Diddy's ex-girlfriend ‘Jane' tells jurors he treated her like ‘an animal'
This is a free article for Diddy on Trial newsletter subscribers. Sign up to get exclusive reporting and analysis throughout Sean Combs' federal trial.
Today, the jurors in Diddy's trial heard more emotionally wrenching testimony from a woman identified only by the pseudonym 'Jane.' She's one of Diddy's ex-girlfriends — and one of four alleged victims at the center of the U.S. government's racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking case against the music mogul.
Jane told jurors that Diddy forced her to participate in 'hotel nights' — sexual encounters with male escorts that made her feel debased. 'You treat me like an animal,' Jane said she told him in 2023. She described violent abuse, saying he once put her in a chokehold and punched her in the head. He then forced her to take drugs and perform oral sex on an escort, she told jurors.
Jane's testimony is part of prosecutors' effort to show that Diddy orchestrated a sprawling criminal enterprise to 'fulfill his sexual desires.' He has denied all the charges.
Here's what else you need to know:
Two years ago, according to prosecutors' exhibits, Jane texted Diddy that she didn't want to be 'used and locked in a room to perform and fulfill your fantasies.' The same day, she told him she didn't want to fly to New York to 'be a hoe for the millionth time' in a hotel room. Jane said she felt obliged to 'perform' sex acts that made her feel 'disgusting' in part because Diddy paid her rent.
Jane said she fainted after Cassie Ventura, another one of Diddy's ex-girlfriends, filed a lawsuit accusing him of rape and sexual abuse during a 10-year on-and-off relationship. Jane said she was struck by the similarities between their two accounts. 'I feel like I'm reading my own sexual trauma,' Jane texted Diddy in 2023.
Jane described her suicidal ideation at the end of her relationship with Diddy, adding she told him she would kill herself. In text messages, she told him she believed he would 'use' and 'break' her. When prosecutor Maurene Comey asked why she sent those texts, Jane cried so hard that it was difficult to understand her answer.
In late 2023, Diddy threatened to release sex tapes of Jane and show them to her child's father, she testified. Jane texted Diddy's then-chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, and begged her to 'talk some sense' into him, according to prosecutors' exhibits. Khorram assured Jane 'he's not going to do anything,' Jane said.
By Adam Reiss, Chloe Melas and Katherine Koretski
Jane, facing another grueling day of questions, grew visibly anguished at key moments.
Her voice cracked as she told jurors about a night in 2023 when, she said, she was instructed to meet Diddy at the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York and directed to have sex with a male escort. She wiped away tears as she recalled telling Diddy she didn't want to have sex with other men anymore. She sobbed as she recounted her reaction to Ventura's allegations against Diddy.
Diddy, wearing khaki pants and what appeared to be a white long-sleeve shirt, seemed engaged in the day's testimony. He leafed through documents in a folder this morning and regularly leaned over to chat with defense attorney Teny Geragos throughout the day. He appears to have lost considerable weight in federal detention.
Diddy's mother, Janice Combs, sat in the gallery. When she entered court, her son mouthed four words in her direction: 'I love you, Mommy.'
👨⚖️ Analysis: Far from ordinary lives
By Danny Cevallos
Jane testified today that last year she joined the OnlyFans platform, a site frequently used to create explicit content for paid subscriptions. There's nothing wrong with a government witness creating explicit content. Indeed, the witnesses who cooperate with the government are often outright criminals. Moreover, the jury will be instructed about how to assess the credibility of a witness, and the jury instructions make no distinction among sex workers, doctors or astronauts.
Credibility is determined by the jurors, and they have few limitations on their ability to make that determination. So even though they shouldn't discount Jane's testimony because she was on OnlyFans, they still might.
Jane said she joined OnlyFans because she 'wanted to reclaim having my independence and not rely on anyone and stand on my own two feet.' While the jury shouldn't discount her testimony because she may have been an OnlyFans content creator, it might discount it if it finds her reason for joining OnlyFans to be not very credible.
One juror might think there are other jobs that would allow someone to 'stand on their own two feet.' Then again, it's entirely possible that the jury could find reclaiming one's independence to be a perfectly acceptable, normal reason to join OnlyFans as a content creator.
No matter what, though, one theme of the government's witnesses who escaped Diddy's orbit is that they all lived lives that regular folks have a hard time identifying with.
🗓 What's next
Tomorrow: 'Jane' is expected to return to the stand.
BTW: Every night during Diddy's trial, NBC's 'Dateline' will drop special episodes of the 'True Crime Weekly' podcast to get you up to speed. 'Dateline' correspondent Andrea Canning chats with NBC News' Chloe Melas and special guests — right in front of the courthouse. Listen here.
