June 20, 2025 – Testimony in the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial

• Today’s witnesses: The jury in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ criminal trial has been dismissed for the weekend. Today, they heard from Brendan Paul, one of Combs’ former assistants, and Joseph Cerciello, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations.

• Trial timeline: Prosecutors say they hope to rest their case by the end of Monday, and the defense team says it expects to rest on Tuesday or Wednesday. The judge estimated that closing arguments would be Thursday, although that is subject to change based on when the sides actually rest their cases.

• Federal charges: Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to life in prison.

• Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with intimate partner violence, there are resources available, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Our live coverage has ended. You can scroll through the posts below to read about today’s testimony.

The jury has been dismissed for the day. Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey said she hopes the government will rest by the end of the day Monday.

Joseph Cerciello, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, will continue testifying on direct examination Monday morning. Comey said she will likely question the agent through the lunch break Monday, and the defense will question him for the remainder of the day.

Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said at this point he believes the defense will rest Tuesday or Wednesday.

Judge Arun Subramanian estimated that the parties will meet for a charge conference Wednesday and closing arguments will be Thursday. That is subject to change based on when the parties actually rest.

The jury was shown a note recovered from phone of Combs’ head of security Faheem Muhammad on April 25, 2024 stating “$5000 PD personal London.”

The jury has seen evidence that Muhammad kept track of some spending reimbursement for Combs’ personal cash expenses.

They also saw records related to the June 18, 2024 incident at Jane’s home.

Jonathan Perez, one of Combs’ assistants, texted Faheem Muhammad, Combs’ head of security, that they needed $600 because “PD is about to go to Jane’s house.”

Later, Perez texted Muhammad and chief of staff Kristina Khorram saying he and Combs were on their way to Jane’s home.

The following day, Khorram texted them asking someone to pick up PD “asap.” In that conversation, Perez asked Muhammad to bring cash.

Perez texted Muhammad again on June 20 saying “Need $3500 cash asap for his guest. I’m going to take it to her.”

Joseph Cerciello, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, testified that he reviewed documents related to a hotel stay that Sean “Diddy” Combs had in Los Angeles in January 2023.

Hotel records showed the room was reserved under the name “Joseph Chavez” and included a $3,750 charge for “damaged furniture.” A report from the hotel said there were “bodily fluids stained on the wood floor” across the entire room and on some of the furniture.

The evidence chart referenced some of Combs’ text messages with “Jane,” one of his accusers who is using a pseudonym in this trial. The messages showed the two coordinating the arrival of three men at the hotel.

One of those men deposited $1,500 cash at ATMs in Los Angeles in the days following the hotel reservation.

The jury also saw a message Combs sent to Jane telling her to send $1,100 to Cowboys for Angels, an escort service, for flights and an “overnight rate.”

Records in the summary chart reflect that Jane and Combs stayed at the London hotel in Los Angeles in April 2023.

Texts between Combs and an “entertainer” documented in the chart suggest the “entertainer” joined them at the hotel.

After that hotel stay, Combs was charged $1,800 for damaged furniture and linens. A security incident report filed about the damage said there was linen damage and smoking in the room.

The report in part said, “the room towels appear to be soaked baby oil” and “Baby oil is in the carpet as well.”

Joseph Cerciello, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, explained the chart includes the location, individuals’ names, and transportation records associated with different date ranges.

Cerciello is reviewing charts of evidence compiled by the prosecutors to confirm the information in the charts corresponds with the underlying exhibits, which include thousands of pages of text messages, as well as phones and financial records.

He said the 44 entries on the chart range from May 2021 to August 2024 and the only woman’s name on the chart is Jane –– one of the accusers in the case.

He said before accuser Cassie Ventura’s lawsuit was filed, most of the locations were hotels. After her lawsuit was filed, none of them were at hotels.

Cerciello said there were three of these events after Combs posted an Instagram video on May 19, 2024.

Remember: Combs apologized for physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Ventura, two days after CNN published exclusive hotel surveillance video from 2016 in which Combs appeared to grab, shove, drag and kick her.

