NEW YORK (Reuters) -The jury in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial is due to begin deliberations on Monday.
Combs pleaded not guilty to all five counts he faced. Here are seven key moments from the trial testimony:
Baby oil and Astroglide
Prosecutors on May 21 showed jurors bottles of baby oil and Astroglide lubricant that Homeland Security Investigations found during a search of Combs’ Miami Beach home in March 2024. Prosecutors said Combs used those items in sexual encounters with his girlfriends and male escorts sometimes called “Freak Offs.”
Gerard Gannon, an HSI agent who took part in the raid, testified on May 21 that agents found 25 bottles of baby oil and 31 bottles of Astroglide in Combs’ closet.
‘Voyeurism as a fantasy’
Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, a rhythm and blues singer who dated Combs for 11 years, said that within the first year of their relationship he introduced her to the concept of “voyeurism.”
“He described voyeurism as a fantasy that he had where he would want to see me with another male and having sexual interaction,” Ventura testified on May 13.
Red lights, stripper shoes
Another former girlfriend of Combs’ who testified under the pseudonym Jane said on June 5 that she took part in sexual encounters with Combs and male escorts which they called “hotel nights” from 2021 through 2024.
Jane said the rooms would be lit with red lights, and that she and Combs would choose together the outfits she wore, which usually included “provocative lingerie and really high stripper shoes.”
The ‘Punisher’ and a nude male with a veil
Sharay Hayes, a male exotic danger known as “The Punisher,” testified on May 20 that he frequently was paid to take part in “Freak Offs” with Ventura and Combs.
The first time, while he and Ventura were applying baby oil on each other, Hayes said he saw a nude male enter the hotel room carrying Astroglide lubricant and covering his face with a veil “like what the Muslim women wear.” Hayes said he later learned the man was Combs.
Kid Cudi’s dog locked in a bathroom and a torched Porsche
Scott Mescudi, the rapper known as Kid Cudi, testified on May 22 that after Combs learned in December 2011 that Mescudi was seeing Ventura, Combs broke into Mescudi’s home, opened Christmas presents Mescudi had bought for his relatives, and locked Mescudi’s dog in a bathroom.
Weeks later, Mescudi said his Porsche was set ablaze with a Molotov cocktail in his driveway. “I knew he had something to do with it,” Mescudi said of Combs.
‘Crying and saying no’
Ventura fought back tears as she said Combs raped her in her living room in 2018, after they ended their relationship.
“I just remember crying and saying no but it was very fast,” Ventura testified on May 14.
‘Is this coercion?’
Jane testified on June 9 that after a dispute at her home last year, Combs kicked, punched and dragged her in her backyard. She said Combs then directed her to perform oral sex on a male escort named Anton even though she had told him she did not want to.
According to Jane, Combs got close to her face and said, “Is this coercion?”
(Reporting by Luc CohenEditing by Sandra Maler)
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