Black female jurors in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial were visibly uncomfortable as they watched videos of his “freak-offs” for the first time on Monday.
According to multiple reports from inside the courtroom, two of the jurors, both Black women, either winced or shielded their eyes as the videos played. Jurors previously had only seen photos or heard audio of Combs’ “freak-off” marathon sex performances, which he stands accused of coercing his girlfriends into through violence, blackmail, and financial leverage.
Per CNN, the jurors were shown a series of clips put together from three different videos taken between October 2012 and December 2014, which lasted about two minutes. The October 2012 video shows Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura engaging in a “freak-off” with two male escorts at Trump International Hotel, DailyMail reports from records shown to the jury. A former of assistant of Combs’ previously testified that Trump’s New York hotel was Combs’ “favorite.”
Jury members watched the videos with headphones on Monday, from which faint music and groaning sounds could be heard throughout the courtroom, according to reports. The two Black women jurors were the most visibly uncomfortable, with one shifting in her seat as the videos played.
The racial makeup of the jury in Combs’ trial became a central topic of conversation Monday morning, as the judge decided to dismiss one of the only two Black men in the jury pool. Combs’ defense argued that the prosecution, which requested Juror No. 6’s removal after he was inconsistent about the details of his place of residence, was making a “thinly veiled effort to dismiss a Black juror.”
The judge agreed with the prosecution’s argument that the juror, a self-proclaimed 90s hip-hop fan and Department of Corrections employee, had misled the court by apparently hiding the fact that he’d relocated from the Bronx to New Jersey. Juror No. 6 was replaced with a 57-year-old white man, an architect from Westchester.
“It would be improper to let the race of the juror and the alternate juror factor into the proper course here,” the judge declared Monday.
The new juror joined the group of 12 on Monday in time to see the first “freak-off” footage of the trial as well as text messages between Combs and his then-girlfriend Ventura, in which he’d asked if she wanted to “celebrate Christmas and have a freak off” with four male escorts.
Ventura agreed and made the arrangements for the larger scale sex performance. She stated in her testimony last month that she fulfilled his wishes for “freak-offs” throughout their 11-year relationship to make Combs “happy” and avoid further beatings from the rapper. Combs has denied all of the allegations against him and faces life in prison if convicted.