Cerciello testified that the charts do not include every time Jane or Combs were at a particular location, but these were the instances with documentation to support it.

Remember: The chart Cerciello is testifying about is similar to the chart DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, testified about.

Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey reviewed the chart that pertains to Jane and records that the government says show she met with Combs and “a third party.”

The jury saw records for a trip in December 2021. The chart shows flight records for flights to Miami for Jane and an entertainer called “Sly.”

Hotel records for the St. Regis Bal Harbour show a charge for $6,000 in damages. The chart also references text messages between Jane and Sly coordinating his arrival in Miami.

A special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, Joseph Cerciello, is now on the stand.

Cerciello, who was not involved in the case, reviewed charts of evidence compiled by the prosecutors to confirm the information in the charts corresponds with the underlying exhibits, which include thousands of pages of text messages, as well as phones and financial records.

The judge is on the bench and the jury is back from their short break.

Prosecutor EmilyJohnson is reading more messages into the record.

Before the break, Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson showed the jury a text thread between Ventura and Combs from May 2, 2017.

Ventura said in part, “You get f**ked up you drag me down the hall by my hair. I’m 30 years old this isn play play anymore.”

She also said, “I was scared of your rage. I talk out of line sometimes and I do apologize but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you and your love shouldn’t equate to what you “do” for me.”

“Physicalities take it somewhere else. Boris had to tackle you Puff. That’s not love that’s possession. I have bleeding cuts.”

Combs told Ventura she was unappreciative for a night he planned for her and said, “I’m not gonna let someone sh*t on me when all I’ve done is be nice.”

He wrote, “Any other woman in the world would’ve been so happy,” and “you’re wack for not keeping it real When I and everyone knows you were acting like a b*tch.”

Combs told Ventura, “You need to ask someone how you were acting” and said “Talk to your people. They’ll tell you. Or they won’t. Because all they do is suck you. KK won’t. Talk to her.”

Ventura also texted Combs chief of staff Kristina Khorram, “I’m sure you don’t want to get involved, but he said I was an a**hole which I owned up to but no one deserves being dragged by their hair. I locked the door for my safety.”

The jury was dismissed for a short break.

The jury saw messages between Sean “Diddy” Combs and his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura between March 12 and 14, 2017.

Combs sent Ventura a hotel room number and then told her to call him. Hours later, Ventura texted him, “wtf really? I think it’ll always be black and white. You threw out all of my s**t.”

In later messages, she said “you best my head in,” later correcting it to “beat**.”

“You’re crazy,” Combs responded. “Lets stop talking you dead wrong, flipping on me for what.”

“Aint flipping, I can come back so we can talk but you know I fight,” Ventura texted him.

In later messages, Combs said “So we’re clear this time, we’re taking a break? This is really how you want to leave this? You sure?”

“No I just don’t want to be beat down for being defiant or ever,” Ventura responded. “You treat me and make me feel like I don’t matter.”

“You started all of this,” Combs wrote in part.

“I guess I’m not down with abuse. It doesn’t make sense to me,” Ventura texted him.

She later wrote, “you hit me in my head two good times. That didn’t make me feel good. I know I’m not crazy.”

“I’m hurt. … You have disrespected so much in last 12 months,” Combs responded in part.

“Wow you think you talking to on [sic] of your little f**kboys. They can have you with that s**t I’m not taking no more.”

Later in the conversation, Combs asked Ventura if she had ever gotten numbers for female escorts.

Ventura texted Combs on March 18, 2017, “You’re at a point in your life where you want to party and have good time,” and “I have to focus or I’ll never become anything.”

She also wrote, “I had so much fun in Miami then I realized I opened the door to that being my sole purpose in seeing you.”

“I knew if I said no to it in New York it would’ve been a problem,” she continued.

“You treat me like a hooker to be honest. You always want to call one and you have one. This hooker has been here for 10 years.”

Combs responded, “wow.”

“Please don’t play victim. If you can go to our last messages. That’s all you wanted and that’s why I was upset,” Ventura wrote. “I love our FOs when we both want it.”

On re-direct, Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik asked Combs’ former assistant Brendan Paul what he believed was taking place during “wild king nights.”

