June 16, 2025 - Day 24 of testimony in the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial

Our live coverage has ended. You can scroll through the posts below to read more about today’s testimony.

For the first time, the jury was shown actual video of the explicit sexual encounters. Previously, the jury had only seen still images and heard audio of the encounters.

The jury was shown clips from three videos created in October 2012, October 2014, and December 2014, totaling just over two minutes. Jurors, the judge, the witness, and the parties wore headphones. The lawyers were not shown the videos because the monitors are visible to the gallery, where members of the public and press are seated.

Most jurors remained stone-faced while the explicit videos played. One female juror put her hand over her eye, as she had done before, while another appeared to wince.

After the jury was let go for the day, defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro asked Judge Arun Subramanian what was said to the other jurors about juror No. 6, whom the judge dismissed this morning.

Subramanian said he’d find out and tell the attorneys tomorrow morning.

The jury has been dismissed for the day.

Special agent DeLeassa Penland will continue on direct examination Tuesday morning.

The prosecution indicated that Brendan Paul, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant, will invoke his Fifth Amendment right Tuesday morning, so he’ll be testifying under an immunity order.

Paul will testify after Penland.

The jury saw messages Cassie Ventura sent to a man called “Dave” on October 21, 2013, asking him to come to a hotel room around 1 a.m. Dave texted her “thanks lol” around 8 a.m. the following day. Shortly before 8 a.m., Ventura texted another man, Daniel Phillip, asking him to wait a few more minutes.

On October 22, 2013, Ventura texted Combs, “You didn’t film anything on your phone, rt?”

“No,” Combs responded. “No way.”

The jury saw text message exchanges of Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie Ventura setting up a “Freak Off” with four men in January 2013 to “celebrate Christmas.” Combs texted Ventura, “Wanna celebrate Christmas and have a freak off tomorrow or Friday?”

Ventura texted with the man who runs an escort service to arrange for one escort and personally texted with others to set up staggered arrival times on January 11 and January 12, 2013.

One of the escorts texted Ventura, “Hello star … this is Santiago, I hope we can do another voyeur encounter again” and “I really want to do this again with you guys.”

The jury was shown a travel invoice sent to Bad Boy Entertainment for a flight for Cassie Ventura from L.A. to NYC on October 10, 2012.

Special agent DeLeassa Penland then read some messages between Ventura and Sean “Diddy” Combs on October 13, 2012.

“You ready for tonight?” Combs asked her.

Ventura responded “yes,” but she needed to get something.

“Man, you had all day. All day. It’s always something,” Combs wrote back in the messages.

The jury then saw messages Ventura sent separately to two men discussing times to meet and giving them information for a hotel room in New York. The invoice for that hotel room was reserved under the name “Janet Clark” and paid in cash.

One of the men texted Ventura in the early morning hours of October 14, indicating he was in another room. The jury also saw the invoice for that room, which was reserved under the name “Frank Black” and paid for both in cash and with an AmEx.

Several videos recorded on October 14 were recovered from one of Ventura’s devices. The jury watched some of these videos, but the public was not able to see them.

With special agent DeLeassa Penland on the stand as a summary witness, the jury saw more records to support a purported December 2009 “meeting” between Sean “Diddy” Combs, Cassie Ventura and an escort named Jules at the London Hotel in New York City.

The records included those for flights and hotels for that weekend that were paid for with Combs’ American Express card. The records showed that Combs paid for flights for Ventura and Jules, and a room at the hotel.

The judge is on the bench, and DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, is back on the stand.

The jury is entering now.

While the prosecution has called over 30 witnesses, the case against Sean “Diddy” Combs has primarily relied on a handful of people who have accused the hip-hop mogul of sex trafficking, prostitution, kidnapping, arson, forced labor and more.

These people include:

Here’s a closer look at these key witnesses, what they said on the stand, how their allegations against Combs are tied to the charges and the defense’s counterpoints.

Day two of the Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial in New York City where Cassie Ventura, the former girlfriend of Combs and one of his accusers, took the stand Monday.

Related article These are the key witnesses who testified against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs so far

The jury has been dismissed for a lunch break. Proceedings are expected to resume around 1:45 p.m. ET.

The prosecution indicated the current summary witness will testify through today, and likely into tomorrow morning.

Brendan Paul, Combs’ former assistant, is expected to testify tomorrow and take most of the day. The prosecution’s final witness, a law enforcement agent, is expected to testify most of Wednesday before the prosecution rests.

The trial will take a day off on Thursday. Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo indicated three witnesses are lined up to begin the defense’s case Friday. That is expected to include Vashta Dunlap, a human resources chief for Combs’ company, the defense indicated.

Court is expected to break for today around 3 p.m. ET.

Special agent DeLeassa Penland walked the jury through a summary chart that shows the date, location, attendees, and travel records related to different “meetings.”

One meeting in December 2009 involved Sean “Diddy” Combs, Cassie Ventura and a man at the London Hotel in New York City. Ventura previously testified that man often joined them for “Freak Offs.”

