Defense concedes Sean 'Diddy' Combs had violent outbursts, but say no federal crimes occurred

NEW YORK (AP) — The public knew Sean “Diddy” Combs as a larger-than-life music and business mogul, but in private he used violence and threats to coerce women into drug-fueled sexual encounters that he recorded, a prosecutor said Monday in opening statements at Combs' sex trafficking trial.

“This is Sean Combs,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson told the jury, pointing at Combs, who leaned back in his chair in a Manhattan courtroom. ”During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant’s crimes."

Those crimes, she said, included kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction.

Combs’ lawyer Teny Geragos, though, described the closely watched trial as a misguided overreach by prosecutors, saying that although her client could be violent, the government was trying to turn sex between consenting adults into a prostitution and sex trafficking case. The judge said he expects the trial to take eight weeks.

“Sean Combs is a complicated man. But this is not a complicated case. This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money,” Geragos told the jury of eight men and four women. “There has been a tremendous amount of noise around this case over the past year. It is time to cancel that noise.”

Geragos conceded that Combs' violent outbursts, often fueled by alcohol, jealousy and drugs, might have warranted domestic violence charges, but not sex trafficking and racketeering counts. She told jurors they might think Combs is a “jerk” and might not condone his “kinky sex,” but “he’s not charged with being a jerk."

Prosecutors seized on Combs’ violence as they questioned their first witness and showed jurors a key piece of evidence: a now-infamous video without audio of him kicking and dragging the R&B singer Cassie, his longtime girlfriend, at a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016.

Combs shook his head slowly side to side as the footage played. Jurors ended up seeing it four times as former hotel security officer Israel Florez testified, including once as Combs’ lawyer tried to poke holes in his recollection.

After CNN aired the video last year, Combs apologized and said he was “disgusted” by his actions.

Florez testified that he encountered Combs near the sixth floor elevators while responding to a security call for a “woman in distress." Combs, wearing only a white towel, was slouching in a chair “with a blank stare ... like a devilish stare, just looking at me,” Florez told jurors.

Florez, who is now a Los Angeles police officer, said that as he was escorting Cassie and Combs to their room, she indicated she wanted to leave and Combs told her, “You’re not going to leave.” Florez said he told Combs, “If she wants to leave, she’s going to leave.”

Cassie left, and Florez said Combs, while holding a stack of money with a $100 bill on top, told him, “Don’t tell nobody.” Florez said he considered it a bribe and told Combs, “I don’t want your money. Just go back into your room.”

Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, is expected to testify Tuesday.

The second witness, Daniel Phillip, said he was a professional stripper who was paid $700 to $6,000 to have sex with Cassie while Combs watched and gave instructions, with the first encounter in 2012.

Phillip told jurors that he stopped meeting with the couple after he saw Combs throw a bottle at her and then drag her by her hair into a bedroom as she screamed.

On cross examination, defense attorney Xavier Donaldson tried to attack Phillip’s credibility, mocking Phillip’s former employer, a male review show company whose slogan promised “the ultimate ladies night experience.”

Combs watched Monday's proceedings attentively. He hugged his lawyers and gave a thumbs-up to family and friends as he entered the courtroom. He also blew a kiss to his mother and mouthed, “Hi mom, I love you,” as she arrived for the start of testimony.

Some of Combs’ children also attended, including three daughters who left the courtroom when the testimony turned lurid.

The case has drawn intense public interest, and the line to get into the courthouse stretched down the block. As Combs' family and lawyers left court Monday, some people were already lining up to snag a seat for Tuesday.

Combs, 55, pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that could result in a 15-year-to-life prison sentence if he is convicted. Since his September arrest, he's been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn.

Judge Arun Subramanian has granted Combs permission to wear regular clothes in court, instead of jail garb. On Monday, he sported a gray sweater and a white button-down shirt. Because hair dye isn't allowed in jail, his normally jet black mane is now mostly gray.