“There was sex happening and partying,” Paul responded.

Paul confirmed that he was not present in the hotel rooms, so he did not know definitively if anything illegitimate was happening.

“Sitting here today, how do you feel about Mr. Combs?” Slavik asked.

“It’s complicated,” Paul said, before he was excused from the witness stand.

Defense attorney Brian Steel asked Brendan Paul, a former assistant for Sean “Diddy” Combs, if he would work for a criminal.

“Absolutely not,” Paul testified.

Steel asked Paul if he felt “indebted” to Combs for all the experience he received working for him.

“I guess, what do you mean by indebted?” Paul responded.

Steel asked if Paul had learned a lot from Combs, and Paul confirmed he had. Steel then asked if he had good experiences working for Combs.

“For the most part,” Paul responded.

Steel’s cross-examination is over, and prosecutor Christy Slavik will question Paul on redirect soon.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Brian Steel asked former Combs’ assistant Brendan Paul about his arrest on March 25 2024.

Paul confirmed his arrest was for a small amount of cocaine for Combs’ personal use that Paul had accidentally left in his travel bag.

Neither Combs nor chief of staff Kristina Khorram asked him to travel with the cocaine, Paul testified.

Paul recalled telling law enforcement that everything in the bag was his and then his “heart dropped” when the agent pulled the cocaine out of the bag because he didn’t mean to travel with it.

Defense attorney Brian Steel started his cross-examination of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant Brandan Paul by asking him about his background. Steel mentioned that Paul walked on to the Syracuse University basketball team.

Paul confirmed that he works hard and strives for perfection. He said he was willing to work long hours for Combs and learned from the exposure he got to the music industry through Combs.

Paul confirmed that handling drugs was a minor part of all the work he did for Combs.

“You were not some drug mule, right?” defense attorney Brian Steel asked.

“Absolutely not,” Paul responded.

Paul said that he believed the drugs he obtained were just for Combs’ personal use. Steel asked if Paul thought “wild king nights” were also personal for Combs.

“I considered it to be like an escape,” Paul testified, confirming that he believed it was Combs’ personal time to be alone with Jane.

Paul testified that he often spoke with “Jane,” one of Combs accusers, before a “wild king night” and “almost every time” afterward. He confirmed that he never saw anything that made him think she was hesitant or not a willing participant.

The jury saw a selfie of Sean “Diddy” Combs, his former chief of staff Kristina Khorram and his former assistant Brenday Paul on a private jet taken on March 25, 2024, before Paul was arrested for cocaine possession at the Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport. They were about to take off on a flight to the Bahamas for a vacation with Combs’ family, Paul said.

Paul testified he hasn’t seen or spoken to Combs basically since that photo was taken.
Paul didn’t tell law enforcement that the cocaine wasn’t his that day. When asked why, Paul said, “Loyalty.”

Paul testified that the charges against him related to the incident were dropped “because I have a really good lawyer.”

He’s completed over 20 drug classes and submitted random drug testing, Paul said.

Defense attorney Brian Steel is now cross-examining Paul.

Former assistant Brendan Paul cleaned up hotel rooms after Combs’ “wild king nights” about three or four times.

He testified the rooms were in “disarray” and he would put towels and sheets into a pile and throw out empty bottles of baby oil and liquor. Paul said he wore gloves during the clean-up “for sanitary reasons.”

One time, Paul saw a white powder that he believed was drug residue, he testified.

The jury saw a photo of a hotel room with sheets covering the furniture. Paul testified that he sent the photo to Combs’ travel manager to give her a heads up that there might be some damage charges.

Brendan Paul, a former assistant for Sean “Diddy” Combs, testified that when he set up for a “wild king night,” he would ensure the room had baby oil, alcohol, small toiletries and extra sheets and towels.

He said the assistants shared a list that included all the items needed to set up for those nights.

Paul said he often obtained supplies through Combs’ property managers. He said if he paid for supplies with his personal credit card, he was reimbursed through Combs’ financial personnel.

