Recap of ‘Diddy' trial: ‘Jane' says Sean Combs threatened to cut her off financially over sexual ‘hotel nights'

CNN

5 days ago

A woman using the pseudonym 'Jane' took the stand for a second day of salacious testimony at the end of the fourth week of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' federal criminal trial.
Jane's testimony comes as the prosecution seeks to show Combs and his inner circle used violence, lies, drugs, and other means to coerce Jane and Cassie Ventura into having sex with other men as part of drug-fueled sexual performances known as 'hotel nights' or 'Freak Offs.'
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. His defense has acknowledged Combs was violent but has questioned the motives of those testifying and said the women consented to the sexual activity.
Jane began testifying Thursday afternoon and is expected to return to the stand next week to continue her testimony and cross-examination.
Here's what we learned in testimony Friday.
Jane, who dated Combs from 2021 to 2024, testified that Combs falsely promised he'd spend quality time alone with her and dismissed her repeated requests to stop participating in his sexual 'hotel nights.'
Jane said that Combs promised her the things she wanted, like date nights and quality time, but said he wanted to have 'hotel nights' first. She would agree, but then afterward they'd be too exhausted and 'spent the rest of our free time sleeping,' she testified.
'I need a breather and a break from you,' she wrote in a text message, read aloud in court Friday, from November 2021 after seeing Combs spend quality time with another woman shortly after Jane had a 'hotel night' with him. 'This doesn't make me feel good at all. Your true intentions with me are in plain sight.'
Jane testified that they had a 'hotel night' on her birthday in 2022 in which she had sex with another man at Combs' direction. Soon after, she saw on social media that Combs had a 'big grandiose birthday' for another woman he was dating, and the contrast was 'heartbreaking,' Jane said.
'I don't ever want to do another hotel night,' she texted Combs around that time. 'I didn't want to do those things with you on my birthday but I wanted to make sure we had a good time.'
In 2023, Combs suggested she fly to New York to visit him, but she was hesitant because she figured he'd want to have a 'hotel night' while she was there, she testified. He promised her they would have a romantic time just the two of them, so she agreed to go, she said.
But when she was mid-air, Combs texted her about getting 'entertainment' for them, and she felt 'really disappointed,' she testified. Jane said they bickered 'about just how I was done with this and I didn't want to do this and like why every time I see you this is happening.' They ended up having a 'hotel night' that night, she testified.
Jane also recounted two times when the man brought in for the 'hotel night' was someone she was not attracted to, and how Combs kept pushing for her to try and engage with him regardless. Regarding one of those times, in 2023, Jane testified Combs said to her, 'Are you sure? Maybe just a little bit' even though she said she knew that 'this was definitely not something that I could fake doing.'
She said they eventually excused the man because she was 'repulsed by him,' and then another man came to the hotel after.
Jane said she and Combs entered into a 'love contract' in 2023 in which he agreed to pay her $10,000-per-month rent as an allowance. He is still paying for her rent, even now, she testified on Friday.
She also testified he threatened to cut her off financially if she stopped participating in 'hotel nights.'
In text messages from August 2023 that were read aloud in court, amid a discussion about a 'hotel night,' Combs told her he put $15,000 on credit for things in her new house. When Jane then expressed hesitation about having the 'hotel night,' in part because she was having her period, Combs became angry and accused her of using him for money, according to the texts.
Days later, she expressed frustrations to Combs with how he treated her, and Combs sent her an audio message threatening to stop financially supporting her. 'I'm about to really disappear on you, you feel me?' Combs said in the audio message that was played aloud in court for the jury. He said she had a 'rude awakening' coming if she didn't stop fighting him.
'You better get on your job, that's all it is,' Combs said. 'Because you got me on my job.'
Jane testified that she understood her 'job' was 'taking care of him, being good to him and making sure he was happy,' which included the sexual encounters. She said his 'job' was taking care of her financially.
