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Kanye West showed up to Sean Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial in New York this morning and walked through security with Combs’ youngest son, Christian “King” Combs.
Wearing an all-white denim ensemble and dark sunglasses, West traveled light as he passed through the checkpoint. (His wife, Bianca Censori, was not with him.) Inside the courthouse, he was greeted by Combs’ attorney, Xavier Donaldson, and Charlucci Finney, Combs’ close friend and self-proclaimed godbrother who has attended each day of the trial.
West did not attempt to enter the main courtroom where Combs sat with his team of lawyers. Instead, he was quietly led to an overflow room on the 23rd floor, a floor below the typical room where members of the public and extra members of the press watch events in the courtroom on a large screen.
A nonchalant West stood and watched from a screen as Combs’ former personal assistant Jonathan Perez testified about the “king nights” he helped organize for Combs. Within minutes, more curious spectators flocked to the floor to catch a glimpse of the controversial rapper. Shortly after, West motioned to Christian he was ready to leave, and he swiftly left the Manhattan courthouse within an hour of his surprise arrival.
Today, a source confirmed to Rolling Stone that court staff discussed the possibility of West’s arrival the day before. Both days, West was not on the official list of Combs’ close family and associates who get reserved seating in the main courtroom.
West is one of the few remaining celebrities to voice strong support for Combs amid the music mogul’s trial, now in its fifth week. West, who now goes by Ye, previously recorded a jail call with Combs and featured portions in his recent song, “Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine.”
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“This shit is wicked, wicked, wicked. So you be careful,” Combs said in video of the jail call obtained by the Shade Room. Combs thanked West for acting like a “big brother father figure” to Christian while Combs was in custody. Combs described feeling like he was “left for dead,” with “only one person coming to do anything” to support him.
“I’m Puff Daddy in jail. This shit is fucking sad as a motherfucker,” Combs said.
West’s appearance at the courthouse in lower Manhattan followed a day after Combs’ ex-girlfriend, identified as Victim-2 in his indictment, finished her six days on the witness stand. The woman, testifying under the pseudonym “Jane,” said Combs once confronted her in June 2024 over a trip she took to Las Vegas in January 2024 with an unidentified rapper and his wife or girlfriend. Jane testified that during the trip, which was to celebrate the the birthday of the “music icon’s” wife or girlfriend, she briefly ended up in a hotel with the couple and several other people, watching a male escort the couple used having sex with a woman.
Jane said the Las Vegas trip came up months later in June following a prolonged fight with Combs, who allegedly busted down several doors in her house, punched her, and “forced” her into a freak-off that night. Jane said the same male escort who she saw in Las Vegas arrived to join them, leading to disclosure of what happened on the trip.
“How could you go to another man’s freak-off?” Combs allegedly demanded in June 2024 as the escort waited in another room, according to Jane’s testimony. The ex-girlfriend told Combs she inadvertently ended up in the hotel room that night five months earlier and only witnessed what was happening before leaving the birthday afterparty after about 20 minutes.
Combs, 55, was arrested in September and has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy. If convicted as charged, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Today, jurors heard from two more witnesses, including Perez, who was granted immunity before answering questions on the stand. He testified that he worked for Combs between December 2021 and September 2024, when Combs was first arrested. In exchange for his honesty testimony, prosecutors agreed he won’t be charged for purchasing or carrying illicit drugs for Combs. Perez told jurors he helped maintain a supply of cocaine, molly (MDMA), ketamine, Adderall, and Xanax kept in a Gucci pouch for Combs.
Perez said his direct supervisor was Combs’ former chief of staff, Kristina Khorram. He confirmed Combs was in a relationship with Jane during his tenure, calling her a “companion.” Perez said part of his job was setting up hotel rooms for Combs’ alleged freak-offs, which he knew as “king nights.”
Prosecutors showed Perez messages he exchanged with Khorram and another assistant. In one exchange, Perez said he was heading to a sex store to purchase something for Jane to wear. In another thread from May 2023, another assistant said they “slipped & fell twice” while cleaning up a room after an alleged freak-off.
Jane and Combs’ former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura both previously testified that Combs wanted them dressed in lingerie and drenched in baby oil during their marathon sex sessions with male escorts that Combs would stage-direct, videotape, and watch while masturbating.
Perez said he accidentally came across such a video during his tenure. He testified that a video of Jane and an unknown man engaging in sexual activity while Combs watched was discovered by another staff member on a staff iPad in 2022. Perez said he quickly alerted Combs and Khorram, with Khorram allegedly telling him he should have reported it to her only. A seemingly concerned Combs said he wanted to launch an investigation into how the video wound up on the device, although Perez said he was unsure if any investigation actually took place.
Six months later, in January 2023, Perez said Khorram cornered him about the video, making him break down “step by step” how he discovered the recording and who he told afterward. In audio of the conversation played to the court, Khorram said “an outside person” had brought up the recording, and she needed to know how they found out. Perez said he was unaware that the lengthy conversation had been recorded.
In prior testimony today, a special agent with Homeland Security testified that 200 bottles of baby oil and 900 bottles of personal lubricant were found at Combs’ Los Angeles estate during a raid last March.
From Rolling Stone US
