Search Articles
MANHATTAN (CN) — The superstar producer/rapper formerly known as Kanye West made a surprise appearance at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ criminal trial in New York federal court on Friday morning, as the prosecution is bringing their nearly six weeks of testimony to a close.
Wearing an all-white Junya Watanabe Levi’s denim outfit, brown leather boots, and black wraparound sunglasses, Kanye West arrived at the Manhattan courthouse around 11:15 a.m. Friday.
He entered through the public line and was escorted by one of Sean Combs’ sons to an overflow room showing a live feed of the trial. When asked if he was there to support Combs, West nodded but did not speak.
A federal law enforcement official said West stayed only a few minutes before leaving the courthouse shortly before noon. He did not respond to questions from reporters as he exited to a Mercedes Maybach waiting on Worth Street.
While West was not named directly in court, one of Combs’ ex-girlfriends testified Thursday about a January 2024 trip to Las Vegas for a birthday celebration that began aboard “a very successful rapper’s private plane.”
Testifying under the pseudonym “Jane,” the witness said the night ended in an Encore Hotel suite, where a group of seven or eight people watched a familiar male escort—identified as “Anton,” a New York-based “entertainer”—have sex with a woman. Jane testified that Combs had hired Anton for past baby oil–coated “hotel night” sex marathons.
She described some “flirtatious banter” with the unnamed rapper, who said he had always had a crush on her, but said nothing physical happened.
“He said something like he thought I was beautiful and always wanted to ‘blank’ me,” she said on Thursday.
While the mystery rapper from the incident was not named during Jane’s cross-examination, Combs’ lawyer Teny Geragos described him as “an individual who is at the top of the music industry” and “an icon in the music industry” who shares some of Combs’ same sexual proclivities.
Jane said the rapper and his wife asked her and Combs if they knew “anybody in the lifestyle” and could recommend a male escort to the couple.
According to the New York Post, West and his wife, Bianca Censori, celebrated her 29th birthday in Las Vegas in January 2024, during the same time period that Jane testified.
West and Censori reportedly showed up for the trial on Thursday but did not make it into the courtroom.
Earlier on Friday, before West’s brief appearance, the court granted Combs’ former assistant, Jonathan Perez, immunity to enable him to testify against the Bad Boy CEO instead of pleading the Fifth Amendment.
Combs, 55, is standing trial on a five-count indictment charging him with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted on all charges, he faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life. He has pleaded not guilty.
The 12-person jury is composed of eight men and four women. There are six alternates: four women and two men.
The trial, now in its fifth week, is expected to run up to eight weeks into early July.
Prosecutors said they may conclude their case as early as next Wednesday.
Follow @jruss_jrussSubscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.