Diddy trial recap: Opening statements, witness testimony center around violent incidents

Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions that some readers may find disturbing.

NEW YORK — Lawyers on both sides of Sean "Diddy" Combs' sweeping federal sex-crimes trial delivered their opening statements on May 12, and jurors heard from the first witnesses in the case who testified about violent incidents stretching over years.

Prosecutors alleged Combs lured women into romantic relationships, forced them to take part in days of drug-fueled sex parties and then blackmailed them with videos he recorded of the encounters.

Combs "viciously attacked" women when they resisted taking part in the parties, known as "freak offs" or otherwise upset him, prosecutor Emily Johnson said during her opening statement in Manhattan federal court.

"They will tell you about some of the most painful experiences of their lives. The days they spent in hotel rooms, high on drugs, dressed in costumes to perform the defendant’s sexual fantasies," Johnson said.

Several of Combs' family members were in the courtroom supporting him during the first day of witness testimony, including his mother and children. His daughters present during the proceedings left the room during some of the most graphic testimony.

Later, Combs' defense lawyer Teny Geragos countered that prosecutors were trying to twist his romantic relationships into a racketeering and sex trafficking case.

"Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case. This case is about voluntary choices made by capable adults in consensual relationships," Geragos told jurors.

One factor remained constant during the jury selection process: Potential jurors told the court over and over again that they've seen the much-talked-about video that allegedly shows Combs beating, kicking and dragging his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura Fine.

After opening statements, the 12 jurors and six alternates heard from the prosecution's first witness, Israel Florez, a former security guard, who testified he received a call for help after the incident in 2016. They later heard from Daniel Phillip, a man who said he saw Combs physically abuse Ventura Fine and who told the court he was paid to have sex with her.

Witness says he saw Combs drag Ventura Fine by her hair, hit her

Phillip, who went on to meet with Combs and Ventura Fine several more times, also detailed Cassie's condition during these alleged encounters, including one incident in which Phillip arrived at the hotel to find the woman "completely slumped over" on the couch as if she were unconscious.

In another incident, Phillip said Combs became violent with Ventura Fine after she failed to enter Combs' bedroom immediately. The man recalled that Combs threw a bottle of liquor in Cassie's direction and proceeded to drag her back to the room by her hair while she was screaming. Although Phillip was "shocked and terrified," he said he didn't intervene because "it was going through my head that if I tried to do something, I might lose my life."

Phillip said he stopped meeting up with Ventura Fine and Combs when he was no longer able to achieve sexual arousal with them after he allegedly witnessed Combs hit Cassie. Although Phillip said he told Ventura Fine that Combs was a "real danger," the woman said she was OK.

Phillip is expected return to court on May 13 to continue cross-examination.

Male stripper alleges Diddy recorded sexual encounters with Cassie

Phillip, a former male stripper who struck up an unlikely friendship with Ventura Fine, took the stand during cross-examination to testify on Cassie's violent relationship with Combs.

At the time he met Combs and Ventura Fine, Phillip was working at a male revue show between 2011 and 2015 and was a supervisor for male strippers who served female clients. Phillip said his boss sent him to the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York, where he was allegedly asked to do a strip tease for a bachelorette party.

Upon arrival, Phillip said he was greeted by Ventura Fine, who was wearing lingerie, heels, a wig and a pair of dark glasses. The woman allegedly gave Phillip $4,000 in cash and then revealed there was not a bachelorette party and instead it was just her and Combs.

Ventura Fine subsequently informed Phillip that it was her birthday and that she wanted him to give her a massage and rub her down in baby oil, the man said. The two walked over to the couch, took off their clothes and proceeded to make out, while Combs allegedly sat in the corner and masturbated during the encounter.

Phillip said he and Ventura Fine had multiple sexual encounters and that Combs recorded the pair having sex once or twice in the scope of that time. Phillip added that the rapper asked for his driver’s license, so he could take a picture of it "for insurance,” which Phillip said he perceived as a threat.

Defense presses first witness in tense cross-examination

During cross-examination, Combs' defense attorneys questioned why Florez did not mention the fact that Cassie had a purple eye in his hotel incident report, nor Combs telling her “you’re not leaving.” He filled out the report in his capacity as a now-former security officer at the Los Angeles hotel where video captured the music mogul appearing to beat then-girlfriend Ventura Fine.

