Live Updates: Cassie to Testify About Hotel Clash With Sean Combs During Sex-Trafficking Trial
At trial, Sean Combs will be represented by a large and varied defense team — one that has grown even larger and more varied in recent days.
Since early in the government's investigation, Mr. Combs has retained Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos of the firm Agnifilo Intrater.
Mr. Agnifilo is a longtime criminal defense attorney who has represented high-profile figures like the former pharma executive Martin Shkreli; Keith Raniere, the leader of the Nxivm sex cult; and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, who in 2011 was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York. (The case against Mr. Strauss-Kahn was dismissed before a trial.) Along with Karen Friedman Agnifilo, his wife, Mr. Agnifilo is also part of the defense team for Luigi Mangione, who has been charged with murder in the killing of a health care executive.
In and out of the courtroom, Mr. Agnifilo has been perhaps the strongest voice in Mr. Combs's defense. At a hearing last month, he reiterated the defense's argument that Mr. Combs's 'freak-offs' — sexual encounters that the government contends were coerced — were consensual, with Mr. Combs's ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura a willing participant. 'Call it 'swingers,' call it whatever you will,' Mr. Agnifilo said.
In media interviews, he has called the case an 'unjust prosecution' and said that Mr. Combs is 'an imperfect person but is not a criminal.'
Mr. Agnifilo was a longtime lawyer at the firm Brafman & Associates but left last year to help start Agnifilo Intrater. With him, he brought Ms. Geragos, whose father is Mark Geragos, the celebrity lawyer who has represented Mr. Combs in the past. Ms. Geragos has also spoken publicly about the case, including in a series of TikTok videos that she posted before Mr. Combs was arrested in September.
The team also includes Alexandra Shapiro, a prominent appellate court lawyer at the firm Shapiro Arato Bach who was once a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, which is prosecuting the Combs case. She graduated from Columbia Law School and was one of the first clerks for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court. She also wrote a novel, 'Presumed Guilty.'
Ms. Shapiro is widely recognized for her success rate at trial and on appeals. 'If you want to maximize your chances of either prevailing at trial or on appeal against the S.D.N.Y., then you should call Alexandra Shapiro (if you can afford her),' the legal newsletter Original Jurisdiction wrote last year.
Given her specialty, Ms. Shapiro may be keeping a close eye during the trial on any issues that might be useful if the defense appeals a verdict.
Mr. Combs's defense also includes Jason Driscoll of Shapiro Arato Bach and Anna Estevao of Harris Trzaskoma.
In the last few weeks, Mr. Combs has added several other lawyers.
Most prominent is Brian Steel, who defended the rapper Young Thug in a long-running racketeering trial in Georgia. Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, pleaded guilty to participating in criminal street gang activity, and was released with time served. But Mr. Steel — who was recently profiled in The New Yorker — drew wide notice, in legal circles and beyond, for a courtroom showdown where he accused a judge of improperly meeting with a witness. He was held in contempt but later vindicated when the judge was ordered to recuse himself from the case.
Mr. Combs's team has also recently added Xavier Donaldson, a New York lawyer whose LinkedIn profile describes him as 'litigator, professor, speaker, crisis manager,' and Nicole Westmoreland, who represented one of Young Thug's co-defendants in his trial.
In April, Mr. Combs's legal team asked for a two-month delay of the trial to consider what it said was newly produced evidence by the government. The judge denied the request, noting that Mr. Combs had four law firms working for him, giving him ample resources to prepare.
Since then, Mr. Combs has added two more.