Lawyers for the three-time Grammy winner say prosecutors are wrongly trying to make a crime out of a party-loving lifestyle that may have been indulgent, but not illegal.

Prosecutors say Combs coerced women into drugged-up group sexual encounters he called “freak-offs,” “wild king nights” or “hotel nights,” then kept them in line by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, often by the hair.

In her opening, Johnson said Cassie was far from the only woman Combs beat and sexually exploited.

The prosecutor said Combs last year brutally beat another woman — identified only as Jane — when she confronted him about enduring years of freak-offs in dark hotel rooms while he took other paramours on date nights and trips around the globe.

The sex parties are central to Combs' sexual abuse, prosecutors say. Combs’ company paid for the parties, held in hotel rooms across the U.S. and overseas, and his employees staged the rooms with his preferred lighting, extra linens and lubricant, Johnson said. Combs compelled women, including Cassie, to take drugs and engage in sexual activity with male escorts while he gratified himself and sometimes recorded them, Johnson said.

Combs would beat Cassie over the smallest slights, such as leaving a freak-off without his permission or taking too long in the bathroom, Johnson said. Combs threatened to ruin Cassie’s singing career by publicly releasing videos of her sexually involved with male escorts, the prosecutor said. “Her livelihood depended on keeping him happy,” Johnson said.

Cassie sued Combs in 2023, and the lawsuit was settled within hours, but it touched off a law enforcement investigation and was followed by dozens of lawsuits making similar claims.

Geragos claimed Combs’ accusers were motivated by money. She told jurors that Cassie demanded $30 million when she sued him, and another witness will acknowledge demanding $22 million in a breach of contract lawsuit.

She also conceded that Combs is extremely jealous and “has a bad temper,” telling the jury that he sometimes got angry and lashed out when he drank alcohol or “did the wrong drugs.” But, she said, “Domestic violence is not sex trafficking.”

The Associated Press doesn’t generally identify people who say they are victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has done.

This story was updated to correct the spelling of Casandra Ventura's first name, which had been misspelled “Cassandra.”

Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

Sean Diddy Combs, center, motions a heart sign to his family in attendance as he is escorted out of lock-up by US Marshals, on the first day of trial, Monday, May 12, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Janice Combs, mother of Sean "Diddy" Combs, right, arrives to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Family and supporters of Sean "Diddy" Combs, including King Combs, second from right, arrive to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Family and supporters of Sean "Diddy" Combs arrive to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Janice Combs, mother of Sean "Diddy" Combs, second from right, arrives to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Family and supporters of Sean "Diddy" Combs, including his sons Quincy Brown, third from left, and Justin Combs, second from right, arrive to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Family and supporters of Sean "Diddy" Combs, including his sons Quincy Brown, second from left, and Justin Combs, third from right, arrive to the courthouse in New York, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Sean 'Diddy' Combs, right, turns around and looks at the audience during jury selection at Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

FILE - Cassie Ventura, left, and Sean "Diddy" Combs appear at the premiere of "Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story" on June 21, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As residents across much of the country take down their holiday decorations, sobered by New Year's resolutions and a return to business as usual, in Louisiana people are ramping up for the biggest celebration of the year.

Throughout the state residents are preparing for Carnival season, a pre-Lenten and weeks-long bash that includes feasting on savory dishes, opulent balls and a stream of massive parades rolling through city streets.

The bucket-list worthy period of festivities promises indulgence, costumed revelry and literal pounds of glimmery plastic beads to carry around one’s neck. Here’s what to know about Carnival.

Carnival in Louisiana and around the world is rooted in Christian and Roman Catholic traditions. It's marked by feasting, drinking and revelry before Ash Wednesday and the fasting associated with Lent, the Christian season of preparation for Easter.

Each year, along with Louisiana residents, more than a million visitors travel to New Orleans to partake in the city’s world-famous celebration.

