Prosecutors Deliver Opening Statement (Live Updates)

Topline

Prosecutors portrayed Sean “Diddy” Combs as the leader of a criminal enterprise that used physical violence and threats to sexually exploit women, including his ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, in opening statements to the jury as the rap mogul’s sex trafficking trial begins (Combs has pleaded not guilty to all five federal charges).

Sean “Diddy” Combs pleaded not guilty to five federal charges. (Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/Getty … More Images for Sean “Diddy” Combs)

Getty Images for Sean “Diddy” Combs

Key Facts

Judge Arun Subramanian finished seating the jury of 12 jurors and six alternates Monday morning, before the trial turned to opening statements, in which both the prosecution and defense will lay out their cases.

Combs arrived at the New York federal courthouse in lower Manhattan, where his mother, Janice Combs, and six of his children are present, the New York Times reported.

The first witnesses in Combs’ trial are expected to testify today, which may include his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, whom prosecutors allege Combs coerced into having sex with male prostitutes.

Ventura is referred to as “Victim 1” in the indictment against Combs, and her testimony could take up much of the trial’s first week, CNN reported.

What Did Prosecutors Say In Their Opening Statements?

Attorney Emily A. Johnson delivered the opening statement for the prosecution, telling jurors there was “another side” to Combs, aside from being a “larger than life” entertainer, that “ran a criminal enterprise.” “During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant’s crimes. But he didn’t do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and cover them up,” Johnson said, according to the AP. Among Combs’ alleged crimes were sex crimes, drugs, arson, kidnapping and bribery, Johnson said. Johnson described one night in which Combs allegedly learned Ventura was seeing another man while they were together, so he enlisted an employee to break into the man’s house, the New York Times reported, though the employee did not find the man. Instead, Combs allegedly beat Ventura “brutally.” Johnson described Combs’ “freak off” parties, which she says were also referred to as “wild king nights” or “hotel nights,” alleging Combs’ company would pay for parties and hotel rooms in which Combs would allegedly force women to take drugs and have sex with male escorts in encounters Combs sometimes recorded, the AP reported. Prosecutors said Ventura did not want to participate in Combs’ freak-off parties but did so because she learned Combs would become violent if she defied him. Johnson described multiple alleged incidents of Combs committing acts of violence, including an incident in 2009 in which he allegedly stomped on Ventura’s face, and another in which Combs grabbed an unnamed woman in a chokehold and kicked her to the ground before drugging her and coercing her into participating in a freak-off, the Times reported.

What Do We Know About The Jury?

The 12 jurors are composed of eight men and four women, the New York Times reported, with six alternates composed of four men and two women. Defense attorneys representing Combs protested some of the struck jurors to the judge, alleging the prosecutors struck seven prospective Black jurors, amounting to a pattern, the AP reported. Subramanian rejected the defense’s claim, stating the prosecution gave “race neutral reasons” for why each juror was struck and that the defense did not give evidence of discrimination. The jurors range in age from their 30s to their 70s, span jobs including a scientist, massage therapist, deli clerk and investment analyst, and they hail from Manhattan, the Bronx and Westchester County, the Times reported. Some of the jurors said they have seen a video of Combs attacking ex-girlfriend Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel, which is expected to be shown at trial. The defense previously struck a juror who said the video made Combs look like an “angry, hostile person,” the Times reported.

How Is Combs Reacting In Court?

Combs arrived at the courthouse sporting gray hair, which is no longer black as he does not have access to hair dye in jail. He is wearing a light gray sweater and a white collared shirt with khaki pants, the Washington Post reported, and he blew kisses to his family, who are seated in the second row behind him, while walking into the courthouse. Throughout the jury selection process, Combs has donned black-framed glasses and has been actively flipping through a blue notebook and whispering with his defense attorneys, the Post reported.

What Is Sean “diddy” Combs Charged With?

Combs faces five federal charges: two counts of sex trafficking, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and one count of racketeering conspiracy. The fourth and fifth charges, one additional count each of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, were added by prosecutors in April in a superseding indictment concerning an alleged unnamed victim, referred to as “Victim-2.” Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

What Do We Know About Diddy’s Defense?

Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, has indicated at pre-trial hearings he would portray the rap mogul as a “swinger” in his defense, which he argues is not a crime. “It’s relevant to the defendant’s intent that there’s a lifestyle called swingers, call it whatever you will, that he was in, that he might have thought was appropriate,” Agnifilo said at a hearing in April. Agnifilo also said at a hearing he would portray Combs’ relationship with Ventura, whom he dated off-and-on between 2007 and 2018, as mutually violent with “hitting on both sides,” after the court allowed a hotel surveillance video that shows Combs attacking Ventura to be played during trial as evidence.

What Else Do We Know About Diddy’s Trial?

Combs told the judge he rejected a plea deal in court earlier this month, though details of the deal are unknown. Combs had also attempted to delay the trial by two months so his legal team could have additional time to prepare, though Subramanian rejected his legal team’s request. While awaiting trial, Combs has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a jail known for poor conditions that has also housed disgraced crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried and currently houses Luigi Mangione, accused of the killing of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson. Combs’ legal issues began with a lawsuit filed by Ventura in November 2023, in which she alleged he raped her and subjected her to years of physical abuse. The suit was settled the next day for an undisclosed amount, though Ventura’s lawsuit kicked off a barrage of suits filed against Combs, many of which alleged sexual assault and sex trafficking. Combs has denied all allegations made against him. Federal agents raided Combs’ homes in March 2024, and he was arrested by authorities in September 2024 after being indicted by a grand jury.