Everything revealed in the Diddy trial so far

Here’s a rundown of the allegations revealed on the first day of the trial:

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The sex trafficking trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs began in New York on Monday, following his arrest seven months ago.

NBC News described a “circus-like atmosphere” around the courtroom, with at least 20 fans of the hip hop star camping overnight alongside dozens of cameras and spectators.

The hip hop star will be tried for five criminal counts over the next eight to 10 weeks: one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Diddy has vehemently denied these allegations.

Here’s a rundown of the allegations that were revealed on the first day of the trial:

An ‘inner circle’ of employees

In her opening statement, prosecutor Emily Johnson said that Diddy ran a criminal enterprise facilitated by an “inner circle” of employees.

She alleged that Diddy made an employee drive him to the home of a man he believed to be romantically involved with his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

Johnson alleged that when Diddy found Ventura “he beat her brutally, kicking her in the back and flinging her around like a rag doll.” She told the juror that Diddy “threatened her and said if she defies her again he will release video of her having sex with male escorts.”

Janice Combs, mother of Sean Combs, and other family members leave on the first day of Diddy’s trial

REUTERS

Alleged bribery

The prosecution alleged that Diddy and his bodyguards tried to cover up surveillance video of him assaulting Ventura in an LA hotel hallway in March 2016, attempting to "get what they thought was the only copy.”

She alleged that Diddy gave "a brown paper bag full of $100,000 in cash" to a security guard named Israel Florez to "broker a deal."

Florez, now a Los Angeles Police Department officer, testified that he was on shift at the InterContinental hotel on the day that Ventura was allegedly assaulted.

He said that he was called to a woman in distress on the sixth floor of the building and recognized Diddy, who was in a towel. Florez said he did not recognize Ventura at the time, but observed that she was “scared.”

"She was in the corner, hood on, covered up. I couldn't see her face, she was pretty much in the corner. On the floor was a destroyed flower vase."

"I started to leave and (Combs) called for me," Florez said. "He had a sack of money and he threw it at me and said, 'Don't tell anyone.'"

Florez testified that Diddy tried to take the phones of hotel security guards.

"He came to the door, closed the door behind him, he grabbed the phone my colleague was holding because he thought he was being recorded. He eventually gave the phone back," Florez said.

"We said we are not recording you and de-escalated the situation," he added.

Florez said that when Diddy attempted to grab his phone, he pinned him to the wall.

Florez also testified that he took some cellphone videos, including one in which he is motioning for Ventura to enter a room. He said he took the video to show his wife, as he thought she wouldn’t believe him if he told her what had happened.

Cassia Ventura allegedly experienced years of abuse

The prosecution alleged that Ventura, Diddy’s ex, tried to run away from years of abuse that endured between 2006 and 2018. Diddy allegedly threatened her with the release of videos of sex acts that he’d forced her to participate in.

Ventura was allegedly forced to participate in “freak offs” — sex parties that involved sex workers which would last for days and involved drugs.

“Cassie tried her first freak off because she loved him and wanted to make him happy... If Cassie didn’t do what he wanted, the consequences were severe,” Johnson said.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson points to Diddy before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian at his sex trafficking trial

REUTERS

However, the defense told a different story. They said that Ventura ended her relationship with Diddy after realising that she would "never" mean as much to him as his former girlfriend, Kim Porter.

Porter died from pneumonia in 2019.

"When Combs said Kim Porter was his soulmate, Cassie realised all the things she would not be, she wanted to be Combs’ wife," Diddy's lawyer Teny Geragos said.

She added that Ventura left Diddy on her own terms after coming to the conclusion that "she would never be that, never be his wife, never be his love of his life.”

The defense said that Diddy’s accusers were not forced into sex acts, nor did he pay sex workers to travel for commercial sex acts.

Instead, Geragos said that the alleged victims, including Ventura, were incentivized to “lie” in pursuit of a “money grab.”

"They will tell you they were victimized. Ask yourself, what is their motive?" Geragos asked. "The answer is simple: money."

Daniel Philip, sex worker, provides testimony

Daniel Philip, who worked as a male escort, appeared as a witness, confirming that he was paid money to have sex with Ventura around 2012.

He said he was paid thousands of dollars to have sex with her and rub baby oil on each other while Diddy sat in a corner and masturbated. He said that Diddy would instruct him how to have sex with Ventura.

Philip alleged that Diddy made it clear that he should keep quiet about what was happening.

“He asked for my driver's license and took a picture of it and said, 'It's just for insurance,' that if I spoke about it to anybody, I understood it to be that he was threatening me," he said.

Philip said on one occasion, he saw Diddy assault Ventura because she didn't come to his side when he called for her.

“Someone was being slapped around and slammed around the room," Daniel Phillip said

REUTERS

"I heard him yell out, 'Babe, come here,'" Phillip said, explaining that Cassie had asked for a moment while she finished work on her computer.

"Combs came out of the room and I saw a liquor bottle fly past her and hit the wall," Philip said. "He grabbed her by her hair and dragged her by the hair into the bedroom. She was screaming and he pulled her into the bedroom. And what I heard sounded like him slapping her."

He said that Diddy said: "'B---- when I tell you to come, you come now, not later.'"

Philip said there was another occasion where he could hear Ventura yelling “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” from a bedroom at the Essex Hotel.

“Someone was being slapped around and slammed around the room," Phillip said. "And I looked around the corner and I saw Mr Combs walk out of the hotel altogether without clothes, he might have had a towel on."

He said Ventura then ran out of the room and jumped into his lap, trembling and scared.

Single mum among alleged victims

Prosecutors allege that Diddy forced a single mother, “Jane,” to have unprotected sex with escorts and do drugs. The pair met in 2020, according to Johnson.

"She wanted the escorts to wear condoms, but he would not let them. Then he would make her take drugs; she broke down and took ecstasy," Johnson said.

"One time she vomited, he told her to hurry up and get back in the room where an escort was waiting."

Diddy’s assistant “Mia” will appear in trial

Prosecutors told the jurors that Diddy’s assistant, “Mia” (a pseudonym), will play a role in the trial.

"She is just beginning to grapple with the times he forced himself on her sexually. She wanted to keep the secret to her grave," Johnson said.

"They worked punishing hours for the defendant without sleep... They were expected to keep quiet of what they saw and heard in the defendant's homes.”

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