This page reflects the news from Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial on Tuesday, June 3. For thelatest updates from Diddy's trial, read USA TODAY's live coverage forWednesday, June 4.
This story contains graphic descriptions that some readers may find disturbing.
The 2016 video of Sean "Diddy" Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura Fine in a Los Angeles hotel is again taking center stage in the former hip-hop mogul's federal sex trafficking trial.
Eddy Garcia, a former security officer at the hotel where Combs and Ventura Fine were captured on tape, told the court that Combs paid $100,000 for a copy of the video, which showed him kicking, hitting and dragging Cassie.
The attack was first described in the bombshell lawsuit she filed in 2023 accusing him of sexual assault, trafficking and more. CNN last year published the security footage from the hotel.
Combs "was concerned that this video would get out and ruin his career," Garcia said on the stand in Manhattan court on June 3.
The account comes after emotional testimony from a former assistant, a woman going by the pseudonym "Mia," who said she was "brainwashed" by her ex-boss amid his constant threats and assaults.
Derek Ferguson, who worked for Bad Boy Entertainment from 1998 to 2017, largely as Combs' chief financial officer, also testified June 3. However, he appeared to shrug off several questions from prosecutors about how Combs spent money and managed his businesses.
Combs, 55, wasarrested in September 2024and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty.
Bank statements appear to confirm Cassie’s mom wired Diddy $20,000
The court saw bank statements that appear to confirm Ventura Fine’s parents wired money to Bad Boy in December 2011 to prevent Combs from leaking tapes of her having sex in his alleged freak offs.
The statements showed an outgoing wire transfer to Ventura Fine on Dec. 14, 2011, followed by a transfer from Ventura Fine to Bad Boy on Dec. 23, 2011. Days later, those funds were returned to sender from Bad Boy.
Ventura Fine’s mother, Regina Ventura, previously testified that she was told she needed to wire Combs $20,000 after he threatened to release the tapes of Ventura Fine. She said she "was scared for my daughter’s safety" and was ordered to "pay Sean Combs because he demanded it."
Diddy lawyer presses Combs' former financial officer
Combs’ defense attorney Marc Agnifilo largely asked Ferguson about behavior he witnessed during his employment.
When asked if he ever saw anyone help Combs commit crimes, Ferguson said he hadn't. Agnifilo also asked whether Ferguson ever witnessed "acts of violence" or saw anyone "make the company stronger through acts of violence." The former financial officer again said no.
Ferguson also said he hasn't seen anyone "enhance Mr. Combs’ reputation through emotional, physical or sexual abuse," as well as "acts of prostitution" or "forced labor." When asked if he thinks highly of Combs, Ferguson took a long pause before answering, "I don’t know how to respond to that."
Is Diddy still in jail?
The disgraced music mogul is already in custody, and, despite repeated attempts at bail,has remainedconfined to the Special Housing Unit in Brooklyn'sMetropolitan Detention Center. He has been in jail since his arrest on Sept. 16, 2024.
When will the Diddy trial end?
Combs' trial is expected to last for approximately eight weeks in total.
Judge Arun Subramanian, who's presiding over the sex-crimes trial in New York, has said he's hopeful proceedings will wrap up by the July 4 holiday.
Security officer Eddy Garcia says Diddy was initially asked for $50K for hotel assault video
Eddy Garcia recalled working as a security officer for the Los Angeles hotel where Combs was captured on surveillance video in March 2016 assaulting Ventura Fine.
Garcia told the court that he received a call from Combs' chief of staff, Kristina "KK" Khorram, asking if he had heard about an incident and "if there was any possible way to get a copy of the video."
Khorram said she and Combs wanted to know "what exactly they were dealing with." Garcia said he told the chief of staff, "Off the record, it's bad."
Later that day, Khorram put Garcia on the phone with Combs, who "sounded very nervous. He was talking really fast," the former officer said. Combs allegedly explained to Garcia that he "had a little too much to drink" and that "you know how it is with women," adding that if the video got out "it could ruin him," Garcia testified.
