NEW YORK (AP) — Under cross-examination, Sean “Diddy” Combs ’ ex-girlfriend testified Tuesday she took part in sex acts with male sex workers at the music mogul's request because it made her feel loved by him, but now regrets what she came to recognize as the “cuckold” lifestyle.
The woman testified at Combs’ sex-trafficking trial under the pseudonym “Jane” to protect her identity. A day earlier, she revealed their three-year relationship lasted until the Bad Boy Records founder was arrested in September at New York hotel, where she'd been planning to meet him.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges that carry a potential penalty of 15 years to life in prison. He has been jailed without bail.
Prosecutors allege Combs used violence, threats and a network of employees and associates to control and abuse women for two decades. His lawyers have told the jury in federal court in Manhattan that although there was domestic violence in his relationships, everything he did sexually was consensual.
Earlier in the trial, R&B signer Casandra “ Cassie ” Ventura testified over four days that Combs physically abused her and that she participated in hundreds of “freak-off” sexual performances during a nearly 11-year relationship that ended in 2018.
The Associated Press doesn’t name alleged victims of sexual abuse without their consent unless they have shared their identities publicly, as Cassie has.
Attorney Teny Geragos, representing Combs, cross-examined Jane on Tuesday by leading her into discussing the drug-fueled sexual marathons choreographed by Combs — which Jane said sometimes happened weekly — by reminding her that she mentioned regrets in earlier testimony.
“I resent him for leading me into the lifestyle he led me to,” Jane said. “I resented the way he went about introducing me to this lifestyle.”
She said she agreed to these “hotel nights” while “under a lot of emotional pressure” — and already hooked on love and a desire to stay in a relationship with Combs.
Jane testified that she partook in the encounters, sometimes grudgingly, because they pleased Combs and she enjoyed spending time alone with him afterward.
Jane testified she began therapy about three months ago. She previously met with lawyers on Combs' defense team but cut off those meetings in April, days before the trial began.
She said she struggles to understand why she kept participating in “hotel nights” even though she only wanted to have sex with Combs, however the reasons are “becoming more and more clear” as she proceeds with therapy.
Jane initially felt it was “something very special” to have these secret sexual experiences with Combs. She said she didn't want to judge him and “really wanted to just go along with these things because if I can be my partner's escapes than I would be.”
Jane said she researched sexual variations in 2022 and came across the words “cuck” and “cuckold,” which seemed to fit the lifestyle she found herself in because she said a man known as a “cuck” derives pleasure seeing “his woman receive pleasure” from another man.
“He likes to use the words ‘voyeurism’ and ‘escapism,’” Jane said. She added: “I would use the word cuck for him more so.”
Geragos reminded Jane that she had testified last week that she loves Combs currently.
“I do,” she responded.
Geragos had Jane read aloud some of the many sexually explicit messages in which she expressed the types of activities she wanted to engage in during “hotel nights” with Combs and male sex workers as she tried to portray Jane as a willing and eager participant in frequent sex events.
In earlier testimony, Jane provided recent examples of Combs acting violently toward a woman while seeking to fulfill his sexual desires. Cassie sued Combs in November 2023 alleging sexual abuse. The lawsuit was settled within hours for $20 million, but it touched off the criminal investigation into Combs.
A view from the jury box is shown inside a federal courtroom similar to the room where the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ is being held in Federal District court in Manhattan on Friday, June 6, 2025 in New York. (Jefferson Siegel /The New York Times via AP, Pool)
FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center, May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