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Court hears details of Diddy's apology video over Cassie assault video Jane said she was in Miami with Diddy when CNN released a video of the mogul assaulting Cassie at a hotel in Los Angeles in 2016. 'We were sleeping and one of his sons knocked on the door and said something happened,' Jane told the jury. 'I went downstairs and I could see everybody was speaking amongst each other. I sat down. I went on my phone and then I saw the video.... I saw Sean assaulting Cassie in a hotel.' Jane said she ws about to her breakfast but lost her appetite after seeing the footage. 'It was a very eerie day. I remember that Sean was huddled with his team and his family. I was primarily just alone during that day, giving everybody space,' she recalled. Jane said Diddy's team spent the day 'trying to come up some sort of sincere apology post or something regarding the video.' 'He said that that was the only time they had physical violence like that,' Jane said of what Diddy told her about the violent incident. 'He said [Cassie] was a hitter and she would hit.'
NBC News
8 hours ago
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Diddy's ex-girlfriend ‘Jane' tells jurors he treated her like ‘an animal'
This is a free article for Diddy on Trial newsletter subscribers. Sign up to get exclusive reporting and analysis throughout Sean Combs' federal trial. Today, the jurors in Diddy's trial heard more emotionally wrenching testimony from a woman identified only by the pseudonym 'Jane.' She's one of Diddy's ex-girlfriends — and one of four alleged victims at the center of the U.S. government's racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking case against the music mogul. Jane told jurors that Diddy forced her to participate in 'hotel nights' — sexual encounters with male escorts that made her feel debased. 'You treat me like an animal,' Jane said she told him in 2023. She described violent abuse, saying he once put her in a chokehold and punched her in the head. He then forced her to take drugs and perform oral sex on an escort, she told jurors. Jane's testimony is part of prosecutors' effort to show that Diddy orchestrated a sprawling criminal enterprise to 'fulfill his sexual desires.' He has denied all the charges. Here's what else you need to know: Two years ago, according to prosecutors' exhibits, Jane texted Diddy that she didn't want to be 'used and locked in a room to perform and fulfill your fantasies.' The same day, she told him she didn't want to fly to New York to 'be a hoe for the millionth time' in a hotel room. Jane said she felt obliged to 'perform' sex acts that made her feel 'disgusting' in part because Diddy paid her rent. Jane said she fainted after Cassie Ventura, another one of Diddy's ex-girlfriends, filed a lawsuit accusing him of rape and sexual abuse during a 10-year on-and-off relationship. Jane said she was struck by the similarities between their two accounts. 'I feel like I'm reading my own sexual trauma,' Jane texted Diddy in 2023. Jane described her suicidal ideation at the end of her relationship with Diddy, adding she told him she would kill herself. In text messages, she told him she believed he would 'use' and 'break' her. When prosecutor Maurene Comey asked why she sent those texts, Jane cried so hard that it was difficult to understand her answer. In late 2023, Diddy threatened to release sex tapes of Jane and show them to her child's father, she testified. Jane texted Diddy's then-chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, and begged her to 'talk some sense' into him, according to prosecutors' exhibits. Khorram assured Jane 'he's not going to do anything,' Jane said. By Adam Reiss, Chloe Melas and Katherine Koretski Jane, facing another grueling day of questions, grew visibly anguished at key moments. Her voice cracked as she told jurors about a night in 2023 when, she said, she was instructed to meet Diddy at the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York and directed to have sex with a male escort. She wiped away tears as she recalled telling Diddy she didn't want to have sex with other men anymore. She sobbed as she recounted her reaction to Ventura's allegations against Diddy. Diddy, wearing khaki pants and what appeared to be a white long-sleeve shirt, seemed engaged in the day's testimony. He leafed through documents in a folder this morning and regularly leaned over to chat with defense attorney Teny Geragos throughout the day. He appears to have lost considerable weight in federal detention. Diddy's mother, Janice Combs, sat in the gallery. When she entered court, her son mouthed four words in her direction: 'I love you, Mommy.' 👨⚖️ Analysis: Far from ordinary lives By Danny Cevallos Jane testified today that last year she joined the OnlyFans platform, a site frequently used to create explicit content for paid subscriptions. There's nothing wrong with a government witness creating explicit content. Indeed, the witnesses who cooperate with the government are often outright criminals. Moreover, the jury will be instructed about how to assess the credibility of a witness, and the jury instructions make no distinction among sex workers, doctors or astronauts. Credibility is determined by the jurors, and they have few limitations on their ability to make that determination. So even though they shouldn't discount Jane's testimony because she was on OnlyFans, they still might. Jane said she joined OnlyFans because she 'wanted to reclaim having my independence and not rely on anyone and stand on my own two feet.' While the jury shouldn't discount her testimony because she may have been an OnlyFans content creator, it might discount it if it finds her reason for joining OnlyFans to be not very credible. One juror might think there are other jobs that would allow someone to 'stand on their own two feet.' Then again, it's entirely possible that the jury could find reclaiming one's independence to be a perfectly acceptable, normal reason to join OnlyFans as a content creator. No matter what, though, one theme of the government's witnesses who escaped Diddy's orbit is that they all lived lives that regular folks have a hard time identifying with. 🗓 What's next Tomorrow: 'Jane' is expected to return to the stand. BTW: Every night during Diddy's trial, NBC's 'Dateline' will drop special episodes of the 'True Crime Weekly' podcast to get you up to speed. 'Dateline' correspondent Andrea Canning chats with NBC News' Chloe Melas and special guests — right in front of the courthouse. Listen here.