Penland read aloud some messages between Combs and the man coordinating travel for the trip. Combs then sent an email to the personal finance director for his executive office saying he needed a flight booked under the man’s name.

The finance director then sent back a flight itinerary. Penland said the man’s flight itinerary was found in records for Combs Global.

Penland explained that flight records for the man and Ventura indicate they were both in the city at that time.

DeLeassa Penland is now on the stand. She is another summary witness.

Penland is a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. She testified her role in this case was to review charts and data and ensure the information is correct.

Defense attorney Teny Geragos finished her cross-examination of summary witness and paralegal specialist Ananya Sankar.

Sankar is now off the stand.

The jury is seeing messages between Sean “Diddy” Combs and his chief of staff Kristina Khorram from November 2023.

“If you cannot be honest with me, this doesn’t work,” Khorram wrote in part. “We all know what your Kryptonite is and where you don’t make the best choices.”

She said she felt like Combs was lying and said it wasn’t sitting well with her.

“Come take my phone,” Combs wrote in response.

Khorram responded that it wasn’t about his phone. She said if he was starting to lie, “that will break me.”

With summary witness and paralegal specialist Ananya Sankar under cross-examination, defense attorney Teny Geragos highlighted a few messages from Faheem Muhammad to Sean “Diddy” Combs, Combs’ chief of staff Kristina Khorram and Combs’ account manager.

In the messages, Muhammad, Combs’ head of security, asked for approval for a disbursement from “PD personal” to pay a variety of expenses.

Remember: A former Combs assistant testified last week that he sometimes used his company card to buy personal items for Combs, but didn’t know whether these charges on the card were paid off with company funds or Combs’ personal money.

"Jane" testifies during Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial in New York on June 12.

Defense attorney Teny Geragos pointed to a text conversation between Kristina Khorram, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former chief of staff, and Jane, who dated Combs from 2021 to 2024, on February 25, 2023.

In the messages, Khorram twice asked Jane to call her and said Combs was pushing her to figure out plans.

“My answer to him is no and it is still no,” Jane responded in part.

Khorram said she would let him know and told Jane to keep her posted if anything changes.

With summary witness and paralegal specialist Ananya Sankar under cross-examination, defense attorney Teny Geragos pointed to a message exchange between Kristina Khorram and “Jane” around Valentine’s Day 2022.

In one of the messages, Jane, who dated Sean “Diddy” Combs from 2021 to 2024, said: “I’m excited to surprise him.” Jane later sent Khorram, then the chief of staff for Combs, photos of a hotel room decorated with rose petals and heart balloons.

Remember: Jane, one of Combs’ accusers who testified in this trial under a pseudonym, testified extensively about going with Combs to what she called “hotel nights,” which she described as sexual encounters with a male “entertainer,” typically in a hotel room. She testified last week about a Valentine’s Day 2022 “hotel night.”

Defense attorney Teny Geragos is now starting cross-examination of paralegal specialist Ananya Sankar.

Geragos read some messages in which Sean “Diddy” Combs reached out to Mia, one of his former assistants. The messages showed that D-Roc told Mia that Combs wanted to speak with her and also told her that Combs didn’t want anything from her.

Geragos read a message Combs sent Mia on February 7, 2024:

Geragos confirmed with Sankar that after that, D-Roc told Combs that Mia’s number was ringing as if she was out of the country.

She also confirmed that there are no records that suggest Combs called Mia again after that.

The jury continued to see a series of 2023-2024 texts between former Sean “Diddy” Combs assistant “Mia” and Combs security guard “D-Roc.”

Picking up after the February 2024 texts described earlier: D-Roc sent more messages over a few days, with Mia telling him she was out of the country on a scuba diving trip. In one message, D-Roc said, “Let me know how I can send you something.” Mia responded that her debt was her problem and she would figure it out one day.

The records showed D-Roc tried to get on the phone with Mia several times.

“Hey bro she hit me back I’m trying to call her now,” D-Roc texted Combs on February 4, 2024. He also sent Combs a copy of a previous message Mia had sent him.

“Let me know when you reach her,” Combs responded.

Later that day, Combs texted Mia, “Hey Mia it’s Puff, let me know when you get 10 min to talk. Love.”

Over the following days, Combs tried to call Mia several times.

“Hey. I don’t wanna be blowing up your phone. Just needed to talk to you for 10 minutes. Just need my memory jogged on some things. You were my right hand for years, so I just to speak to you to remember who was even around me. And it would be good to hear your voice. But if you don’t want to, all good. Just let me know. Love. Hope you’re well,” Combs texted her on February 7, 2024.

The same day, Combs sent D-Roc the same message he sent to Mia and told him it was the message he sent to her. “I’ve been trying to reach her, she ain’t picking up the phone,” Combs said to D-Roc.

D-Roc then tried to call Mia twice.

Remember: “Mia,” a Combs assistant from 2009 to 2017, testified in this trial under a pseudonym that Combs had sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions. The jury heard that D-Roc began texting Mia in late November 2023 (for the first time since 2021), days after former Combs girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit against Combs, accusing him of rape and physical abuse.