Combs pressed further, allegedly saying he would "take care of" Garcia. The witness then went to his boss, Bill Medrano, and told him that Combs was offering to pay for the video. Medrano paused and said he would do it for $50,000, Garcia testified.
The former officer recalled that Combs "sounded excited" over the offer and said, "Eddy, my angel. I knew you could help."
Medrano went to the server room of the hotel, came back and handed Garcia a black USB, and said "done."
Security guard says Combs didn't want hotel surveillance video 'getting out'
Garcia testified he told Combs and Khorram he had the tape on March 7, 2016. Combs allegedly directed him to bring it to a "a big high-rise building" in the area, where he walked into the lobby and was met by one of Combs' bodyguards, the former security officer said.
As they went up the elevator, Combs' bodyguard said he had known Combs for a long time, and "he was a good guy, and I was doing a good thing," Garcia recalled. When Garcia arrived at the suite, Combs and Khorram were waiting there.
"I was very nervous and my voice kept cracking," Garcia said on the stand.
Combs allegedly asked if he had the tape, and Garcia handed him a USB. The former security officer said Combs reiterated that "he didn't want it getting out" to the public.
Eddy Garcia says Diddy gave him paper bag with $100,000
Garcia testified that he was concerned about being in legal trouble for giving the video to Combs, particularly if Ventura Fine filed a police report. But the former security guard said Combs told him he "didn’t have to worry about it" because she "wanted it gone too."
Combs then called Ventura Fine, who said she "had a movie coming out" and wanted the situation to go away, Garcia said.
Garcia recalled that Combs asked for his ID, along with information from other security officers on the scene. He also asked Garcia to sign a non-disclosure agreement and another document stating he'd provided the only copy of the video.
The courtroom saw an image of the NDA, which said Garcia agreed to pay $1 million if there was a breach of the agreement.
After Garcia signed the documents, he said Combs brought him $100,000 in a paper bag. Combs asked how he would spend the money – and allegedly advised him not to "make any big purchases." Garcia said he gave $50,000 to Medrano, $22,000 to the other officer and kept $30,000 for himself. He said he bought a used vehicle in cash and didn’t deposit the money in a bank account or report it on taxes.
Prosecutors want to use Diddy's jail phone calls
Prosecutors are trying to use some of the phone calls that Combs has made from jail as evidence. That includes audio in which Combs allegedly planned an extensive social media campaign around his birthday in November 2024 to generate publicity and "shift the narrative."
Lawyers for the government say they want to use the calls as evidence to help corroborate Mia's testimony that Diddy used his birthday for public approval – and that was the aim when she recorded a video wishing her former boss a happy birthday.
Prosecutors are likely hitting back at an argument that Combs' lawyers made on June 2: Mia still had a warm relationship with Combs after he allegedly physically and sexually assaulted her.
Individual banned from court after revealing Mia's identity
At the top of the day, prosecutors told the judge that somebody, who had been in the courthouse June 2, had used his phone to broadcast from the trial and used Mia's real name. The former assistant testified under a pseudonym to protect her privacy and safeguard against retaliation.
The individual went on his YouTube channel and used Mia’s real name there as well, prosecutors said. The person has been banned from the courthouse.
'Laughing at you': Woman taunts Diddy in courtroom
Before the jury entered the courtroom for the day, there was an outburst from an onlooker.
A woman stood up and shouted "Diddy!" and Combs turned around and looked at her. As she taunted him in an expletive-filled rant, the woman said that it's not a "game," and people are "laughing at you."
The judge asked for the woman, who has been at the courthouse for multiple days of the trial, to be escorted out of the room.
Diddy team admits to violence, but not sex trafficking. Why that defense is tricky
Combs' defense team is having to walk a tightrope in his sex-trafficking trial after admitting in opening statements that he committed domestic violence.
