A second anonymous witness testified that Combs pushed her to perform with a succession of commercial sex workers. In one text message she sent to him she wrote, "I don't want to play this role in your life anymore. It's dark, sleazy, and makes me feel disgusted with myself. I feel it's the only reason you have me around and why you pay for the house. I don't want to feel obligated to perform these nights with you in fear of losing the roof over my head." She sent that text in September of 2023 but testified that she participated in "hotel nights" with Combs through the summer of 2024.If you want to read NBC's coverage of the trial, check out our newsletter, “Diddy On Trial”: NBCNews.com/Diddy
Chapter 1: What is the focus of the Sean Combs trial coverage?
This is On Trial, a special series from Dateline True Crime Weekly, bringing you daily coverage from the Sean Combs racketeering trial. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. I'm Andrea Canning, and it's Friday, June 6th. Just a heads up, in this episode, we're going to be talking about some graphic details and harrowing subject matter.
Chapter 2: Who is Jane and what did she testify about?
This morning, the prosecution witness who was testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her identity took the stand again. By 9.30, she was sobbing. She told the jury that Sean Combs had a fantasy watching her have sex with other men and that she obliged him on a weekly basis for about a year.
She wept as she tried to explain why she kept doing it, even though she testified that she didn't want to. NBC News correspondent Chloe Malas has been in the courtroom today, and she's stepped out to give us an update. Hey, Chloe. Hey, Andrea. So the testimony was pretty rough to listen to, almost a repeat of Cassie Ventura's testimony.
Chapter 3: How did Jane's testimony compare to Cassie Ventura's?
I would say it was just as emotional. Jane was crying from almost the moment that she got on the stand. She held this Kleenex the whole time, and... Sean Combs just stared at her as she walked down the aisle of the courtroom and made her way to the stand. He just really did not take his eyes off of her.
So she gives this description of, I realize she's not using the term freak-offs, but it sounds similar to freak-offs. And she talks about how Sean is kind of directing these sexual encounters with her and other men.
Okay.
So what was different about how she describes these sexual encounters versus what we heard from Cassie?
There would be multiple escorts on one night that Combs would have escort after escort, just this revolving door show up. And she testified that sometimes she would break down and cry because it was just so difficult and she would be so tired and her body would be incredibly sore. Mm-hmm.
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Chapter 4: What were the emotional aspects of Jane's testimony?
When Cassie Ventura was testifying, I vividly remember her talking about specific escorts from this company called Cowboys for Angels. And that's what we heard during Jane's testimony today as well, that it was the same site that they would get these escorts from. Am I getting this right?
Cowboys for Angels? Yes.
Is that what it's called? Yes. So Cowboys for Angels is a website.
I just looked up, just curious, Cowboys for Angels, and that's the number four. Elite straight male companionship for the discerning woman. Luxurious, professional, discreet, operating nationwide since 2008.
It's really unbelievable, though, when you think about it, because other than, I believe, two counties, Andrea, in all of the United States, prostitution is illegal. In my opinion today, the prosecution has... without a doubt, met the bar of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs faces two of those counts.
They have had escorts take the stand, and now they have Jane's testimony of these escorts traveling all across the country, even internationally. So if the jury didn't believe Cassie, I think that Jane really drove that home for the prosecution.
Mm-hmm. The prosecution asked Jane about a 2023 text she sent to Combs, and it's reminiscent of Cassie's texts and testimony. It is.
She read this while she was on the stand. I wish we could take this back to when we first started dating. One night of fun just turned into the entirety of our relationship. My heart is breaking. And this is one of many text messages that have been put forth As evidence today by the prosecution.
Also in that 2023 text, Jane states pretty clearly that she doesn't want to keep taking part in these encounters.
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Chapter 5: What does Jane's text message reveal about her feelings?
Yeah, I think it's also going to be hard for the jurors to differentiate between, you know, was Jane just trying to please Diddy or was she forced to do this?
There were several times in which she testified to Maureen Comey, the lead prosecutor, that she didn't know why she did it. hired one of these escorts or why she sent a text message to one named Cabral inviting him to go on a trip with them. She didn't have a good answer, right?
