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Diddy trial live: Diddy's team 'worried about reports of police being called to Cassie break-up confrontation'

The sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs returned for another week of evidence in Manhattan. Before the start of today's proceedings, Judge Arun Subramanian decided to dismiss a juror for allegedly giving conflicting answers. Follow the latest below.

Sean "Diddy" Combs listens as Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Foster questions Ananya Sankar during his sex trafficking trial
Image: Sean "Diddy" Combs listens as Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Foster questions Ananya Sankar during his sex trafficking trial
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What you need to know after day 24 of Diddy's trial - scroll down to catch up

A paralegal specialist and a US special agent have given evidence today.

However, the biggest news from day 24 of the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial came not from the witness stand, but from the judge before the jury had even entered the courtroom in Manhattan.

After concerns were raised about one of the jurors - Juror 6 - last week - Judge Arun Subramanian confirmed today he was dismissing him from the trial, after five weeks of evidence.

If you're just checking in, here's a round-up of all today's key updates:

  • At the start of the court day, Judge Subramanian confirmed he was dismissing Juror 6 and replacing him with one of the alternates;
  • This came after it emerged the juror, a black male, had given inconsistent answers about where he lives;
  • The judge said he had "concerns over his candour" and that it could mean he had a reason to want to be on the panel;
  • He rejected arguments from the defence that this disrupted the diversity of the jury, as the juror was replaced by a white male;
  • "The court should not, indeed cannot, let race factor into the decision of what happens," the judge said;
  • After this, the prosecution called two summary witnesses - witnesses who were not involved in the investigation into Combs but are in court to summarise text conversations and other data, and provide context to previous evidence and how it relates to the charges;
  • During testimony from a paralegal specialist, messages apparently relating to "freak offs" were presented in court;
  • These included messages from March 2016, when Combs's then chief of staff Kristina Khorram appeared to ask for a hotel room to be set up, with items requested including Gatorade, water and chicken noodle soup;
  • In another text, Khorram asked workers to fetch $4,000 in cash and to ensure a male escort was given access to a hotel room;
  • The court also heard about messages sent around the time of the bombshell civil lawsuit filed against Combs by Cassie in November 2023 - which was settled within 24 hours for a then undisclosed sum, revealed to be $20m during the trial;
  • According to an audio file of a conversation, alleged victim "Jane", who was seeing Combs at this point, told him after finding out about the lawsuit: "This is so word for word, it is crazy and it just feels sick to my stomach";
  • The following month, Jane told Khorram in a message that Combs had threatened to "expose" her and release videos, according to messages presented in court;
  • Jurors were also shown "sealed" video clips - which means they were not presented to members of the public in court;
  • The fate of another juror, who was discussed at the start of the hearing over concerns he may have spoken improperly about the case with a former colleague, was left unresolved at the end of today's session - this issue may be addressed by the judge tomorrow.

That's all for our coverage today - the trial resumes at 2pm UK time on Tuesday.

Jury dismissed for the day

Judge Arun Subramanian has now ended today's court session and dismissed the jury.

He has reminded them to return again for another day of testimony starting at 2pm UK time tomorrow.

Stay with us this evening - we'll be back shortly with a round-up of the key moments from court today.

Video evidence played for jury only

Videos entered into evidence under seal are now being played by the prosecution.

This means the jury and lawyers can see and hear what is happening, but members of the public in court cannot.

Hotel night cost $795.63, records show

The court now hears about a bill for the Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York for a night in October 2012.

Text messages showed Cassie was in contact with a male escort and told him to come the room of "Frank Black" - a code name used by Sean "Diddy" Combs, the trial has previously heard.

Combs and Ventura ran up a $795.63 bill at the hotel, according to evidence shown in court. This included $34.95 for a film, $67.24 for breakfast, and another $100.33 for refreshments.

Court shown evidence of flights for Cassie and escort - and payments by Diddy

Emily Johnson is now asking questions for the prosecution as testimony from special agent Deleassa Penland continues.

She is asked to confirm separate flight itineraries for Cassie Ventura and a male sex worker between Los Angeles and New York in December 2009, as well as American Express statements showing they were paid for by Sean "Diddy" Combs's account.

The credit card statement also shows a payment for the London Hotel in New York.

Court back in session

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.

Court breaks for lunch

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.

Special agent called to the stand

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.

'If you can't be honest with me, this doesn't work,' Diddy's former chief of staff said in text

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).

Diddy's team 'worried about reports of police being called to Cassie break-up confrontation'

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.