The sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs is back for another week of evidence in Manhattan. Judge Arun Subramanian has decided to dismiss a juror for allegedly giving conflicting answers. Follow the latest below.
Monday 16 June 2025 19:00, UK
Jurors are back from their lunch break and special agent Deleassa Penland has returned to the stand to continue her testimony.
During the break, prosecutors told Judge Arun Subramanian that Penland's testimony is expected to take the rest of the day.
Special agent Deleassa Penland is answering questions about travel records showing the dates, locations and attendees at "meetings".
Prosecutor Emily Johnson asks Penland to review flight records of a male escort the court has previously heard was hired to engage in "freak offs" with Sean "Diddy" Combs and Cassie Ventura, as well as text messages between him and Combs from December 2009.
These appear to show Combs making plans for him to travel between New York and Los Angeles to "party" for a weekend, and the special agent confirms a meeting took place at the London Hotel in LA between 11 and 14 December 2009.
This questioning appears to relate to the two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution that Combs is facing.
Penland is not on the stand for very long before today's lunch break is called.
The hearing resumes at 6.30pm UK time - we'll be back with updates then.
Testimony from Ananya Sankar, a paralegal specialist for the US Attorney's Office, has now finished and she has left the witness stand.
Sankar was a summary witness called by the prosecution to go over evidence she reviewed for the court.
The next witness is US Attorney's Office special agent Deleassa Penland.
She tells jurors she investigates federal crimes but did not work directly on this case. Penland was tasked with reviewing the Combs investigation's charts and data, the court hears.
Text messages entered into evidence now jump back to November 2023, when Cassie Ventura filed her lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs (see 16.30 and 16.43 posts).
A message sent by Combs's then chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, at around this time, seemed to show some friction between the pair.
"If you cannot be honest with me this doesn't work," she told him, according to the messages. Combs "keeping things" to himself put them in the "situation we are all in right now", she added.
It's not clear exactly what the messages are referencing, though they were notably sent around the time Cassie filed the lawsuit and as Combs's relationship with "Jane" was breaking down.
Earlier today, the court heard how Jane sent Combs a message saying "this is so word for word" after Cassie's lawsuit was filed (see 15.45 post).
The court is now hearing about text messages from 18 August 2016, which show Sean "Diddy" Combs's team appeared worried about impending reports of him and Cassie Ventura breaking up in a confrontation that involved police.
The former couple were together on and off from 2007 to 2018, jurors have heard previously - and Cassie accused Combs of violence throughout their time together during her testimony at the beginning of the trial.
The Combs team was particularly concerned about how US entertainment site TMZ would report on the incident, the text messages show, but Combs's then chief of staff Kristina Khorram was ultimately relieved by what was published.
"It's better than it was鈥� definitely could have been worse," Khorram wrote in a text message to Combs's PR strategist.
TMZ ran an article headlined "Diddy & Cassie: Cops Called After Breakup Argument" on 19 August 2016.
The court continues to hear about messages sent after Cassie Ventura's lawsuit was filed in November 2023, accusing Sean "Diddy" Combs of rape, violence, and plying her with drugs to take part in sex sessions with male escorts during their on-off 11-year relationship.
Combs attempted to get in touch with "Mia" - a former employee and another alleged victim of the hip-hop mogul, who accused him of sexual assault during testimony given under a pseudonym earlier in the trial - by calling and texting her several times in the months afterwards, jurors hear.
Phone records show that in February 2024, Combs called Mia at least six times in one day before messaging her to apologise for "blowing up" her phone. He told her he needed to "clear up a few things", the message showed.
Around the same time, evidence showed Combs's security guard D-Roc messaging Mia and offering her a gift, although she said she didn't ask for anything.
Cassie's lawsuit was filed in November 2023 and federal agents raided Combs's homes in Los Angeles, California, and Miami, Florida, in March 2024. He was arrested and jailed in September 2024, ahead of this trial.
Jurors are now being shown more messages, this time between Sean "Diddy" Combs and his former security guard Damion "D-Roc" Butler.
D-Roc messaged Combs on 18 November 2023, the court hears, saying: "I need to hear your voice bro, love you."
Combs replied the following day: "Thank you for checking on me really appreciate it, love you."
This was in the days after Combs's former partner and alleged victim Cassie Ventura filed her bombshell civil lawsuit against the hip-hop mogul.
Here is a reminder of how the allegations and charges against Combs unfolded.
The hearing has resumed and Meredith Foster is asking questions for the prosecution.
Testimony will continue from paralegal specialist Ananya Sankar - a summary witness who is in court to help provide context to some of the evidence heard during the first five weeks of the trial so far, and how it relates to the charges against Sean "Diddy" Combs.
The hip-hop mogul faces one charge of racketeering conspiracy, two charges of sex trafficking, and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.
His trial began on 12 May, and today is the first day of week six. The prosecution is expected to conclude its case in the next few days - making way for Combs's legal team to present theirs.
So far today, Sankar has testified about messages sent between former members of Combs's staff, as well as to and from alleged victims Cassie Ventura and "Jane".
Jurors have been sent out of the courtroom in Manhattan for a short break.
We'll be back with updates once today's testimony resumes.
We are moving forward to November 2023 now, when the court hears alleged victim "Jane" sent a message to Kristina Khorram saying: "I am not doing any more hard partying, no more hotel nights鈥� so I hope he's not expecting because I just can't."
During their testimony, both Cassie Ventura and Jane told the court they were coerced into having sex sessions with male escorts, which would sometimes last for several days, during their relationships with Combs.
The hip-hop mogul referred to these sessions as "freak offs" with Cassie, and "hotel nights" or "debauchery" with Jane, the trial has heard. He and Cassie dated on and off between 2007 and 2018, while he and Jane dated on and off from 2021 up until his arrest in September 2024.
The court also hears about audio files of a conversation between the rapper and Jane from 17 November 2023. This was just after Cassie filed her civil lawsuit against Combs, which was settled within 24 hours for a then undisclosed sum - revealed to be $20m during this trial.
After reading about the lawsuit, Jane told Combs: "I don't know what I'm feeling... this is so word for word, it is crazy and it just feels sick to my stomach."
In December 2023, the court hears, Jane said in a message to Khorram: "He said he would expose me and send videos to my baby daddy... I am traumatized by my time with him."
Khorram told Jane she had not seen Combs in two days and would call her.
This appears to show Khorram was aware of his alleged blackmail threats, which both Jane and Cassie have claimed he made.
