Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, made a surprise 40-minute appearance at Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sex-trafficking trial to support the music mogul but found himself unable to get into the courtroom.
The rapper, clad in an all-white outfit and sunglasses, arrived in a black Mercedes Maybach sedan and walked into the courthouse around 11.20 a.m. on Friday.
Members of the public and reporters alike shuffled between the main courtroom to the usual overflow room to try to get a glimpse of the Grammy winner. He didn’t sit in either place; he briefly watched the proceedings in a second overflow room, sources told The Independent. He told the Associated Press that he was there to support Diddy.
Christian Combs, one of the defendant’s sons, greeted Ye outside the courthouse and walked in with him. Ye has been an outspoken supporter of Diddy, even writing “Free Puff” on X in February.
His appearance comes one day after Jane Doe, a former girlfriend of the defendant who testified under a pseudonym, testified about flying on an unidentified rapper’s private plane to Vegas for his girlfriend’s birthday. There, Doe and eight others, including the rapper and his girlfriend, watched an escort have sex with a woman. Doe knew the escort from her “hotel nights” with Diddy, she told the court.
Teny Geragos, a defense attorney for the music mogul, described the unnamed rapper as being at the “top of the music industry” and is “close” to her client. The rapper’s identity has not been revealed.
Diddy faces five federal counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty. Ye’s shock appearance was one of several memorable moments on a busy Friday in the courtroom.
- A special agent for Homeland Security Investigations testified about finding six firearms, 200 bottles of baby oil and 900 bottles of lube in the music mogul’s Los Angeles home during the March 25, 2024 search.
- The jury saw a photo from the defendant’s garage, where there were more than a dozen cardboard boxes with the “Astroglide” label on the side; they were filled with Astroglide bottles, the agent testified.
- Jonathan Perez, Diddy’s former assistant, recalled that hotel rooms were a “bit of a mess and in disarray” after his “hotel nights” with Doe.
- The mogul had inspirational postings on his bathroom mirrors, his attorney Brian Steel told the court.
Days after the government first revealed they hoped to remove a juror due to a “lack of candor with the court,” the judge detailed Friday that there were some inconsistencies in his answers about his residency. The prosecution’s concern stemmed from an “offhand” comment the juror made to a member of the jury staff about how he “recently moved to New Jersey” with his girlfriend. He’s been staying there for a few weeks, but it might not be permanent, he added, according to the judge.
Judge Arun Subramanian then met with the juror and compared his answers to those given during jury selection. Back in May, he told the court that he was living in the Bronx with his girlfriend and baby daughter. This week, he told the judge that he lives with his aunt in New York, adding that his girlfriend and child live in New Jersey.
Subramanian initially said he was going to dismiss the juror. “The changing answers and inconsistency give the court worry about deception and lying,” the judge said, noting that an alternate could take this juror’s spot. “There might be a juror on the jury who has an agenda, who wants to be here, who might not be able to follow the rules,” Subramanian added.
Defense attorney Xavier Donaldson then argued that removing this juror would change the diverse makeup. “I think we do sacrifice the integrity of the process when we make the jury less diverse,” the attorney said. Donaldson suggested questioning the juror again. Subramanian said he would consider the next steps. No final decision has been made on the juror’s fate.