The “opposite is in your report,” the defense said, citing the report as saying that “Miss CC was told to leave by Mr. Combs and she did just that.”

The defense also questioned why other details Florez testified about, such as seeing a man sitting on the bed in Combs’ room, were not in his incident report, and asked repeatedly how and why he remembers this information now.

Florez said some of these details seemed “unimportant” to include in the report. After the defense asked why law enforcement was not called, Florez said that Cassie told him not to do so. “If she refused, that’s where it ends,” he said. “We offered and they said no.”

Prosecutor Christy Slavik questions Israel Florez, a former security guard, as Sean "Diddy" Combs and U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian listen at Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., May 12, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

Hotel security officer details 2016 Cassie assault

During court testimony, Florez detailed Combs' alleged 2016 assault of Ventura Fine at a Los Angeles hotel, which resurfaced in leaked footage of the incident in May 2024.

Florez, who worked as assistant director at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel, said he received a call the morning of March 5, 2016, about a "woman in distress." He also said he saw security camera footage of a man, later identified as Combs, "pacing back and forth" in a hallway.

The prosecution played the hotel security footage multiple times, first in full and then slowed down and broken into multiple parts, including Combs stalking the hallway, Cassie trying to put on shoes and Combs striking her back, kicking her repeatedly and dragging her back into the room.

When Florez arrived on the hotel's sixth floor, the security officer alleged he saw Combs wearing a towel and socks while Ventura Fine, who was clad in a sweatshirt, was "huddled in the corner, hiding her face." The remnants of a shattered flower vase lay on the floor, he added. Regarding the pair's demeanor, Florez said Ventura Fine looked "scared" and that Combs gave him a "devilish stare" upon his arrival.

Florez testified that Ventura Fine just wanted to gather her belongings, a phone and a bag, and leave. Combs then allegedly attempted to stop Cassie's departure, telling her, "You're not going to leave." Florez said he escorted Combs back to his room and told him the damages from the incident would be charged to his room, after which Combs allegedly offered him a stack of money in exchange for staying silent about the altercation (Florez testified he declined the offer.)

Of Ventura Fine's injuries, Florez noted that the woman had a "purple eye" as she walked to the valet area of the hotel. When the security officer offered to call law enforcement, Florez said Ventura Fine told him she wanted to leave. Afterward, he said Cassie met with a 7-foot-tall driver, who asked her to come with him.

Cassie’s husband spotted at Diddy trial

Fine, who wed Ventura Fine in 2019, shares two children with the singer, with a third on the way. He is presumably there to support his wife, who will serve as one of the prosecution’s key witnesses, recounting a decade of alleged physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her ex-partner Combs. 

Alex Fine, husband of Cassie, arrives on the first day of opening argument in the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs on sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges at the U.S. court in New York City on May 12, 2025.

Jury sees violent 2016 video

Jurors in Combs' sex trafficking trial viewed a 2016 video in which the hip-hop mogul assaults his then-girlfriend, Ventura Fine, throws her to the ground in the hallway of a Los Angeles area hotel and kicks her as she tries to enter an elevator.

Prosecutors introduced the video on the first day of evidence in the high-profile trial.

Combs, wearing only a towel, is then seen grabbing Ventura Fine's belongings and dragging her into the hallway. He leaves Ventura Fine behind. She lies motionless on the ground for a moment before getting up and walking to a hotel phone mounted on the wall.

Combs returns to the scene shortly thereafter and appears to grab at the phone. He then sits in a chair opposite Ventura Fine and throws a vase in her direction, shattering it. Combs apologized after the video first aired on CNN last year.

Prosecutors call first witness in trial

As prosecutors lay out their accusations against Combs, they called their first witness in Israel Florez, a former security officer at the Los Angeles hotel where video captured the music mogul appearing to beat then-girlfriend Ventura Fine.

Florez, now a Los Angeles Police officer, testified that he received a call from a woman on the sixth floor of the hotel on the night of the 2016 incident who was in distress after encountering Combs, the Associated Press reports.

Florez has been called to introduce video footage prosecutors plan to show of the violent altercation.

Defense seeks to shape jurors' view of violent Cassie video

Prosecutors plan to display a video that appears to show Combs violently assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Ventura Fine, in a hotel hallway. They say the video took place during one of Combs' "freak offs" and is evidence that he was trafficking Ventura Fine for sex.

