Closing arguments are being heard in court, after a six-week case against Sean 'Diddy' Combs. The prosecution describes the hip-hop mogul's "kingdom", in which "everyone was there to serve" - while drugs were "essential" to "freak offs". Follow the latest below.
Friday 27 June 2025 00:00, UK
Today, we saw prosecutors give their final argument in the sex-trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs.
It follows more than six weeks of testimony against the hip-hop mogul, during which we've heard from 34 witnesses.
For a full recap, click on the link below...
Today has seen the prosecution round off its case, tomorrow we will hear from the defence.
Diddy's lead attorney Marc Agnifilo will give his closing argument tomorrow at 2pm UK time (9am in New York). He has said he intends to speak for around four hours.
The defence's closing argument will be followed by the government's rebuttal, which is expected to last one hour.
We'll be back live blogging then - join us to follow the closing days of a case that has made headlines around the world.
The prosecution's closing argument lasted for four hours and 49 minutes, putting the government's case against Diddy on all five charges.
Diddy is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, two charges of sex-trafficking, and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has strenuously denied all allegations of sexual abuse.
Wrapping up the closing arguments, the prosecution's Christy Slavik thanks the court for its focus, admitting, "a lot of the evidence was hard to hear and hard to see".
She says Diddy "manipulated, controlled and forced" Cassie, Jane and Mia into sex acts, set Kid Cudi's car on fire and broke into his house.
Concluding, she said: "You heard texts, travel records, bank records, audio and video, presenting a clear picture of how he committed crime after crime and how he and his inner circle helped him commit crimes and how far they鈥檇 go to cover them."
Slavik goes on: "That proves to you he is guilty." She says before today, Diddy "was able to get away with it due to his money, power and influence. But that stops now鈥�
"It is time to hold him accountable, it is time for justice, and it鈥檚 time to find him guilty."
The court is told that Cassie's lawsuit sent Diddy and his team into a spin of damage limitation, moving to neutralise Jane and Mia.
US attorney Christy Slavik said: "Paying people off with a brown paper bag was not an option 鈥� [Diddy] needed to stay under the radar."
The court hears the audio of a call between Diddy and Jane, and says it was contrived to "fabricate the evidence" and was an attempt to tamper with a witness.
Diddy used security staff member D-Roc to contact Mia, working with him to "minimise" the threat she presented, knowing so much about the criminal offences the prosecution says were committed. Mia was already meeting with federal prosecutors at that time.
The alleged forced labour as an element of the racketeering is now being highlighted by prosecutor Christy Slavik, who says there has been evidence of forced labour in the testimony of four people, Cassie, Jane, Mia and Capricorn Clark.
She describes the "freak offs" which Cassie and Jane performed in, saying Diddy would not let them sleep and would give them drugs, including ecstasy and cocaine to keep them awake.
She says their bodies would get sore, and get sick from infections, including urinary tract infections (UTIs) which were "horrible" and "painful," especially when antibiotics stopped working.
On call for Diddy "whenever, wherever he wanted", Jane said during her evidence: "I'm the one putting all the physical and mental work in 48 hours straight," meaning they couldn't focus on their own careers.
Mia, a former assistant to Diddy, said she once went without sleep for five days while working for Diddy, resulting in a mental breakdown. She also detailed rape and sexual assaults at his hands, calling them "the most traumatic things that ever happened to her", and describing his violence towards her and fear for her life.
Meanwhile, Capricorn Clark, another ex-assistant, described being kidnapped and forced to go to Kid Cudi's home.
The prosecution says all of these are examples of forced labour.
After a short break, the court is back in session, and Christy Slavik should be wrapping up the government's closing argument before 10pm UK time.
The prosecution has hit the four-hour mark with its closing arguments, but says it still has around an hour to go.
In light of that, the court takes a brief break.
Now entering its final stages, the argument moves on to the subject of transportation.
Two of the counts are for interstate transportation for prostitution, and there have been discussions of the travel itineraries for the male escorts, as well as payments, which were put on Diddy's American Express credit card.
Cassie and male escorts travelled through Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Atlanta, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Ibiza, according to the prosecution.
The court is told there was no way Diddy's staff did not know what was going on around the "freak offs", listing team members including ex-chief of staff Kristina Khorram, security officer D-Roc and various assistants.
Slavik says: "It defies logic to think [Diddy's] most trusted lieutenants were in the dark, they knew what was happening and they helped him do it."