Paul said he once provided Combs with $5,000 cash before a “wild king night,” and he said he got the cash from security. He testified that another assistant told him he once left cash in an envelope at the front desk of a hotel.

Paul said Combs would sometimes contact him during a “wild king night” via audio message or FaceTime.

The jury saw a photo of outfits from a sex shop that Paul sent to Combs. Paul testified that Combs had asked him to run to the store while he was with “Jane,” but Combs never responded after Paul sent the picture of the outfits.

Brendan Paul said Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former chief of staff Kristina Khorram “didn’t really want [him] involved in ‘wild king nights’ ” for some reason but he set up and cleaned up a few times while he worked for Combs. Khorram called them “wild king nights,” Paul said.

Paul said he only recalled Jane –– one of Combs’ accusers –– participating in “wild king nights” with Combs during his tenure with Combs

Paul testified his understanding of “wild king nights” to include “partying, alcohol, sex, drugs.”
The nights were at hotels during the beginning of his time with Combs, Paul testified, but Combs stopped holding them at hotels “after the Cassie lawsuit.”

Remember: Cassie Ventura, the singer and actress first detailed years of abuse allegations in a lawsuit filed against her ex-boyfriend Combs in November 2023. The two quickly settled her claim, but dozens of other civil lawsuits against Combs and a federal criminal indictment followed in the subsequent 18 months.

The jury saw an iPhone note that was a schedule for February 2023 that Paul said Khorram created. The schedule was for the time around Jane’s visit to Miami to see Combs for her birthday.

The schedule says, “Be ready or wild king night at her hotel” and “Most likely wild king day continued at hotel” for the following day.

Remember: Jane testified that Combs gave her the impression that there would be no hotel nights on that trip.

Brendan Paul, Combs’ former assistant, testified that he saw Combs use drugs – including cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy, and marijuana – about once a month, but there were other times he seemed high.

The jury saw a photo Paul took early in his employment of ecstasy of a powder form of ketamine and molly that was dyed pink “for the aesthetic,” according to Paul’s testimony.

Paul said Combs or another assistant would tell him to obtain drugs for Combs. He testified he would buy marijuana about every two months, paying $4200 for 16 oz. He said he purchased the marijuana from Phillip Pines, one of Combs’ previous assistants.

Paul said he bought other drugs for Combs fewer than 10 times. He testified he would sometimes pay about $300-500 for 1-2 grams of drugs, and other times he would pick up packages without paying for them himself.

On some occasions, Paul texted a drug dealer and they would come to Combs’ home to deliver the drugs.

The jury saw messages between Paul, a drug dealer, and another Combs’ assistant Jonathan Perez from February 2024. Paul testified that Perez put him in touch with the dealer to obtain drugs for Combs.

“Is it for you or Puff,” the dealer asked in the messages.

“Puff,” Paul responded, according to messages read aloud in court. “But please don’t disclose that, you can tell whoever it’s for me.”

Paul said once he received drugs, he would give them directly to Combs or put them in the Gucci pouch where drugs were stored.

Paul testified he would pick up prescription drugs for Combs at pharmacies under Combs’ real name or the alias “Frank Black.”

The jury saw messages Combs sent Paul in February 14, 2024 asking him to get Xanax. Paul testified that Combs didn’t have a prescription for Xanax, and he wasn’t able to obtain the drugs.

Brendan Paul testified that his mission was to make sure Sean “Diddy” Combs was always happy. He said that Combs told his assistants they should operate like SEAL Team Six.

Paul said Combs fired him two or three times, and he testified about one incident that sticks out in his memory.

In late October or early November 2023, Paul testified that he forgot Combs’ LuluLemon fanny pack when he wanted to go for a walk. That’s when Combs told Paul, “I don’t want to see your face,” and “call KK and tell her you’re fired,” Paul said.

Paul recalled that Combs’ former chief of staff Kristina Khorram told him to lay low. Soon after, she sent Paul to set up Combs’ London hotel room around Combs’ birthday that year. Combs never discussed the incident with him again.

Paul also said it “wasn’t a thing” to talk to human resources about any issues. He said if anyone had an issue, they went to Combs or Khorram.