Geragos addressed the footage in her opening statement, calling the video "horrible," "dehumanizing" and "terrible." She said it shows domestic violence. But, she told jurors, the fight was about a phone Combs was trying to get from Cassie, not about forcing her into sex.

Prosecutors say Combs kept women under his power and trafficked them using force, fraud and coercion. But Geragos painted a picture in which Ventura Fine was entirely free.

"For Cassie, she made a choice, every single day for years," Geragos said. Ventura Fine was choosing to stay with Combs until one day she chose to leave him.

Prosecutors have said Combs used videos of women in sex acts as a form of collateral to control them. But Geragos said the only freak-off videos involving Ventura Fine that will feature in the trial came from her own phones. The lawyer suggested that was evidence the power dynamics between them ran in the opposite direction.

"Ask yourselves: Who had the power? Who had the control?" Geragos told jurors.

U.S. Marshalls sit behind Sean "Diddy" Combs as he sits at the defense table alongside lawyer Brian Steel in the courtroom during his sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., May 9, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

Defense questions motive of ex-employees, accusers set to testify against Diddy

In reference to "Mia," a former personal assistant of Combs, and other former employees expected to testify against him, Geragos asked in her opening statement: "Why are they making this allegation now?"

Other employees, Geragos said, will allege a "hostile" work environment, but she questioned why they didn't call the police at the time.

Geragos went on to claim that the accusers wanted money. Rather than go to law enforcement, she said, Ventura Fine went to a civil lawyer "for a money grab."

In reference to Combs allegedly paying a security guard at the Intercontinental Hotel so the video of him appearing to beat Ventura Fine would "go away," Geragos said Combs was "not trying to obstruct justice" but protect both him and Ventura Fine from "bad publicity."

Geragos added that drugs for both Combs and the women were for "personal use" and that the use of escort companies is "common." She ended by saying, "You’re not here to judge or impose your moral beliefs" on Combs. 

'He had a bit of a different sex life'

Geragos told jurors that the defense doesn't plan to deny Combs' personal responsibility for committing domestic violence, but said they also expect others to take personal responsibility.

She said domestic violence is illegal, but it's not what Combs is charged with in this case.

"Domestic violence is not sex trafficking. I want to say it again. Domestic violence is not sex trafficking," Geragos said.

Combs "was physical" and a drug user, Geragos said. "And he had a bit of a different sex life."

"You will see that they are capable. You will see that they are strong," Geragos said.

Combs attorney paints accusers as jealous exes 

In her opening statement, Geragos told jurors that they will see Cassie Ventura Fine and Jane Doe’s “jealousy on full display” in the trial. 

Geragos argued that Ventura Fine was jealous when she realized that she would never be Combs’ wife, while Jane Doe was jealous that the rapper did not want to be exclusive in their relationship and had other sexual partners.

“Regret does not mean coerced,” the attorney said, adding that every woman in the case had “free choice.” 

Referring to an incident where Combs allegedly went to Jane Doe’s home and beat her, Geragos told the court the altercation started when Doe “slammed his head on her kitchen counter.” Geragos also accused Doe of being “overcome by jealousy that night.” 

How has Combs been reacting in court?

Largely stoic throughout Johnson's opening statement, Combs showed a rare reaction when the U.S. attorney was laying out his alleged criminal conduct in his "freak offs."

When she explained that he would direct Ventura Fine on what drugs to take ahead of the sexual performance, Combs took a big breath and moved in his chair.

Prosecu tion says Combs punched and kicked Jane Doe less than a year ago

Johnson also told jurors about Jane Doe, who was a single mom when she met Combs in 2020. A few months after they met, Combs allegedly introduced Jane to his "freak offs."

She "thought it was a one-off wild night" but "loved him desperately" and "wanted a real relationship with him," Johnson said. Jane Doe says Combs paid her rent for a house where she lived with her child, and although she tried to resist the "freak offs," the rapper would threaten to no longer financially support her. 

Johnson said Combs came to Jane Doe’s house less than a year ago and they had an argument, where he placed her in a chokehold, lifted her by the neck and kicked her to the ground. He then allegedly continued to punch, kick, drag her by the hair and slap her face, before making her cover her black eye and have sex with an escort. 