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Sean Combs Allegedly Told Ex ‘I Can't F-cking See That' While She Cried After Freak-Off
One of Sean Combs' ex-girlfriends and second alleged sex-trafficking victim testified that the mogul once told her, 'I'm high and I can't fucking see that' while she cried in the shower after a freak-off. The woman, identified by the pseudonym Jane and listed as Victim-2 in the Combs indictment, returned to the stand Friday, June 6, for her second day of testimony. The single mother, who dated Combs from January 2021 until his September 2024 arrest, previously told the court that she 'fell head over heels' for Combs during a passionate, whirlwind romance, before he sprung the freak-offs on her and opened 'a Pandora's box in the relationship.' More from Rolling Stone Sean Combs Is No Longer Allowed to Nod at the Jury Sean Combs' Second Alleged Victim Says First 'Freak-Off' Opened 'Pandora's Box' Woman Recalls Sean Combs' Alleged Threat: 'I'm The Devil, And I Could Kill You' While on the stand Friday, Jane opened up about the harrowing experience of participating in the freak-offs, the highly choreographed, drug-fueled sexual encounters (also known as 'hotel nights') that Combs allegedly orchestrated with male escorts (referred to as 'entertainers'). She described one freak-off in Miami where she was so high, she kept blacking out. In the shower with Combs afterward, Jane testified, she said she began to cry, then claimed Combs responded: 'Don't fucking do this right now. I'm high and I can't fucking see that, I'm too high.' Jane said she also broke down after a freak-off early on in their relationship, when she thought she would have a one-on-one date with Combs, only for her to end up having an encounter with an escort for 18 hours. When it ended, Jane said Combs told her he had to leave, and she began to cry. 'He said, 'Are you crying?'' Jane recalled of Combs. 'And just looked, like, disgusted with my face.' Several years into their relationship, Jane finally confronted Combs about the freak-offs and told him she no longer wanted to do them. She read a text she sent Combs in September 2023, in which she told him, 'It's hurting me'; 'It's dark, sleazy and makes me feel disgusted with myself'; 'I don't want to play this role anymore. I'm so much more than this'; and, 'I feel like it's the only reason you have me around and pay for the house.' Combs allegedly responded: 'Girl, stop.' At one point that same year, Jane said she grew worried about Combs' health and encouraged him to take a month off from drugs. He allegedly agreed on the condition they throw a 'sobriety party' at a hotel in Beverly Hills. Jane said she participated in the freak-off without drugs, struggling over the course of the encounter, which lasted between 12 to 18 hours. Despite it being a 'sobriety party,' she said, Combs used ecstasy and cocaine. After having sex with two entertainers, Jane said she began to throw up. 'Sean came in and I told him I had just thrown up,' Jane testified. 'And he was like, 'That's good, you'll feel better. Let's go, the third guy is here.'' Jane fought back tears during much of her emotional testimony, while prosecutor Maurene Comey appeared to position herself in such a way as to shield Combs from Jane's view. Combs, for his part, sat back and appeared unfazed. He occasionally took quick glances at the jury as well, something Judge Arun Subramanian warned him about during court yesterday. Jane's testimony Friday also marked the first time the court and jury heard recorded footage from a freak-off Several of Combs' victims, including Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura have testified that Combs regularly recorded these encounters, and sometimes threatened to release them as blackmail material. The recording presented to the court contained only audio, including a conversation between Jane, Combs, and a man named Don while sensual music thumped in the background. Jane was heard asking Don to wear a condom, and while Don agreed, Combs then walked into the room and intervened. Jane said she often asked the sex workers to use condoms, but eventually stopped because Combs didn't like it. 'He did not want to see a rubber while watching, she testified, per reports. At one point, Comey asked Jane why she needed Combs permission to have a sexual partner wear a Condom, she replied that she was 'still trying to process that.' Throughout her testimony, Jane discussed the various ways Combs and his staff allegedly coerced or forced her into doing things she was not comfortable with — a dynamic that's at the heart of the state's case against Combs. Along with her participation in the freak-offs, this also included, Jane testified, instances where she was asked to fly with drugs for Combs. For instance, Jane alleged, Combs once told her to fly with a pack of drugs from Los Angeles to meet him in Miami. Jane said she asked Combs' former chief of staff Kristina Khorram if this was 'safe and OK,' to which Khorram allegedly replied, per reports, 'It's fine, I do it all the time, just put it in your check[ed] in luggage.' Although Jane said her first freak-off with Combs in May 2021 was a spontaneous and fun sexual encounter that left her 'exhilarated,' she believed that it was a one-time, taboo experience. But Jane said from that point on, 90 percent of her sexual encounters with Combs involved her having sex with another man in front of him. 'I truly felt that that night just opened like a Pandora's box in our relationship. It just completely set the tone for our relationship moving forward,' Jane testified during her first day on the stand. 'I meant that it was just a door that I was unable to shut for the remainder of the relationship.' Prosecutors previously claimed Combs' manipulation of Jane went beyond financial control into threats and physical violence. They've said Combs busted down doors to get to Jane, dragged her by her hair, and kicked her while she was curled up in a ball on the ground. (Ventura previously testified that Combs used threats and physical violence to coerce her into hundreds of freak-offs during their 11-year relationship that ended for good in 2018.) 'The defendant continued asking Jane to have freak-offs and promising that if she did, they would spend quality time together, they would go on dates together, they would go on trips,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson said on the first day of Combs' trial last month. 'That was what Jane wanted more than anything, a real relationship … But even though the defendant promised her quality time and trips, he never delivered. Those were just lies he told her to get more nights in dark hotel rooms with escorts.' Prosecutors have indicated they only began speaking with Jane in January, after they uncovered text messages she sent Combs in the days after Ventura's lawsuit was filed in November 2023. 