff kept tabs on her at all times, refusing to let her leave his properties or hotel rooms until her injuries from his beatings were no longer visible.
Another accuser who testified under the pseudonym 'Mia' worked as a live-in assistant for Combs at his media company between 2009 and 2017. When she took the stand last month, she said he had raped her and sexually assaulted her several times.
Mia described Combs as being violent with her — hurling objects at her like a computer more than once — and refusing to let her leave his properties without permission, sending security guards to track her down and bring her back when she tried to leave.
Prosecutors have charged Combs, 55, with operating a criminal enterprise from 2004 to 2024, in which his inner circle committed sex trafficking, kidnapping, arson, drug distribution, labor, and labor exploitation.
The Manhattan U.S. attorney's office alleges Combs' crew resorted to extreme lengths to hide his habitual violence and keep his victims isolated and submissive.
The rap mogul has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, transporting individuals for prostitution, and related charges.
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The most recent ex-girlfriend of Sean 'Diddy' Combs testified further at his sex trafficking and racketeering trial in New York on Monday, detailing the deterioration of their relationship over the last few years, fainting from shock upon reading Cassie Ventura's civil lawsuit against him and a savage beating at his hands months before the fallen mogul's September arrest. As prosecutors near the end of their witness list and get ready to rest their case, the victim, using the pseudonym Jane Doe to protect her anonymity, shared her experiences with the defendant over the back half of their three-year relationship. Last week, she told the court that about 90 percent of their time together revolved around 'freak-offs' or what she referred to as 'hotel nights,' which were drug-fueled orgies where she was allegedly coerced and blackmailed into having marathon sex sessions orchestrated and filmed by Combs as he looked on. 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