Prosecutors say Ventura Fine forced into 'freak offs,' controlled her career

Johnson described one instance in 2009 where Combs allegedly threw Ventura Fine on the floor of an SUV and “stomped repeatedly on her face.” She will testify about another instance when she said Combs allegedly forced another escort to urinate in her mouth, Johnson said.

Ventura Fine entered her first “freak off “ reluctantly but she “loved” Combs and “wanted to make him happy,” Johnson continued. The prosecutor said “the defendant beat her viciously” whether she was taking too long in the bathroom or missed his calls or left a “freak off” early.

Combs would threaten to release videos of her with “dozens and dozens of male escorts,” Johnson said. He “had the power to ruin her life.”

Ventura Fine was 19 when she first met Combs, who was 17 years older than her.

Prosecutors have said he promised her a 10-album deal, and although she recorded music constantly, he always had a final say on which music she was able to release.

“Her livelihood and safety depended on keeping the defendant happy,” Johnson said. The prosecution said Combs and Cassie “were unfaithful and jealous,” but “only one had power.”

Prosecutors preview degree of alleged violence

As the government began laying out their argument, Johnson painted Combs as a public icon, and a private monster.

Describing one violent episode, Johnson said Combs broke into the house of a man who was seeing Ventura Fine with a gun and a bodyguard with intent to kill. While no one was home, Combs later found Ventura Fine and, “beat her brutally,” flinging “her around like a rag doll,” she argued.

Referencing the alleged “freak-offs” Johnson said Combs forced Ventura Fine to have sex on camera with male escorts and kept the tapes as blackmail. The videos, Johnson said are for Ventura Fine “souvenirs of the most humiliating nights of her life.”

Family members of Sean Combs arrive for the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs on sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges at U.S. court in Manhattan, in New York City, May 12, 2025.

Jury prepares to hear at-length about ‘freak offs’

Prosecutors told jurors to expect to see videos of Combs’ alleged "freak offs" – highly coordinated, sometimes days-long sexual performances that the music mogul is accused of orchestrating.

The "freak-offs," which officials have said were fueled by illicit substances and featured male escorts, were used in part to blackmail his ex-girlfriend, Ventura Fine.

Combs used lies, drugs, threats and violence to force the accusers to have sex in front of male escorts, Johnson told the court. She said the incidents often lasted multiple days and with multiple escorts and sometimes forced them to travel out of state.

She repeatedly said Combs directed everything and frequently had staff on hand to replenish lubricant, linens and drugs for the women and himself, as well as cash for the escorts. He “fed them drugs” such as MDMA so they could “stay awake and perform for him for hours and days on end,” Johnson said. She also told the court he often masturbated throughout the “freak offs.”

Ventura Fine is one of two accusers who form the government’s key witnesses and are expected to describe the "freak offs" in detail.

As opening arguments kick off, Cassie video takes center stage

As opening statements kicked off, a 2016 video, released by CNN appearing to show Combs beating ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura Fine in a hotel hallway, took center stage.

Prosecutors revealed they planned to show footage of the altercation, though not the video released by CNN, but rather their own compilation of clips and a recording made by a hotel employee, according to the Associated Press.

Lawyers for the government told the jury that Combs’ inner circle worked hard to conceal the video, paying one security guard  $100,000 cash in a brown paper bag, in exchange for their cooperation, per AP.

Diddy: Cultural icon, private villain, prosecutors say

Johnson said in her opening statement that Combs ran a two-decade criminal conspiracy with the help of an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees.

"To the public he was Puffy, Puff Daddy or Diddy: a cultural icon, a businessman, larger than life. But there was another side of him - a side that ran a criminal enterprise. During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant’s crimes," Johnson said.

She hit back at the defense team’s expected argument that the accusations against Combs are government intrusion into the private and consenting sexual life of an adult.

“This case is not about a celebrity’s private sexual preferences,” she told the jury, arguing it was instead about “coercive and criminal” behavior.

“For 20 years, the defendant with the help of his inner circle committed crime after crime,” she argued. As Combs’ fortune and fame grew, he expected to be treated like a king, Johnson said, and “got everything he wanted” – whether it was more drugs to fuel a “freak-off” or women who would be immediately available to him.

Previewing an exceptionally violent trial, she argued that Combs kidnapped an employee multiple times, set a man’s car on fire and dangled a woman over a balcony

Combs' defense lawyers are expected to argue that the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual, and say there was nothing illegal about a "swingers" lifestyle in which Combs and his girlfriends occasionally brought a third person into their relationships.

