Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyer complains about trial secrecy as a famous rapper's name goes unmentioned

NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer for Sean “Diddy” Combs protested the rising tide of secrecy at the hip-hop icon’s federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial on Thursday after Combs and the public were excluded from arguments over whether another famous rapper's name could be disclosed.

Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo complained to Judge Arun Subramanian after Combs was excluded from a meeting outside the courtroom between lawyers and the judge.

That meeting delayed the final day of weeklong testimony from a woman identified in court only by the pseudonym “Jane,” who dated Combs from 2001 until his September arrest.

When her emotional testimony ended, she hugged a prosecutor, Maureen Comey, in front of the jury, which would have drawn an outcry from the defense except she hugged defense attorney Teny Geragos too.

Her testimony likely helped both sides. She admitted still loving Combs, but she said she now resents that she felt forced to have sex with strangers to satisfy his sexual fantasies.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges that carry a potential prison sentence of 15 years to life in prison. Prosecutors say he used fame, fortune, violence and threats to manipulate girlfriends into sex with paid sex workers in multi-day events that they later regretted.

Defense attorneys say the government is prosecuting consensual sex between adults.

Under cross-examination by Geragos, Jane testified Thursday that she flew to Las Vegas in January 2023 with a famous rapper and his girlfriend.

Geragos didn't identify the rapper but asked Jane if he had recorded with Combs, “an individual at the top of the music industry as well ... an icon in the music industry.” She also asked if Combs and the rapper were “really close.”

“Yes,” Jane replied.

Once in Las Vegas, Jane testified, she went with a group including the rapper to dinner, a strip club and a hotel room party, where a sex worker had sex with a woman while a half-dozen others watched.

She said there was dancing and the rapper said, “hey beautiful,” and told her he'd always wanted to have sex with her. Jane said she didn't recall exactly when but she flashed her breasts while dancing.

The testimony followed the closed-door session Thursday, when lawyers discussed what facts could be disclosed about the hotel room encounter.

Agnifilo said the need for a public trial was “an important issue, a constitutional issue” and objected to so much happening out of the earshot of his client.

In response, the judge offered more secrecy, saying “If your client wishes to be heard ... we can clear this courtroom if need be to address it.”

Agnifilo rejected the offer.

“Part of the reason trials are fully public is so if other people realize they know something about an event discussed in a public courtroom, they can come forward and share their recollection of it,” the lawyer said, adding: “That is kind of the practical side of the constitutional right to a public trial.”

A monitor that is used to show exhibits to spectators has been shut off throughout Jane's testimony, although lawyers, the judge, Combs and jurors can view them. Some sidebar conversations between lawyers and the judge have been sealed.

The judge also has banned the public from viewing any exhibits containing sexual content, even though the defense has said images from the group sex episodes proves they were consensual acts between adults, and not proof of crimes.

And many of the letters to the judge from lawyers each day are filed under seal, preventing the public from quickly knowing, for instance, the details about why prosecutors want a Black juror ejected from the jury in mid-trial. The judge has said he'll decide the juror's fate Friday.

Defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro has called the prosecution's quest a “thinly veiled effort to dismiss a Black juror.”

Jane and Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who testified for four days in the trial’s first week about her relationship with Combs from 2007 through 2018, both said they participated in the sex marathons for years, with Cassie calling them “freak-off” nights and Jane referring to them as “hotel nights.”

Agnifilo said the defense consented to Jane testifying with a pseudonym but did not consent to other events related to her testimony and the testimony of other witnesses not being public.

Comey, the lead prosecutor, attacked Agnifilo's rationale for disclosing more information publicly with the risk that it would be easier for someone to guess Jane's identity, saying it was an “attempt to harass and intimidate this witness.”

FILE - In this Nov. 22, 2015 file photo, Sean "Diddy" Combs presents the award for best collaboration of the year at the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)

Inside a federal courtroom is shown, 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 Combs arrives at the Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 25, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP, File)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Torrential rains and flooding have killed more than 100 people in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and authorities warned Friday that more severe weather was expected across several countries in southern Africa.

South Africa has reported at least 19 deaths in two of its northern provinces following heavy rains that began last month and led to severe flooding.

Tourists and staff members were evacuated this week by helicopter from flooded camps to other areas in the renowned Kruger National Park, which is closed to visitors while parts of it are inaccessible because of washed out roads and bridges, South Africa's national parks agency said.

In neighboring Mozambique, the Institute for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction said 103 people had died in an unusually severe rainy season since late last year. Those deaths were from various causes including electrocution from lightning strikes, drowning in floods, infrastructure collapse caused by the severe weather and cholera, the institute said.

The worst flooding in Mozambique has been in the central and southern regions, where more than 200,000 people have been affected, thousands of homes have been damaged, while tens of thousands face evacuation, the World Food Program said.

Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency said that 70 people have died and more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed in heavy rains since the beginning of the year, while infrastructure including schools, roads and bridges collapsed.

Flooding has also hit the island nation of Madagascar off the coast of Africa as well as Malawi and Zambia. Authorities in Madagascar said 11 people died in floods since late November.

The United States' Famine Early Warning System said flooding was reported or expected in at least seven southern African nations, possibly due to the presence of the La Nina weather phenomenon that can bring heavy rains to parts of southeastern Africa.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited flood-stricken areas in the northern Limpopo province on Thursday and said that region had received around 400 millimeters (more than 15 inches) of rain in less than a week. He said that in one district he visited “there are 36 houses that have just been wiped away from the face of the Earth. Everything is gone ... the roofs, the walls, the fences, everything.”

The flooding occurred in the Limpopo and Mpumalanaga provinces in the north, and the South African Weather Service issued a red-level 10 alert for parts of the country for Friday, warning of more heavy rain and flooding that poses a threat to lives and could cause widespread infrastructure damage.

The huge Kruger wildlife park, which covers some 22,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles) across the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, has been impacted by severe flooding and around 600 tourists and staff members have been evacuated from camps to high-lying areas in the park, Kruger National Park spokesperson Reynold Thakhuli said.

He couldn't immediately say how many people there were in the park, which has been closed to visitors after several rivers burst their banks and flooded camps, restaurants and other areas. The parks agency said precautions were being taken and no deaths or injuries had been reported at Kruger.

The South African army sent helicopters to rescue other people trapped on the roofs of their houses or in trees in northern parts of the country, it said. An army helicopter also rescued border post officers and police officers stranded at a flooded checkpoint on the South Africa-Zimbabwe border.

Southern Africa has experienced a series of extreme weather events in recent years, including devastating cyclones and a scorching drought that caused a food crisis in parts of a region that often suffers food shortages.

The World Food Program said more than 70,000 hectares (about 173,000 acres) of crops in Mozambique, including staples such as rice and corn, have been waterlogged in the current flooding, worsening food insecurity for thousands of small-scale farmers who rely on their harvests for food.

Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa. AP writers Charles Mangwiro in Maputo, Mozambique, and Farai Mutsaka in Harare, Zimbabwe, contributed to this report.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

This image made from video shows the scene after flooding in Tete Province, Mozambique, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)

This image made from video shows the scene after flooding in Tete Province, Mozambique, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)

This image made from video shows the scene after flooding in Tete Province, Mozambique, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)