'It makes me sick how three solid pages, word for word, is exactly my experiences and my anguish,' she texted Combs. Combs allegedly responded by gaslighting Jane and making a vague reference to her financial support, so their dating relationship continued into 2024, prosecutors said. In the defense's dueling opening statement, Combs' lawyer, Teny Geragos, sought to set Jane apart from Ventura. She told jurors that by the time Combs started seeing Jane, 'he was more upfront about his dating life,' including the fact that he was dating multiple women. Geragos said Jane also was older and more mature than Ventura, 'living her own life in a different state raising her child.' Geragos said that after Jane's first experience with a freak-off, 'she began to do everything possible to make these nights incredible for Combs.' Geragos suggested Jane 'made the choice' to engage in freak-offs 'out of love.' More than two dozen witnesses already have testified at Combs' trial, which is now at the close of its fourth week. Prosecutors have called multiple former assistants, alleged male escorts, and even Scott Mescudi, the musician and actor known as Kid Cudi, to support their allegations Combs used his wealth, influence, and inner circle to carry out crimes aimed at fulfilling his sexual desires and protecting his reputation. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
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Sean 'Diddy' Combs' ex-girlfriend testifies he rebuffed pleas that escorts wear condoms
By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sean "Diddy" Combs twice rebuffed a former girlfriend's requests that male entertainers wear condoms when having sex with her as Combs watched, the woman said on Friday during often tearful testimony at the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial. The woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her privacy, said Combs would "guilt trip" her when she asked that the entertainers wear condoms during their frequent, lengthy sexual encounters. The sexual interactions resembled what another one of Combs' exes, Casandra Ventura, referred to as "Freak Offs" during her testimony last month. Jurors in the Manhattan federal court trial heard an audio recording in which Combs intervened after Jane asked a male entertainer named Don if he had a condom. As the recording was played, Combs rapidly tapped his fingers against his leg while seated at the defense table. "Why didn't you just insist that Don wear a condom?" prosecutor Maurene Comey asked. "Because I just didn't want to disappoint my lover," Jane responded, referring to Combs. Jane said she and Combs dated from 2021 through 2024. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts including racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. Prosecutors say he coerced women over two decades to take part in elaborate, drug-fueled sexual performances during Freak Offs over two decades. The Bad Boy Records founder's defense lawyers have acknowledged that Combs was occasionally abusive in domestic relationships, but say the women who took part in Freak Offs did so consensually. During the first day of her testimony on Thursday, Jane said she was "head over heels" for Combs and wanted to have a one-on-one relationship with him, but that starting five months into their relationship most of their time together involved sexual interactions with male escorts in hotels. Jane said that when she told Combs she wanted those encounters to stop, he threatened to stop paying her rent. On Friday, Jane frequently sobbed and dabbed her eyes with a tissue as she told jurors how Combs would encourage her to keep going even after she grew tired during the encounters, which she said often lasted 24 hours or more. She recounted one instance in which she broke down crying after Combs said he had to leave following an encounter with an entertainer, despite having promised Jane a one-on-one date night and that the entertainer would be there for "just a little bit." "I hung onto those words, just a little bit," Jane said. "I was feeling terrible that he was going to leave me alone." Combs' defense lawyers are expected to cross-examine Jane next week. They may focus on sexually explicit text messages that she sent Combs in between their encounters to show she was a willing participant in their relationship. Combs has been in federal lockup in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest. He could face life in prison if convicted on all counts.
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Sean ‘Diddy' Combs says he looks like a ‘koala' in courtroom sketches
Before the jury in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial returned from a lunch break on Thursday, the gray-bearded hip-hop mogul turned to face courtroom sketch artist Jane Rosenberg in the first row to make an unusual request. 'Soften me up a bit, you're making me look like a koala bear,' Combs said, according to Rosenberg. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to five criminal counts of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. During the four weeks of his trial, he has worn sweaters and sported graying hair and a goatee. 3 Sean 'Diddy' Combs watches during cross examination of Cassie Ventura's friend Bryana Bongolan during his sex trafficking trial in New York City in a sketch by Jane Rosenberg. REUTERS Rosenberg, a well-known sketch artist, has been documenting the proceedings for Reuters in Manhattan federal court, where photography and video recording are prohibited. Combs, also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is not the first high-profile defendant to remark on Rosenberg's depictions of them. Earlier this year, Rudy Giuliani told Rosenberg she had made him look like his dog. The former New York City mayor was in court in a civil case stemming from his false accusations that two election workers helped steal the 2020 U.S. presidential election for Democrat Joe Biden. And in 2023, Donald Trump Jr. had a blunt request for Rosenberg during a civil fraud trial over his family's real estate business: 'Make me look sexy.' 3 Jane Rosenberg, law court sketch artist, has also documented Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump Jr, who have commented on her work. Stefano Giovannini 3 Combs watches proceedings near portraits of himself and former girlfriend Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura during his sex trafficking trial. REUTERS Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts in the trial. He has nonetheless demonstrated good spirits during some breaks in the trial, often making a heart gesture with his hands toward family seated in the front row. But his behavior in court drew a rebuke on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. The judge said he had noticed Combs nodding in the jury's direction during his lawyer's cross-examination of a witness. Subramanian said that was 'unacceptable' and threatened to kick Combs out of the courtroom if he sought to interact with the jury again.
