June 17, 2025 – Day 25 of testimony in the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial

• Today in court: The jury in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ criminal trial has been dismissed for the day. Today in court, they heard testimony from DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

• What happens next: Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey said the prosecution expects to rest on Friday. The direction examination of Brendan Paul, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant, is expected to take about 90 minutes tomorrow, Comey said. The defense estimated their case would take somewhere between two and five trial days. The judge previously said that means the case could go to the jury sometime next week.

• 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 more about today’s testimony.

Judge Arun Subramanian has dismissed the jury for the day, telling them to be back at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey said given the length of DeLeassa Penland’s cross-examination the prosecution now expects to rest on Friday. The direction examination of Brendan Paul, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant, is expected to take about 90 minutes, Comey said.

The judge has cleared the courtroom to handle a sealed matter with the parties.

Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson revisited messages between Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie Ventura before and after the InterContinental hotel incident in March 2016.

In the days after the assault, Combs texted Ventura, “Baby I cant say it enough Im so sorry!!!!!”

On the same day, Ventura texts Combs, “I still have crazy bruising from Friday. I would be a dummy to subject myself to that possibly happening again,” Ventura wrote. “When you get fucked up the wrong way, you always want to show me that you have the power and you knock me around. I’m not a rag doll, I’m someone’s child.”

DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, is off the stand.

Defense attorney Teny Geragos concluded her cross-examination.

Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson said she will briefly question DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, on redirect.

Defense attorney Teny Geragos asked DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, if she reviewed any materials indicating a meeting around New Year’s Eve 2016-2017. Penland confirmed that she did not.

Cassie Ventura’s friend Deonte Nash previously testified that he saw a man enter Ventura and Sean “Diddy” Combs’ hotel room during a New Year’s trip to Las Vegas that year.

DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, is back on the stand and being cross-examined in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Penland confirmed that all five of the explicit videos the jury watched today were recovered from a “Frank Black” user profile on one of Cassie Ventura’s devices. The videos are sealed because they’re sexually explicit.

Defense attorney Teny Geragos reviewed more text messages between Combs and Ventura planning “Freak Offs” that are listed in the government’s summary chart.

In some messages, Ventura talks about planning the logistics for a Freak Off with Combs, sometimes saying she wants to have a Freak Off when Combs asks and other times they exchange sexually explicit messages.

In February 2013, Combs wrote, “Maybe one of those nights,” and Ventura responds, “Yesss.”

Geragos also reviewed other messages between Combs and Ventura that were sent shortly after some of the Freak Offs listed in the summary chart.

Ventura texted Combs in late October 2012, saying that she kept having “sexy flashbacks of yesterday.”

In another message, sent on Father’s Day 2013, Ventura texted Combs, “thank you for always showing me love and happiness the way it’s supposed to be. Can’t wait until we have a baby of our own to celebrate Father’s Day.”

Judge Arun Subramanian is on the bench and DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, is back on the stand.

The jury is entering now.

Defense attorney Teny Geragos is continuing cross-examination.

Judge Arun Subramanian has dismissed the jury for lunch.

Defense attorney Teny Geragos estimated she has less than an hour left in cross-examination of DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The jury watched portions of a video they viewed yesterday, recorded on October 14, 2012. Cassie Ventura previously testified that the video showed her and a man referred to as “Dave” during a “Freak Off.”

They also watched portions of another video recorded on the same day.

The jury watched portions of another video that was recorded on October 20, 2012. Ventura previously testified the video showed her and a man called “Jules” during a “Freak Off.”

They are now watching portions of videos that were recorded on December 4, 2014.

All of these videos are sealed because they’re sexually explicit.

The current video clip the jury is viewing is almost four minutes long. At this point, the jury has watched more than 15 minutes of sexually explicit videos under the cross-examination of DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

When the first video was played, some sound was audible in the courtroom, including what sounded like a woman’s voice. A court security officer alerted the judge.

At one point, five of the six jurors sitting in the same row had their chins resting on their hands at the same time.

Defense attorney Teny Geragos is reviewing messages previously entered into evidence in which Cassie Ventura expresses that she wants to “Freak Off” or discusses planning “Freak Offs” with Sean “Diddy” Combs and escorts.

Geragos has asked DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, multiple times whether she reviewed entries in the government’s summary charts to ensure there were “complete” message threads included in the chart pertaining to gatherings between Combs, Ventura and an escort.

