Diddy trial recap: Ex-girlfriend ‘Jane’ testifies Combs paid her rent as ‘leverage’ and treated her ‘like an animal’

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the sex trafficking trial of hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs as it resumes in New York on Monday.

Combs is facing sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy charges.

He was arrested in September 2024 as federal authorities alleged he threatened, abused and coerced victims “to fulfill his sexual desires” between 2004 and 2024.

Combs has denied any accusations of wrongdoing.

Sean Combs’s ex-girlfriend “Jane” is expected to return to the stand at the hip-hop mogul’s New York trial today after delivering teary testimony last week about being pressured into fulfilling his “freaky, wild desires.”

The witness, who is known under a pseudonym to shield her identity, will testify for a third day once proceedings resume at 9am inside Manhattan federal court.

Jane, who dated Combs from 2021 to 2024, told the court on Friday that he had made her feel “obligated” to join in his “hotel nights,” in which he directed her participation in sex acts with other men, because she “loved him very deeply.”

One such session had lasted for more than three days, Janes testified. She said that she used drugs during these encounters because she “didn’t want to feel like it was too real” and revealed that she suffered health problems, including recurring UTIs and yeast infections, which she attributed to the frequent sex marathons.

Here’s Kelly Rissman’s report on Friday’s testimony.

Combs’s defense attorneys have again called for a mistrial, claiming that the testimony of Bryana “Bana” Bongolan, who accused the rapper of dangling her from a 17th-storey balcony at star witness Cassie Ventura’s home in September 2016, was “demonstrably false in key respects.”

Defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro accused Bongolan, a long-term friend of Ventura’s, of perjury, pointing to hotel receipts indicating that Combs was actually in New York, not Los Angeles, on the dates the witness cited.

“The government knew or should have known this testimony was perjured, and that Ms Bongolan could not possibly have been injured by Mr Combs on a Los Angeles balcony in the early morning hours of September 26, or even the day before that,” Shapiro wrote in a complaint over the weekend alleging prosecutorial misconduct.

Defense lawyers also pushed for a mistrial last month, without success, after prosecutors tried to ask about the destruction of fingerprint evidence related to an arson investigation into a torched sports car owned by the rapper Kid Cudi.

Prosecutors allege that Combs coordinated the firebombing of the car after Cudi began dating Ventura.

Judge Arun Subramanian swiftly rejected their arguments and the trial continued.

Here’s Kelly Rissman’s report on Bryana Bongolan’s testimony, which Combs’s defense team insist was “demonstrably false” in their call for a mistrial.

As we await the start of today’s proceedings, let’s recap another of the key moments of last week’s testimony.

Here’s Ariana Baio on “Mia,” Diddy’s former assistant, who tearfully explained, with her head hung low, that sharing the alleged sexual abuse she says she endured from her former boss had been “the worst thing” she has ever had to discuss.

“I can’t look my nieces or my goddaughter in the eyes and ever advise them if they were in this situation,” she said.

The comedian and actor was appearing at a Netflix event at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood to discuss his recent special What Had Happened Was… ahead of Emmy voting season when he made the comment.

“That Diddy s*** crazy, huh?” Foxx said.

“I don’t know if he’s going to jail but he’s a nasty motherf***er! Am I right? Especially for our community. White people, it’s cool, but for Black people, like, that was our hero! All that goddamn baby oil, boy.”

Kevin EG Perry has more.

The rapper has vowed to make Donald Trump “aware” of his thoughts about Combs after the president was asked about the possibility of his granting clemency and he answered: “Nobody’s asked, but I know people are thinking about it. First of all, I’d look at what’s happening, and I haven’t been watching it too closely… I haven’t seen him. I haven’t spoken to him in years.”

Incensed, 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, voiced his opinion on the matter on Instagram on Friday, saying: “He said some really bad things about Trump. it’s not ok. Im gonna reach out so he knows how I feel about this guy.”

Kelly Rissman has more.

Combs’s sex trafficking trial reportedly has some celebrities so nervous about the prospect of being called to testify that they’ve hired lawyers to try to prevent it.

Ariana Baio has the story.

This week’s hearings are likely to begin with Judge Subramanian weighing the defense’s mistrial call and inviting both sides to respond.

Assuming he ultimately rejects it, we are then likely to hear more from Jane about her “three door night,” as prosecutors described it in their opening statement, when Diddy allegedly broke down three doors in her home, assaulted her (leaving her with a black eye) and then made her take part in a “freak-off.”