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Jurors in the Manhattan trial have started deliberating whether Sean “Diddy” Combs is guilty following almost two months of dramatic testimony.
The panelists, eight men and four women, were sent to the jury room at around 11:30 a.m. to begin weighing the five felony felony charges against the Bad Boys Records founder — in a case alleging he forced women to have sex with male prostitutes in what became known as “freak-offs.”
Jurors heard from 34 prosecution witnesses over the last seven weeks of testimony, including Combs’ then-pregnant ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and another former gal pal, who took the stand using the pseudonym “Jane.”
The panel was also presented with mountains of evidence, including hundreds of text messages and hours of sexually explicit footage of the “freak-offs,” which jurors viewed on screens that were blocked off to the press and public.
Prosecutors repeatedly played in open court the infamous video of Combs beating up Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
Combs, 55, has been held at a Brooklyn lockup since his September 2024 arrest and was seated with his lawyers at the defense table throughout the stunning proceedings, with his mother and children sometimes showing up to court in his support.
The disgraced music mogul is charged with two sex-trafficking counts, one racketeering conspiracy count and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted on just one of the racketeering or sex-trafficking charges.
Ventura testified for four days during the first week of trial about her tumultuous on-and-off relationship with the “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper, claiming he regularly roughed her up and pressured her to take part in “freak-offs” while she was on drugs.
She also claimed he threatened to release videos he took of the sex-marathons in order to get her to continue participating in the frequent sex-sessions.
Prosecutors alleged that Combs ran a criminal enterprise for 20 years, using his employees to carry out a slew of crimes, like ensuring that he always had an array of drugs on hand for the “freak-offs,” kidnapping a member of his staff, witness tampering and bribery.
The “It’s All About the Benjamins” rhymer also allegedly broke into rapper Kid Cudi’s home and had his car bombed with a Molotov Cocktail after discovering Ventura briefly dated him.
Combs, who did not testify in his own defense, has pleaded not guilty.
His attorneys claim that the women took part in the “freak-offs” consensually.
Manhattan federal Judge Arun Subramanian instructed the jurors on the law first thing Monday morning before releasing them to start their work.