An exotic dancer called The Punisher discovered his client’s identity when he turned on a hotel television before an encounter, and the screen said, “Welcome Sean Combs”.
Sharay Hayes testified at the hip-hop mogul’s sex-trafficking trial that he was hired to create “sexy, erotic scenes” with Combs’ then-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura while a naked man watched from the corner.
But he did not realise at first that the man was Mr Combs. That changed when Mr Hayes was waiting for his clients in a luxury hotel suite and saw his name on the television’s welcome screen.
Mr Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Mr Hayes testified in a New York courtroom on Tuesday about his first meeting with the couple.
He was “specifically told to not acknowledge” the man in the room and he said Mr Combs wore a veil over his face.
At a hotel room in Trump Tower on Central Park West, Ms Ventura greeted him at the door wearing a bath robe, Mr Hayes said.
Inside the room, the furniture was covered in sheets, and there were “little bowls” on the floor with bottles of baby oil.
He described eight to 12 encounters he allegedly had with Ms Ventura while Mr Combs watched and gave directions.
The directions included adjusting candles and instructing the two to have sex, Mr Hayes said.
Sometimes, Ms Ventura would “wince or sigh” at the mogul’s suggestions, he said.
Other times, she would look to Mr Combs for “consent” for certain activities, he added.
Mr Hayes’ testimony comes after last week’s testimony from Daniel Phillip, who also claimed he was paid to have sex with Ms Ventura while Mr Combs watched.
Cassie’s mother took photographs of daughter’s injuries
Also on Tuesday, the court heard from Regina Ventura, the mother of R&B singer Cassie.
An email from Ms Ventura to her mother dated 23 December 2011, was shown as evidence. In it, she wrote that Mr Combs had made threats towards her, and that he would “release 2 explicit sex tapes of me”.
The email also said Mr Combs had told Ms Ventura he would be “having someone hurt me” and “he made a point that it wouldn’t be by his hands, he actually said he’d be out of the country when it happened”.
After the email was shown in court, Ms Ventura’s mother identified several images of her daughter taken in her family home in Connecticut around the same time.
They show bruises across Ms Ventura’s upper and lower back, and her leg.
Ms Ventura’s mother alleged the bruises were from her being “beaten by Sean Combs”.
She also testified that Mr Combs had demanded $20,000, because “he was angry that he had spent money” on Ms Ventura.
Ms Ventura’s mother testified that she took out a loan with her husband and sent the money to an account as directed by Mr Combs’ “bookkeeper”.
“I was scared for my daughter’s safety,” Ms Ventura told the court, adding that she felt she had to pay “because he demanded it”.
The money then reappeared in their account about four days later, Ms Ventura said. There was no communication about its return.
Earlier on Tuesday, the defence vigorously cross-examined a former personal assistant of Mr Combs and pointed out some inconsistencies in the versions of events he had previously told the government.
The trial is expected to last several weeks, and Mr Combs could face a life sentence if found guilty.
Automatic rifles with enhancements seized from Miami mansion
The last witness of the day was Homeland Security special agent Gerard Gannon, who led the raid of Mr Combs’ Miami mansion in March 2024.
He presented to the jury some of the things he found on the 20,000-square-foot (1,860 sq meters) property, including semiautomatic AR15 rifles, magazines loaded with bullets, lingerie, baby oil and platform high heels.
The rifles, designed to fire at a high rate, were enhanced with things like “red dot optics”, used for precision shooting – not a common feature in the rifles.
Firearm serial numbers, used to track the weapon from the manufacturer to the owner, were also cut out of two of the weapons. Mr Gannon also mentioned that one of Mr Combs’ 30-bullet magazine only had 19 bullets left inside upon the raid.
Testimony on Wednesday will pick up with Gannon.
Later Wednesday or Thursday, the court will hear from the rapper Scott Mescudi, known as Kid Cudi, who dated Cassie in 2011. Mescudi’s name has surfaced repeatedly during the trial, which began earlier this month, mainly in reference to accusations that Combs allegedly blew up his car out of jealousy.
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