Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial became tense when the mogul’s ex-girlfriend pushed back at a defense attorney’s questioning over a text referencing a Chanel bag during cross-examination.
On Tuesday, the woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane Doe, had just finished reading aloud graphic text messages from November 2021 — that included setting up “hotel nights” and what she described as “fantasy talk” — before reading one in which she expressed her “frustration” that another one of his other girlfriends posted on social media about Chanel bag.
This text was “where the frustration starts,” Doe told the court. She previously testified that she had nothing “postable” from their three years together because “most” of that time with Diddy was spent in hotel rooms. Their relationship was “a chaotic whirlwind of a dark life that I wasn’t proud of” but his other girlfriends spent quality time with him, she explained to the court.
Teny Geragos, one of Diddy’s defense attorneys, suggested that Doe was upset about the bag, prompting a tense exchange.
“You didn’t get a Chanel bag?” Geragos asked. Doe quipped: “I only got trauma.”
Geragos then pressed the witness on what a Bottega bag was, hours after Doe had said the music mogul gifted her one during a trip to Turks and Caicos in February 2021. Doe sassed: “I’m sure you have one.”
The attorney asked how much a Bottega bag costs, to which Doe replied: “How much does my body cost?” After estimating the price ranges from $1,500 to $5,000, Doe asked for a break. Judge Arun Subramanian told her to answer the questions asked.
Federal prosecutors have charged the rapper with five counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty. The fiery exchange was one of several memorable moments during Tuesday’s testimony.
- Doe recalled Diddy’s favorite show was Dateline.
- In a voice-note from March 2023, Diddy told Doe he wanted to start calling her “crack pipe” because he was addicted to sleeping with her.
- On their flight to Turks and Caicos in 2023, she suggested the rapper go to Thailand for rehab after noticing his eyes looked jaundiced, his gums were gray, and his hands were shaky, Doe testified.
- The defense’s second motion for a mistrial was denied, with the judge noting that attorney Nicole Westmoreland had a “real Perry Mason moment.”
When she returned from a 10-minute break, Doe apologized to Geragos.
Earlier in the day, Doe testified that Diddy said he was “polyamorous” when they first got together. Initially she didn’t mind him dating other women, but as time went on, her feelings deepened, and it became more difficult, especially seeing that other women spent quality time with him whereas she and the rapper kept their love life private and spent a lot of time with escorts. “What was hard for me was the imbalance of treatment,” she told the court.
The defense spent the morning walking through several lofty expenses that Diddy gave her. Throughout the course of their relationship, Doe estimated the music mogul gave her $150,000, including luxurious vacations, $20,000 he invested in her dress business and $10,000 a month he spent on rent for her 5,300 square-foot home.
The defense also appeared to be trying to point out that Doe was making “adult decisions,” a term Geragos used during opening statements.
During her direct examination last week, Doe testified that Diddy bought her veneers because “he didn’t like my teeth.” She said he suggested she get nipple piercings, and took drugs after he offered. Asked whether she chose to take the drugs, Doe replied: “Mr. Combs would offer me the ecstasy and I was expected to take it.” Geragos then asked how old she was when she started the relationship; she was 35.
