US prosecutors portray Sean Combs as a sexual predator

NEW YORK – Sean Combs, one of America’s most influential music moguls, was accused by federal prosecutors on May 12 of leading a criminal enterprise that enabled his abuse of women and worked to cover it up.

As his trial got under way in United States District Court in Lower Manhattan, prosecutors painted him as a serial sexual predator who orchestrated drug-fuelled sex marathons with prostitutes. Combs’ lawyers acknowledged that he was responsible for domestic violence, but denied that he had committed sex trafficking or run a racketeering enterprise.

In lurid detail, Ms Emily Johnson, the prosecutor who delivered a 50-minute opening statement for the US government, portrayed Combs as a man who ordered the performance of sex acts and “called himself the king”.

“To the public, he was Puff Daddy or Diddy,” Ms Johnson said. “A cultural icon, a businessman – larger than life. But there was another side to him, a side that ran a criminal enterprise.”

One of the US government’s first witnesses was a man who said he been paid as much as US$6,000 (S$7,800) to engage in lengthy sexual encounters with Combs’ girlfriend Casandra Ventura while the music mogul watched. He said he also overheard what he believed to be Combs striking Ventura in an adjoining room.

Combs, 55, one of the most successful producers and entrepreneurs in the history of hip-hop,

faces charges of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy,

a federal crime best known for its use in prosecuting organised crime syndicates.

If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

“The evidence is going to show you a very flawed individual,” Ms Teny Geragos, a lawyer for Combs, said in her opening statement. “But it will not show you a racketeer, a sex trafficker or somebody transporting for prostitution.”

The trial of Combs is being closely watched by his legions of fans and the celebrities and stars who once turned in his orbit, attended his extravagant parties or listened to the hits he helped to produce.

The charges against Combs brought into the popular lexicon “freak-offs”, which he used to describe the drug-fuelled sex bacchanals he organised that could last for days. At the core of the case is the US government’s contention that Combs, acting like royalty, dispatched a crew of employees to abet his behaviour and resolve any problems that it caused.

In the packed courtroom on the 26th floor of a Southern District of New York courthouse, the mogul’s mother Janice Combs sat in the second row of the gallery, dressed in black-and-leopard print, and surrounded by family members.

Her son, who has been in custody since his arrest in September 2024, wore a sweater, a collared shirt, slacks and lace-less shoes. He sat at the defence table, reading a Bible, his greying hair and beard revealing his months in detention, where he cannot dye it.

Ms Johnson told a jury of eight men and four women that the case would centre on the testimony of three women, including Ventura, 38. Better known as Cassie, she was also a singer formerly signed to Combs’ label. In addition, Ms Johnson said, the jury would view videos of parties where Sean Combs directed sexual encounters.

“You will see for yourself the defendant’s violence and its aftermath,” she said.

Ventura, who was a 19-year-old model and aspiring singer when she met Combs in the mid-2000s, was physically abused early on in the relationship, Ms Johnson said, describing how in 2009, Combs threw Ventura to the floor of an SUV and stomped repeatedly on her face.

Combs’ legal team on May 12 portrayed their client as a “complicated man” who rose from humble beginnings and built an entertainment empire. They acknowledged violent tendencies, jealousy-fuelled disputes with former girlfriends – and that he was responsible for domestic violence.

But despite his “bad temper”, he was being wrongly prosecuted for his “private, personal sex life”, Ms Geragos said.

She told the jury that there might be multiple points during the trial, which is expected to last about eight weeks, “where you think he is a jerk, he is mean”.

“But he is not charged with being mean,” Ms Geragos said. “He is not charged with being a jerk. He is charged with running a racketeering enterprise.”

She described the witnesses testifying against Combs as “capable, strong, adult” women who were in love with Combs and who are now interested in financial gain. Ventura stayed in the relationship with Combs for more than a decade, Ms Geragos noted.

Over his 3½-decade career, Combs helped make artistes such as The Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige into household names. Under the name Puff Daddy, Combs had a No. 1 hit in 1997 with I’ll Be Missing You.

Combs’ lavish White Parties, held in the Hamptons, Beverly Hills and other playgrounds of the rich, were magnets for celebrities and music stars.

The line to enter the courthouse on May 12 morning was filled with reporters, podcasters, TikTok influencers and curious members of the public. Inside, they found a clash of high-profile lawyers. Combs’ eight-person legal team is led by Mr Marc Agnifilo, perhaps best known for representing Keith Raniere, the leader of the Nxivm sex cult.

Among the six prosecutors on the case is Ms Maurene Comey, who has experience with complex criminal matters, like the 2021 sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell. She is the daughter of Mr James Comey, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Combs has had other brushes with the law, including allegations of assault and a 1999 shooting inside a Manhattan night club that left three people injured. He had been at the club with his then-girlfriend, American pop star Jennifer Lopez, and was ultimately acquitted.

The most widely seen episode of violence involving Combs came in May 2024, when CNN aired surveillance footage of him attacking Ventura at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.

In that video, Combs, wearing only a towel around his waist, is seen brutally kicking and dragging Ventura. On May 12, the jury was shown the footage but it was slowed down – Combs’ lawyers had said the tape had been sped up and made the actions seem faster than in real life. A government expert corrected the speed.

The prosecution’s first witness on May 12 was Mr Israel Florez, a Los Angeles police officer who had been a security guard at the InterContinental Hotel. He testified that he responded to a woman in distress on the sixth floor and found Combs seated in a towel, motionless but with “a devilish stare”. Huddled in the corner was Ventura, who had a purple eye, Mr Florez said.

Mr Florez said Combs offered him a stash of cash that he understood to be a bribe.

“He was telling me, ‘Don’t tell anybody,’” Mr Florez said. The prosecution has said that Combs bought the surveillance footage from hotel security for US$100,000. But copies apparently remained.

The prosecution’s second witness was Mr Daniel Phillip, the male stripper who said he was invited multiple times by Ventura to have sex with her while Combs watched and masturbated.

During more than an hour of explicit testimony, Phillip said he saw Combs once throw a liquor bottle at Ventura when she did not immediately go to him when called. He then dragged Ventura to another room, testified Phillip, who said he heard what sounded like Combs hit her.

During his testimony, Combs’ three teenage daughters left the courtroom. NYTIMES

Olivia Bensimon contributed reporting from the courtroom.