That's because sex trafficking involves compelling someone to participate in a commercial sex act through force, fraud or coercion. If Combs admits he used physical violence in his relationship with Ventura Fine, some jurors could believe he's admitting he forced her into the alleged "freak offs."
"If somebody is being beaten before or after sexual encounters, and knows that that is just a consistent part of their relationship, that really extinguishes any concept of consent," Moira Penza, a litigator who in 2019 successfully prosecuted the so-calledNXIVM "sex cult"leader Keith Raniere for sex trafficking, told USA TODAY.
Combs' defense team didn't respond to a request for comment on whether it believes it is having to thread a needle by conceding domestic violence while denying he trafficked anyone. But it has tried to demonstrate that alleged victims had agency.
Who is Mia in Diddy trial? Ex-assistant alleges sex assault at Combs' birthday party
Mia, a former personal assistant who worked for Combs from 2009 to 2017, testified on May 29 that he sexually assaulted her on "more than one" occasion. The woman alleged that the first time Combs assaulted her was at the Plaza Hotel in New York City when they were celebrating his 40th birthday in 2009.
In later years, the music mogul allegedly assaulted her several additional times, including at his Los Angeles home and on a private plane.
Mia says Diddy assaulted Cassie at Brad Pitt movie premiere
During her June 2 testimony, Mia alleged that in 2012 she witnessed a discussion between Combs and Ventura Fine escalate at the premiere of the Brad Pitt film "Killing Them Softly," during the Cannes Film Festival in France.
She claimed she saw Combs grit his teeth while digging his nails into Ventura Fine's arm, and eventually insisted that Ventura Fine leave, which she did.
Mia describes R. Kelly 'nightmare' in texts to Diddy
On June 2, jurors saw texts from 2019, in which Mia wrote to Combs: "I had a nightmare. I was trapped in an elevator with R. Kelly, and you came to rescue me." Kelly, a fellow hip-hop artist, is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering in 2022.
When asked by Combs' defense attorney Brian Steel why she reached out to Combs, Mia said, "Puff used to be my protector," adding that she also "felt horrible" for him after the 2018 death of his longtime partner Kim Porter.
Did Trump pardon Diddy?
No, despite recently handing down a flurry of pardons, including one for reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, Trump did not include Combs on that list. But that doesn't mean he can't. According to Michigan State law professor Brian Kalt, Trump would be within his presidential rights to extend a preemptive pardon to Combs.
"These are federal charges so that's the main limit," Kalt tells USA TODAY. "The matter has (to) be federal, it has to be criminal vs. civil, and related to something that's already been done. But the person doesn't have to even be charged yet or convicted. The Supreme Court has said preemptive pardons are OK."
When asked about a possible pardon during an Oval Office press conference on May 30, Trump said he hadn't been approached about the legal matter but added, "I know people are thinking about it."
What are the charges against Diddy?
Combs is facing federal sex-crimes and trafficking charges in a sprawling lawsuit that has eroded his status as a power player and kingmaker in the entertainment industry.
Hewasarrested in September 2024and later charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The rapper has pleaded not guilty to all five counts against him.
What is racketeering?
Racketeering is the participation in an illegal scheme under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute, or RICO, as a way for the U.S. government to prosecute organizations that contribute to criminal activity.
Using RICO law, which istypically aimed attargeting multi-person criminal organizations,prosecutors allegethat Combs coerced victims, some of whom they say were sex workers, through intimidation and narcotics to participate in"freak offs"— sometimes dayslong sex performances that federal prosecutors allege they have video of.
Where can I watch the Diddy trial?
The trial will not be televised, as cameras are typically not allowed in federal criminal trial proceedings.
USA TODAY will be reporting live from the courtroom.Sign up for our newsletterfor more updates.
Contributing: USA TODAY staff
If you are a survivor of sexual assault,RAINNoffers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE(4673) andHotline.RAINN.organd en EspañolRAINN.org/es.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text "START" to 88788.
This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.