Penland has responded each time that she’s not involved with the case and only reviewed what prosecutors gave her to ensure the charts were accurate based on the underlying source documents they provided her.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Teny Geragos questioned DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, on the lists of individuals associated with the meetings in the charts.

She said there could have been other people present but, “If I did not have the evidence, their name is not in this chart.”

“It does not have the name of every potential person that was at this gathering,” Penland testified.

Geragos read a series of messages between Sean “Diddy”Combs and Cassie Ventura from different points in time when Ventura wrote sexually explicit messages to Combs and in one instance told him she’s “always ready to Freak-off.”

After reading each message, Geragos then asked the special agent to confirm the message wasn’t included in the government’s summary chart pertaining to Ventura.

Some of the messages Geragos flagged were dated around the time of “meetings” between Combs, Ventura and escorts that are listed on the chart.

Geragos pointed to a meeting in late July 2012 that listed Ventura’s name but not Combs’ on the summary chart.

Penland confirmed that she didn’t see messages between Combs and Ventura related to that meeting, but she saw messages between Ventura and a contact called “Islander LA.” In that text conversation, Ventura asked if he was available and told him to come as soon as he could because she had a flight to catch.

Judge Arun Subramanian is on the bench and DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, is back on the stand.

The jury is entering.

Defense attorney Teny Geragos is now questioning Penland on cross-examination.

Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson is finished with direct examination.

The court is taking a short break before cross-examination starts.

Records show messages between Cassie Ventura and others planning her fitting on March 6. The timeline shows the photo first shown during Ventura’s testimony, in which she’s wearing a gown and sunglasses during a fitting.

On the morning of March 7, Ventura texted Combs, “this was supposed to be a really exciting day for me and I wish I could just crawl in bed and stay there until I look better.”

The timeline shows a series of calls between Combs and former InterContinental security guard Eddy Garcia on March 7.

The timeline also shows a photo of Garcia’s license taken at 2:21p.m. recovered from former chief of staff Kristina Khorram’s phone.

Garcia previously testified that he met Combs to exchange the video footage for $100,000 that afternoon, and while he was there he signed a nondisclosure agreement and Khorram took a photo of his license.

Starting around 2:30 p.m .that day, Ventura called Combs, Combs’ former security guard, Damion Butler, who goes by D-Roc, and her apartment building “the Comstock.” D-Roc then called her and the call connected for less than a minute.

Ventura then texted Morgan, “I should have sued lol.”

“Totally,” Morgan responded.

Combs called Ventura again for about a minute later that afternoon.

On March 7, Combs called Garcia twice, with the second call connecting for about a minute and a half. Two photos on Ventura’s phone taken later that evening showed her and Combs together.

Garcia called Combs on March 8 for about a minute, and Combs called him later that night but the call went to voicemail. Combs called Garcia again the next day, and Garcia called him back later and the call connected.

Then, on March 25, Combs called Garcia for about a minute.

Cassie Ventura and Sean “Diddy” Combs’s assistant Elie Maroun were on two calls starting around 5:30 p.m. Shortly after that, there were about four calls between Ventura and Combs.

At 5:52 p.m., Kristina Khorram, Combs’ former chief of staff, texted Maroun, “I’m going to ask just to cover damages.”

“He wants to speak to Spanish security guard,” Maroun responded.

“Say they had a fun drunk night to try and get more info,” Khorram texted.

“Lol no shot they aren’t playing nice,” Maroun responded.

Combs and his former security guard, Damion Butler, who goes by D-Roc, each called Ventura several times between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., with most of the calls being answered.

At 6:55 p.m., Kerry Morgan, a former friend of Ventura, texted Khorram a picture of a business card from LAPD and said, “I don’t think anyone should call her.”

Khorram asked if she could call Morgan in a bit when she was alone.

“She was looking for anyone to say the wrong thing so she can call domestic abuse,” Morgan wrote, later saying, “Cas just asked me to send you that.”

Ventura then answered a call from D-Roc and two calls from Khorram at 7 p.m.

Khorram texted Maroun at 9:55 p.m., “Did you get security #? PD is asking.”

“Wouldn’t give it to me,” Maroun responded.

“What is eddys last name,” Khorram wrote.

Two photos were recovered from Ventura’s device, taken at 7:09 a.m. the next day, March 6, 2016. One of the photos appeared to be a picture of two men, and the other showed someone sitting on a couch.