The Guardian
9 hours ago
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The federal sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs entered its fifth week on Monday as a former girlfriend of Combs resumed her testimony, telling jurors that she repeatedly told the music mogul that she didn't want to have sex with other men. The woman, testifying under the pseudonym 'Jane', dated Combs from 2021 until his arrest in September 2024. Throughout her testimony, which is in its third day, Jane has alleged that during their relationship she felt obligated and pressured to participate in the drug-fueled sex parties with hired male escorts – known as 'hotel nights' or 'freak-offs' – that she said Combs would request, direct, watch and masturbate to, and would sometimes film. Last week, Jane testified that their relationship began as loving and that she fell 'pretty head over heels' for Combs. But, she said a shift occurred in their relationship after Combs introduced his sexual fantasies involving other men and role-playing, and proposed the so-called 'hotel nights'. Jane, who has been described by prosecutors as a single mother who first met Combs in 2020, testified that she agreed to her first 'hotel night' in May 2021, wanting to please Combs, and described it as opening 'a Pandora's box'. 'It set the tone for our relationship going forward,' she said, adding that 'it was a door that I was unable to shut'. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of sex-trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. On the stand, Jane has said that throughout their relationship she repeatedly told the music mogul that she did not want to have sex with other men, but that he would dismiss and brush off her concerns. Jane said that he began paying her rent in 2023, and testified that after this, she felt 'an obligation' to participate in the sexual encounters, fearing she would lose her home where she lived with her son if she refused. (Jane has testified that Combs is still paying her rent as well as her legal fees.) Prosecutors presented a series of text messages between Jane and Combs, including some where Jane told Combs she no longer wanted to participate in the 'hotel nights'. 'It's dark, sleazy, and makes me feel disgusted with myself' Jane wrote to Combs in September 2023. 'I don't want to feel obligated to perform these nights with you in fear of losing the roof over my head.' Jane testified that at times, when she expressed 'frustration' about the 'hotel nights', Combs would call her 'crazy', or promise her quality time, or bring up the home she lived in. She also alleged on Monday that once during an argument, Combs threatened to show sex tapes of her from the 'hotel nights' to her child's father. Jane's account of the 'hotel nights' has, thus far, mirrored claims made by Combs's former girlfriend, singer Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, who testified earlier in the trial, and described similar sexual encounters she said Combs called 'freak-offs'. Jane told the court on Monday that when she read the civil lawsuit filed by Ventura against Combs in November 2023, she was shocked, adding that the allegations 'resembled' her own experiences. 'I almost fainted, in fact, I think I did,' Jane said. A few days after the lawsuit was filed, Jane texted Combs, saying: 'I feel like I'm reading my own sexual trauma.' Combs's lawyers have argued that the women who participated in the 'freak-offs' or 'hotel nights' did so consensually and that the encounters were part of a 'swingers lifestyle'. Jane's testimony is still continuing as of Monday afternoon, and Combs's lawyers are expected to begin cross-examining Jane this week. Separately, over the weekend, Combs's legal team filed a second mistrial motion, alleging prosecutorial misconduct and accusing the prosecutors of presenting 'materially false' testimony. The motion centers around the testimony of Bryana Bongolan, a longtime friend of Ventura's, who testified last week that in September 2016 Combs dangled her from a 17th floor apartment balcony in Los Angeles, which she said resulted in injuries. During the cross-examination, Combs's legal team presented hotel records showing that Combs was in New York at the time of the alleged incident. 'In this trial the government has presented testimony that it knew or should have known was materially false related to its allegation that Mr Combs dangled Bryana Bongolan from the balcony of Cassie Ventura's apartment in September 2016' Combs's lawyers wrote in the mistrial motion filed on Saturday. 'Accordingly, to avoid an unfair conviction in this case the Court should grant a mistrial.' Judge Arun Subramanian gave the government until Tuesday to respond. Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organizations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at
