The fourth week of Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ trial revealed cash transactions and a former employee’s rape allegation. A woman under the pseudonym “Jane” testified to being the producer’s ex-girlfriend from 2021 to 2024. She details “hotel nights” that mirrored “freak off” patterns Cassie described on the stand. Jane will resume testifying on June 9 — the start of week five, day 19 in the trial. It will be her third day on the witness stand. Jane is the third sexual assault victim on the prosecution’s list, but has not yet described the incident (s).
As previously reported, the founder of Bad Boy Records has pleaded not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. Before we dive into the fifth week of one of hip hop’s biggest trials, here’s a recap of five significant moments from week four.
RELATED: Diddy Trial: Ex-GF “Jane” Testifies About UTIs From 2021-2024 “Hotel Nights,” Traveling With Drugs & “Love Contract” (RECAP)
1. Hotel Worker Says Combs Paid For Video Of 2016 Cassie Beating
Eddy Garcia, 33, is a former InterContinental Hotel security guard. During Diddy’s trial, he said that Sean Combs feared career ruin from footage of his 2016 attack on Cassie. So, in response, Combs orchestrated a deal that ended with a six-figure cash payment. First, Diddy’s former chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, attempted to get the tape on the phone and in person. Then Garcia testified that a “very nervous” Combs reached out in a phone call, talking fast and stuttering while trying to get the video of him kicking and dragging Cassie from the hotel’s elevator bank into a hallway. Combs allegedly told Garcia: “If this got out, it could ruin” him.
Days later, Garcia said he was nervous when Diddy greeted him in an office building. The former guard said Combs called him “Eddy, my angel,” before Garcia turned over a USB drive containing the security footage. Combs then made him sign a nondisclosure agreement promising it was the only copy of the video and that Garcia would never speak of it.
Then, with a bodyguard at his side, Diddy fed stacks of cash from a brown bag into a rectangular money counter machine until it reached $100,000. Garcia said he pocketed $30,000 and gave $50,000 to his boss and $20,000 to another hotel security guard. Garcia testified under immunity.
A recording of the hotel attack on Cassie aired on CNN last year. The jury has seen the beating repeatedly during the trial. The prosecution has shown the security footage and clips that another security guard named Israel Florez recorded on his phone to show his wife. Florez did not receive any of the alleged bribery cash and previously testified to rejecting a separate offer from Combs.
2. Judge Threatens Diddy With Trial Expulsion
On Thursday (June 5), Judge Arun Subramanian popped off on Diddy over his behavior in court. The judge caught Combs in the act minutes after a prosecutor complained that he was “nodding furiously” during his defense’s cross-examination. Subramanian said he also saw Combs “nodding vigorously and looking at the jury,” and doing it again during a sidebar between himself and the lawyers.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey said prosecutors were concerned. They believe the gestures amounted to “testifying by nodding affirmatively” while his lawyer asked questions.
During a lunch break, defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo promised to speak with Combs. Agnifilo ensured it wouldn’t happen again after the judge told him it was “absolutely unacceptable.” The judge sternly responded:
“If it happens again, if it happens even once, I will hear an application from the government to give a curative instruction to the jury, which you do not want. Or I will consider taking further measures, which could result in the exclusion of your client from the courtroom.”
3. Mia Says She Was “Brainwashed” To Send Diddy Loving Texts After Rape
A former personal assistant who testified under the pseudonym “Mia” told jurors that Diddy had sexually assaulted her multiple times over her eight-year career. She mentioned that the attacks were “random, sporadic, so oddly spaced out,” so she thought each was the last. She said he first molested her and forcibly kissed her at his 40th birthday party. Months later, Mia testified that Diddy raped her in a guest room at his Los Angeles home.
On cross-examination, defense lawyer Brian Steel suggested that Mia fabricated her claims to profit from “the #MeToo money grab against Sean Combs.” Steel confronted her with loving texts she sent Combs long after her employment ended. Steel asked about a 2019 text, in which Mia said she had dreamed of Combs rescuing her. Mia’s text said the nightmare showed her trapped in an elevator with R. Kelly, the singer who has since been convicted of sex trafficking. “I was still brainwashed,” Mia explained.