Combs’ children turn out to support him as trial begins

Members of Combs’ family turned out to court for the start of his sex-crimes trial.

The embattled music mogul’s mother, Janice Combs, was spotted arriving at the courthouse on May 12, as were his children Quincy Brown, Justin Combs, Christian Combs, Chance Combs, D’Lila Combs and Jessie Combs. 

Combs’ children have continued to stand by their father as he faced allegations of sexual abuse. They said in a statement released last year, "We stand united, supporting you every step of the way."

So what's next?

Now that the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates is finalized, opening statements by the government and then the defense will begin. The prosecution would then call its first witness.

Over the course of a two-month trial, jurors are expected to hear testimony from three and possibly four of the rapper's female accusers, as well as his former employees who prosecutors say helped arrange and cover up his actions.

Diddy lawyers accuse prosecutors of bias against Black jurors

"Your honor, the government has struck seven Black people out of nine strikes, which we believe amounts to a pattern," Lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo told the judge.

Prosecutors, in response, called their selections "very diverse" with "many non-white" jurors. One prosecutor ran through neutral reasons as to why they made the strikes the way they did: One juror said he had a lack of candor with past incidents with police. Another juror had "meandering and inconsistent answers," the lawyer claimed.

Another juror "tried to walk that back" her statement that Combs is likely guilty of domestic violence in her jury questionnaire by later saying that victims can jump on a "bandwagon."

The judge denied the defense's applications about the jury strikes, with Subramanian saying the defense has "failed to show purposeful discrimination."

Diddy appears upbeat as jury in sex-crimes trial selected

Combs, once again out of his jail garb, sported a light gray sweater and pants as the final jury was selected for his sex-crimes case.

Before the hearing, he pulled multiple notebooks from a bag and appeared to be taking notes throughout, seeming calm, collected and in good spirits.

At one point, he waved to someone in the gallery, and when asked if he wanted more water responded, "I could use a little more if you don't mind."

Judge won't suppress evidence from Combs' LA and Miami homes

In a second legal blow to Combs on May 9, Subramanian said he won't suppress evidence the government got from searching Combs' iCloud accounts, two cell phones, his Los Angeles and Miami homes and his own body.

Prosecutors have said law enforcement seized drugs and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant from the two homes. Such supplies were used at "freak off" parties where, at least some of time, women were forced or coerced into sex acts, according to the allegations. 

Combs failed to show the government intentionally misled a judge in order to get warrants for those searches, Subramanian said.

Judge rejects Diddy's racial bias allegations, upholds charges

Combs was hit with a major legal blow May 9, just before the defense team and prosecutors entered into their final weekend of preparation for opening statements.

Subramanian rejected Combs' request to dismiss charges that he transported people for prostitution. Those charges amount to two of the five criminal counts he faces.

Combs alleged that prosecutors brought the transportation charges against him "because of his race," and that they leaked damaging material "to humiliate" him. He offered examples of others who may have done the same thing but weren't Black and weren't prosecuted, and said his charges should therefore be thrown out.

However, Subramanian agreed with prosecutors that Combs was different from the others he pointed to, in part because of the severity of what he allegedly did: Combs is charged with sex trafficking and racketeering – not just transporting people for prostitution.

"Combs doesn't point to any evidence that racial bias played a role in the Government's actions, that the prosecution team was responsible for any leaks to the press, or that the way Combs's homes were searched bespeaks a discriminatory purpose," Subramanian added.

What is racketeering?

Racketeering is the participation in an illegal scheme under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute, or RICO, as a way for the U.S. government to prosecute organizations contributing to criminal activity.

Per Combs' indictment, prosecutors say his racketeering activity included "multiple acts of kidnapping," arson, bribery, witness tampering, forced labor, sex trafficking, transportation for the purposes of prostitution and distribution of narcotics.

His indictment emerged alongside dozens of separate civil suits suggesting a pattern of abusive behavior and exploitation spanning decades, including accusations of rape, sexual assault and physical violence.

Where can I watch the Diddy trial?

The trial will not be televised, as cameras are typically not allowed in federal criminal trial proceedings.

USA TODAY will be reporting live from the courtroom.

Contributing: USA TODAY staff; Reuters

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE & online.rainn.org).