And there are text exchanges she read on the stand during her testimony today, Andrea, in which she tells Combs, I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to do a hotel night tonight. And he just says, okay, cool. So it's how will the prosecution be able to prove sex trafficking with just her word? You know, because one could argue, well, you weren't handcuffed physically.
Couldn't you have walked out the door? So I think that we'll see a strong cross-examination by Combs' defense team. And you see them vigorously writing notes, Andrea. Yeah.
Are the jurors, you know, as you're telling me this story, it's all very interesting. But I'm thinking to myself, the jurors have been there for a long time now. They're hearing a lot of the same type of testimony. Are they getting fatigued at all?
Several were yawning, which sounds horrible, but it's understandable. And, you know, some intervened. Over the last week or so, we're rolling their eyes during Mia's testimony. But really, during Jane's, it looks as though everyone's paying attention. Some are taking notes.
Chloe, break it down for us as best you can about how Jane fits into this RICO conspiracy case, what her testimony could do to bolster the prosecution's case.
Sure. So she talks about several assistants, one of which is Brendan, another one named Frank, setting up those hotel rooms. That goes towards Rico conspiracy. She testified about Combs' chief of staff, KK, Christina Corum, who was having her go pick up drugs in California, which was a wild part of Chicago.
Jane's testimony today that she was a drug mule and would bring ecstasy from California to Miami in her suitcase. So that goes towards RICO conspiracy. You also have Jess. Who is Jess? She's some sort of a travel agent. Did she work in-house for RICO? any of Combs' enterprise? Was she a third-party travel agent on Expedia who had no idea who these people were? Or did she know?
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Chapter 6: How does Jane compartmentalize her relationship with Combs?
Is it a surprise that in this era of online sleuthing that people would be trying to pull back the curtain?
It's not, but the judge is very aware in trying to decide. what he's going to do about it. This is always the risk. There are members of the public in the courthouse. It is their right.
And then when you go to the overflow room, which is a courtroom on another floor with TVs, there's all sorts of people, from homeless people who just want to have some air conditioning and a rest, to other people that are fascinated by all of this, who flew in from other states. One guy is here from Canada. Just just to listen.
I mean, there is a lot of support for Combs on social, of people that are following this trial. And several of the bloggers and streamers out here, you know, they're very skeptical of some of the individuals that are testifying. I think if we didn't have these restrictions on us as journalists, we could talk a lot more about Mia and about Jane, right?
Chapter 7: What complexities does Jane's situation present to the jury?
Because obviously as journalists, we know who they are, we know their backstory, and we could provide more context. And I think that context is important, and the jurors aren't going to get that.
Did the prosecution really think they could keep victims number two and four a secret, these alleged victims? I mean, with Mia, number four, both the prosecution and the defense asked her many questions about her Instagram account. And Combs has been fairly public about the women in his life over the years.
I think it's easier to keep Jane's identity under wraps because Combs did date so many different women. And actually, some of the theories that have been thrown out to me, I couldn't believe how far off people were with their guesses. But when it came to Mia, that's more complicated because she worked at Combs' company.
The judge has asked not only the press, but everybody in the courtroom and the overflow rooms to help protect these women. But, you know, what kind of enforcement power does the judge have?
There's a lot of talk today of a potential gag order. But even if somebody does violate a gag order, some of these streamers who are revealing these women's identities don't even live here. They're not even going to this courthouse. So how exactly will they be reprimanded?
I also want to point out that the streamers that the judge said, you know, clear them out of the front of the courthouse, they're back. I'm staring at them right now. So clearly they're not deterred.
OK, Chloe, thank you very much for this end of the week update. We're going to hear more from Jane on Monday. Is that correct? Absolutely. We could see her on the stand for three more days. All right. Enjoy your weekend to you and to everyone else. Have a good weekend. Thanks so much. Thanks for listening. We'll be back with a new episode on Monday.
If you want to read the latest developments and analysis from inside the courtroom, check out the NBC newsletter Diddy on Trial. Go to NBCNews.com slash Diddy to find that. On Trial is produced by Frannie Kelly with help from the Dateline True Crime Weekly team. Our senior producers are Allison Orr and Liz Brown-Koroloff. Original music by Jesse McGinty.
Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.
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