Jane also texted Combs that he had been 'making things feel completely transactional lately' and was 'threatening me any chance that you get.' She testified that Combs was constantly reminding her that he paid for her home.
Around the time when she and Combs entered into their 'love contract,' Combs also paid for Jane to get veneers 'because he didn't like my teeth,' Jane testified.
At one point thereafter when Jane texted him complaining that she hadn't seen him alone outside of a hotel room for the 'hotel nights,' Combs responded, 'Well get over it please. Look at the roof over your head and that pretty smile. I don't want to do anything if that's still an issue.'
In late 2023, she sent him messages saying she didn't want to play this role in his life anymore.
'I feel it's the only reason you have me around and why you pay for the house,' she wrote. 'I don't want to feel obligated to perform these nights for you.'
Combs responded to the text, 'Girl stop.'
The jury heard audio from a 'hotel night' in which Combs was dismissive of a request from Jane to have her male sex partner wear a condom.
The audio was an excerpt from a video recording of a 'hotel night' that captured a conversation between Jane, Combs and a man named Don. On the recording, Jane said, 'you promised' to Combs, who expressed his disapproval.
Jane said on the stand that she and Combs had a conversation before that 'hotel night' in which he told her it would be okay if she wanted the man she would have sex with to wear a condom. He eventually gave the 'entertainer' a condom, Jane said.
She said she asked Combs to allow the 'entertainers' to wear condoms several times, but Combs was typically dismissive.
Jane was asked why she needed Combs' permission to have the man wear a condom, and Jane seemed to get emotional and said she was 'still trying to process' that. She said she didn't insist on the man wearing a condom because then Combs would be 'unhappy.'
At another point in her testimony, the jury saw 15 photos that weren't released to the public (none of the exhibits were shown to the public in court). Jane testified that each of the photos showed her and another man during a 'hotel night' and that Combs was present for all of the nights pictured.
One female juror placed her hand over her face as the sexually explicit photos were displayed on the screens in front of them.
Jane testified that when Combs would run out of drugs during a 'hotel night,' he'd call an assistant, a butler or one of his security guards to bring more.
She recalled a time in 2022 when Combs directed her to pick up drugs from security personnel at his Los Angeles home and fly with them to meet him in Miami. She communicated with Combs' aide Kristina Khorram about picking up the 'package' at Combs' home. Jane said she asked Khorram if this was 'safe and okay,' and Khorram said, 'It's fine I do it all the time.'
Jane flew with the drugs to Miami and later took ecstasy with Combs that she said came from the package.
Jane testified that Combs gave her drugs during the 'hotel nights' that kept her awake for longer and made it easier for her to participate in the 'fantasy.'
Jane cried and was emotional as she detailed one 'hotel night' in which she had sex with three other men, at Combs' insistence, on her birthday.
Jane said she flew to Miami in 2023 to celebrate her birthday with Combs and he told her they'd spend quality time together. When they went to dinner, Combs brought up plans for a 'hotel night,' and she reluctantly agreed to participate.
Jane said the first man who showed up that she never met before felt like a stranger and it was upsetting.
'More of an invasive moment because it was my birthday and I didn't want to do this on my birthday,' she said, crying.
After the man left, Jane and Combs moved to a different suite at the hotel and Combs 'shifted his energy' and became more loving. He had arranged for cake, flowers and balloons in the suite, and they had some alone time, she said.
But then another man came to the room for sex, and then a third man.
'I acted like it was nothing, but inside I hated it,' she said, adding between tears that she acted that way because she loved Combs.
On the stand, Jane grew very emotional while discussing the birthday. She heaved more than once as she cried, and prosecutor Maurene Comey asked her repeatedly if she needed a break. Each time Jane said no. At another point in her testimony, a box of tissues was passed to her in the witness box by the courtroom deputy.
After that birthday, Combs left her in the room and went on a private vacation with another romantic interest, Jane testified.
According to messages read aloud in court, she texted him, 'Why do you lie to me?' She wrote to him that she wanted to get off the 'hamster wheel' and said, 'I didn't want to do all of that on my birthday.'
Jane said she and Combs were on a break for about a month after that, but got back together.