Jury falls silent as 'freak-off' images shown in P Diddy sex trafficking trial
Jurors at P Diddy's sex-trafficking trial fell silent when they were showed images from the alleged "freak-off" sex parties hosted by the singer.
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Rapper and producer Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who is charged with an array of crimes including sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, returned to the New York court on Wednesday for the third day of his trial.
The 55-year-old's ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura also returned to the court to give evidence after spending the previous day recounting grotesque and humiliating details of life with the accused.
As well as hearing more of Ms Ventura's evidence, the court was also given binders containing still images taken from videos of the freak-off sex sessions that have been mentioned throughout the trial.
The court was told an escort featured in two images, including one with Ms Ventura, which is a still from a longer video.
Ms Ventura is also pictured with other men at freak offs, and says of one image: "There is baby oil on me and I am standing there during a freak off with a candle and lubricant on the table."
The pictures absorbed the jury's attention, as the room fell silent whilst prosecutor Emily Johnson showed the images to the court.
Combs was also seen to lean over as one of his lawyers opened the binder and even got up from his chair to get a better look at the images.
Ms Ventura, who was in an on and off relationship with the music mogul from 2007 to 2018, was asked about an alleged incident in a car after dinner at a restaurant in 2007.
Read more: Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex trafficking trial begins as rapper accused of '20 years of crime'
"He hit me on the side of my head and I fell to the floor of the Escalade," she told jurors. "I was shocked, I didn't understand what happened and why he was so angry."
Ms Ventura was also "aware" of Combs's "capabilities, his access to guns, and threats he made", the court heard.
She was also questioned on another incident in Los Angeles, where she told jurors she was called about a party at Prince's house.
She says she did not tell Combs as he would not have approved, but he showed up.
She says she caught a "glimpse" of him and "ran out as fast as I could because I thought he was angry".
Combs "came after" her, the court heard.
Ms Ventura says her memory of the incident is a "little fuzzy" but she remembers running and falling into bushes, and then getting back to her hotel in Beverly Hills.
Combs "burst" into the room, she told the court, and they had a fight.
"He beat me up," she alleges, telling the court she suffered bruising on her face.
Combs' lawyers are expected to begin their cross-examination soon- which is their opportunity to challenge her credibility or poke holes in her accounts of what happened.
During her first day of testimony on Tuesday, Cassie described being pressured into multi-day sexual encounters with paid sex workers while Combs watched and gave directions.
She also recounted being beaten numerous times by Combs when she did things that displeased him - like smiling at him the wrong way.
"You make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face," she said.
Ms Johnson picked up where she left off on Tuesday, asking Cassie about video images of Combs beating her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
The video, played in court for a fifth time on Tuesday, shows Combs hitting, kicking and attempting to drag Cassie back to their room.
She testified it happened as she was leaving one of the sex parties that Combs called "freak offs". After the footage was leaked last year, Combs apologised.
The "freak offs" took place in private, often in dark hotel rooms, unlike Combs' very public White Parties in the Hamptons that attracted A-list celebrities.
Cassie accused Combs of gaining her submission by threatening to publicly release videos of her with male sex workers, and she feared more violence if she refused his demands.
Combs' attorneys have acknowledged Combs could be violent but maintain that the sexual acts were consensual. They say nothing he did amounted to sex trafficking or racketeering - the charges that he faces.
The trial is expected to last about two months.
Prosecutors have accused Combs of exploiting his status as a powerful music executive to violently force women into drugged-up sex parties.
Cassie met Combs in 2005, when she was 19 and just at the start of a career as a singer, model and actor.
She had a hit song, Me & U, in 2006 off an album released by Combs' Bad Boy Records.
Combs, who was 37 when they met, nurtured her career early on and also became her boyfriend for a decade.
Cassie left Combs' record label in 2019 and then sued him in 2023, accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse.
The suit was settled within hours but dozens of similar legal claims followed, sparking the criminal investigation against him.
She told jurors during her testimony on Tuesday that there were loving moments during their relationship but that Combs was always controlling and often violent.
Cassie said she was 22 when Combs first asked her to do a "freak off" sexual encounter, with the first one occurring in his Los Angeles home with a male stripper.
It left her feeling dirty and confused, but relieved that Combs was happy, she said.
"It was his fantasy," she said. "He was controlling the whole situation. He was directing it."
Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted.