SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The fourth week of Sean Combs' trial has just concluded in New York City, and based on early estimates, that means we are about halfway through the proceedings. The hip-hop mogul faces charges that include sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, and he's pleaded not guilty. NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento has been in the courthouse and says the story that the prosecution and defense are telling are becoming clearer. A warning, this story does contain mention of sex and violence. Hi, Isabella.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.
DETROW: So this trial has had a number of people make accusations against Combs. There were more of those this past week.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Yeah, we heard from two alleged victims this week. Unlike Cassie Ventura, who is the prosecution's star witness, both of these women testified under pseudonyms to protect their identities. So the week started with a woman identified as Mia. She was a former employee of Combs, who accused him of sexual and physical assault, forced labor, wage theft and more. Later, another witness identified as Jane took the stand. She said she was romantically involved with Combs from 2021 until his arrest and indictment in September 2024. She told the court she loved Combs and wanted to make him happy, so she participated in drug-fueled sexual encounters with escorts when he asked, but she said Combs pressured her into continuing to do them even when she didn't want to.
So the week began with Mia on the witness stand and ended with Jane, both women who accused Combs of sexual abuse or sex trafficking. But in between, we got a sense of how both the prosecution and defense are trying to shape their narrative of what happened between Combs and these women and why it might or might not add up to a larger criminal enterprise.
DETROW: So let's get more into that. What exactly is the prosecution doing to try to show the jury that there is a bigger conspiracy at play here?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: So it's useful to remember that Combs is not just a rapper and a producer. He also ran several companies. And this week, the prosecution really tried to paint a picture of how the employees who worked for Combs enabled those crimes. So for example, multiple witnesses mentioned Combs' assistants and security guards. They said they saw them bringing him drugs, setting up hotel rooms for encounters with sex workers and even delivering bribes to cover up evidence of crimes.
People might recall that security video of Combs attacking Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. One witness this week was a former security supervisor at the hotel. He said hours after that incident, Combs and his assistant repeatedly called him to try to pay him off for the footage. He ended up giving them the video in exchange for $100,000 in cash, and he signed a nondisclosure agreement on Combs' enterprise's letterhead.
DETROW: OK, so it seems like the prosecution is taking those steps to try and connect these dots. How is Combs' defense team responding?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: So Combs' defense attorneys showed some of the most aggressive cross examination we've seen this far this week. Defense attorney Brian Steel was very confrontational with Mia, Combs' former employee who accused him of sexual assault. Steel asked her more than once whether she was lying. Defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland took a very similar approach with Briana Bongolan. She's a friend of Cassie Ventura's, who testified that Combs dangled her over a 17-story balcony in a fit of rage. Westmoreland also pressed Bongolan about whether she was making that story. And at the time of the alleged crimes, both of these witnesses were really close to Cassie Ventura.
So it's interesting to see the defense going particularly hard at their credibility in a way they might not have been able to with Ventura. She was 8 1/2 months pregnant during her testimony, and there was more evidence linked to her allegations because of that hotel video.
DETROW: Isabella, high-profile trials like this that aren't being televised are interesting because the whole world is following the headlines, and a trial like this is really in the media every single day. But it's really a small universe of people who are seeing it in person. You're one of them. Can you just give us a sense of how this is playing out in person?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Yeah, I mean, I really thought maybe the frenzy around the trial would die down as it went on, but it seems to have only picked up. There's so much interest that there's not even enough space in the courtroom itself. So there's an overflow room where spectators can watch audio and video of what's happening, and lots of people have come out explicitly to support Combs.
In the overflow rooms, it sometimes feels like a watch party. When defense attorneys ask if the alleged victims are lying, people have laughed and cheered. The rowdiness is making its way into the courtroom itself, too. The judge had to remove a woman earlier this week for an outburst in support of Combs. So the vibe of the courthouse often feels at odds with the seriousness of the allegations.
DETROW: Interesting. That is NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento. Thank you so much for your reporting.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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