Combs texted D-Roc, “How is she?” at 9:32 a.m.

“She’s ok she’s eating breakfast. Her face don’t look bad. She good.” D-Roc wrote. He said Ventura was smiling and laughing and suggested Combs call her or call the house.

The timeline of records related to the March 2016 altercation at the InterContinental between Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie Ventura details a flurry of calls and texts between Combs, Ventura, Combs’ former chief of staff Kristina Khorram, and Combs’ former security guard Damion Butler, who goes by D-Roc.

Ventura texts Khorram around 2:30 p.m. saying, “This is crazy he won’t stop. Please tell him the neighbors are about to call the police.”

Khorram responds that she got him and they were going down the elevator.

D-Roc said to Khorram, “Tell him he needs to get out of there before they call the police.”

Ventura and her former best friend Kerry Morgan both testified that Combs went to Ventura’s apartment after Ventura left the hotel.

Ventura texted Khorram, “please takeaway whatever keys he thinks he has.”

Khorram texts D-Roc that she got him back to his Los Angeles home around 3 p.m.

After more unanswered calls from Combs to Ventura, Khorram texted her, “Talk to him. He promised me he won’t go back over if you will just talk to him for 5 minutes” and “Sorry don’t want to be in the middle just don’t want him to go back over.”

Between 4:49 and 5:15 calls between Combs and Ventura connect for 18 and 10 minutes.

Sean “Diddy” Combs called Cassie Ventura three times around 11:36 a.m., but she did not answer. She called him back twice shortly after, with each call lasting about a minute.

Combs then called her back three times without an answer and texted, “Call now.”

Ventura responded, “I went and checked everything and spoke to security. Jules left so you’re good and as long as you don’t disturb the other guests they’ll leave you be.”

Combs called her twice again shortly after and she didn’t answer. He then texted her, “Call me now,” and “Call me the cops are here.”

Combs called her three times at 12:08 p.m., shortly after sending the message. The first call lasted 18 seconds, while the other two were not answered.

At 12:09 p.m., Ventura called Combs’ former security guard Damion Butler, who goes by D-Roc, for 22 seconds.

Combs texted Ventura, “You gonna abandon me all alone,” and called her again twice with no answer. “Call me pls,” he texted her at 12:10 p.m.

”I have a premiere Monday. For the biggest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I have a black eye and a fat lip. It was time for me to go. You are sick for thinking it’s okay to do what you’ve done,” Ventura texted him. “Please stay far away from me.”

Both Combs and D-Roc called Ventura after that message and she didn’t answer.

Ventura called D-Roc back and they were on the phone for less than 2 minutes.

“Call me,” Combs texted Ventura. “Help.”

Combs called Ventura multiple times over the next 10 minutes, with Ventura answering once for about 34 seconds. During that time, Ventura also called D-Roc twice.

“I’m about to be arrested,” Combs texted her at 12:19 p.m. “Thanks.”

He called her again before texting her, “If you don’t pick up you’ll never here [sic] my voice again.”

Combs called Ventura five more times in the next half hour, but none of the calls were answered. Kristina Khorram, Combs’ former chief of staff, also called Ventura once during that period, and that call was not answered either.

Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson is presenting a timeline of records related to the March 2016 altercation at the InterContinental between Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie Ventura. The records include text messages, calls, and photos, beginning with Ventura inquiring about an escort’s availability on March 4.

The timeline also shows that Combs made eight consecutive calls to Ventura around 11:28 a.m., all of which went unanswered. It includes photos of Ventura with a swollen lip, wearing sunglasses, taken at 11:35 a.m. The jury previously saw these photos when Ventura testified that she took them in the car after leaving the hotel.

The jury saw messages between Sean “Diddy” Combs and a contact called “NY Strip” a couple of days before the December 2009 hotel stay.
Combs texted repeatedly, trying to set up a time for a “massage.”
“Can you let me know if there’s a problem so I have time to get her another present,” Combs wrote.
Later in the conversation, they both asked each other if they were cops.

The jury saw hotel records detailing various hotel room damage fees Sean “Diddy” Combs paid.

One hotel in Beverly Hills charged $500 for drape and carpet damage. Combs’ American Express card was used to pay a 2015 hotel invoice listing $950 for “linen damage/deep cleaning.”

In October 2012, Combs American Express paid the InterContinental New York Times Square $46,786 for “penthouse damage.” The name Frank Black was listed on that hotel portfolio.