However, the festivities are not limited to the Big Easy. Similar celebrations stretch across Louisiana and into other Gulf Coast states, including Alabama, where Mobile lays claim to the nation’s oldest Mardi Gras celebration. Additionally, there are world-renowned celebrations in Brazil and Europe.

Although some people use the terms “Carnival” and “Mardi Gras” interchangeably, they are actually different things.

Carnival is the entire pre-Lenten period. Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, is one day.

Mardi Gras marks the grand conclusion to Carnival Season. It falls on the day before Ash Wednesday, making it the final moments of indulgence before the solemnity of Lent.

Carnival always begins Jan. 6, which in the Catholic world is called Epiphany or Twelfth Night since it’s twelve days after Christmas. And the season always ends with Mardi Gras.

But, because it’s linked to Easter — which does not have a fixed date — Mardi Gras can fall anywhere between Feb. 3 and March 9. This year Fat Tuesday is on Feb. 17, making Carnival 43 days long.

The beginning of Carnival also marks the start of when it is socially acceptable — and encouraged — to eat king cake. Lines will snake around the block at popular bakeries known for the seasonal staple

The brioche-style pastry, which some bakers say traces back to an ancient Roman holiday, has become one of the iconic and most-delicious symbols of Carnival.

The traditional ring-shaped and sweet-dough cake is streaked with cinnamon and adorned with decadent icing colored purple, green and gold. The cake is often filled with fruits, pecans or different flavors of cream cheese frosting.

Also in the treat is a tiny plastic baby. Whoever has the slice with the little figurine hidden inside is supposed to buy the next cake or throw the next party, lending an unending excuse for another festive gathering.

The traditional cake has evolved over the years with restaurants launching their own unique versions, including one that is filled with boudin — a Cajun-style sausage — and another that is made out of sushi rolls.

Carnival is best know for elaborate and massive parades. This season there will be more than 80 parades in and surrounding New Orleans — many of which last hours.

Energetic marching bands, costumed dancers and multi-level floats laden with fantastical hand-built figures, will wind through communities.

The parades embody their own identity. They include an all-female parade, one that pokes fun at politics, a Sci-Fi themed parade with revelers dressed as Chewbacca. The largest parade hosts 3,200 riders and more than 80 floats, and one of the smallest, in the literal sense, features floats made out of shoe boxes.

Float riders and walking members of Carnival clubs — known as krewes — pour much time and money into preparations for the extravaganza. But all that work pays off as celebrants, many donning homemade costumes, line streets and sidewalks to watch.

Most spectators will have their hands raised in hopes of catching “throws” — trinkets tossed to the crowd by float riders. While throws include plastic beads, candy, doubloons, stuffed animals, cups and toys, there are also the more coveted items such as painted coconuts, highly sought-after hand-decorated shoes and even bedazzled toilet plungers.

The krewe for the largest parade in New Orleans, Endymion, estimates that they toss more than 15 million throws along the parade route. The krewe's motto is, “Throw ’til it Hurts.”

Although Carnival is often known for fancy balls and boisterous parades, other areas and groups have their own traditions.

In central Louisiana people will take part in the Cajun French tradition of the Courir de Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday Run. These rural processions feature masked and costumed participants who will perform and beg for ingredients, and even chase after live chickens, to use for a communal gumbo at the end of the day.

In New Orleans, some African Americans mask in elaborate beaded and feathered Mardi Gras Indian suits, roving the city to sing, dance, drum and perform. The tradition, a central part of the Black Carnival experience in New Orleans since at least the late 1800s, is believed to have started in part as a way to pay homage to area Native Americans for their assistance to Black people and runaway slaves. It also developed at a time when segregation barred Black residents from taking part in whites-only parades.

FILE - The streets are filled during the Society of Saint Anne's parade on Mardi Gras Day, March 4, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

FILE- People gather for the start of the Society of Saint Anne's parade on Mardi Gras Day, March 4, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)