Latest news with #Jane
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
17 biggest Diddy trial bombshells — as the prosecution readies to rest its case
It's the sixth week of testimony in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex-trafficking and racketeering trial. Combs' two sex-trafficking accusers have testified, and the prosecution will soon rest. Here are 17 of the biggest revelations from the trial so far. It's week six of the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex-trafficking and racketeering trial. A federal jury in Manhattan has heard R&B singer Cassie Ventura — Combs' ex-girlfriend and the catalyst for his public downfall — tearfully testify about the humiliating "freak offs" she says she endured throughout their 11-year relationship. A second sex-assault accuser, who testified as "Mia," described four times she says Combs attacked her, and a third accuser. The third accuser, "Jane," testified about the alleged violence underlying what prosecutors say were her three years as Combs' sex-trafficking victim. Along the way, there have been numerous celebrity mentions, including pop icon Britney Spears, actor Michael B. Jordan, rapper Kid Cudi, and late music legend Prince. Combs was arrested in September on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution — the culmination of months of lawsuits and public accusations of sexual assault and other misconduct. The music tycoon is arguing through his defense team that all sexual encounters were consensual, including the alleged drug-fueled freak offs at the trial's center — and that any violence fell short of sex trafficking. Here are some of the most striking moments from the trial so far. Kanye West granted VIP courtroom access Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, has been given special access to attend his pal Combs' trial. The "Jesus Walks" rapper has been added to Combs' friends and family trial guest list, according to two sources with knowledge of the document. Ye showed up to court to support Combs during the trial's fifth week, but was denied entry to the Manhattan courtroom. "He did not wait in line like everybody else from the public," a court source previously told BI. "No one gets special treatment." Ye was instead seated in an overflow room on the courthouse's 23rd floor — three floors below where Combs' trial is unfolding — and left after listening to about half an hour of testimony. It's not clear whether Ye will be back to support Combs at his trial, but if he does, he will have a seat available alongside Combs' family members in the courtroom. Diddy's ex says he beat her a month after he apologized for Cassie abuse In May 2024, shortly after CNN aired hotel surveillance video showing Combs dragging Ventura down a hallway and beating her, the rapper posted an apology on Instagram. On video, Combs told his followers that his behavior that day was "inexcusable" — and that he began therapy soon after the 2016 hotel incident. "I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I'm disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I'm disgusted now," he said in his Instagram video. On June 9, however, Combs' ex testified that exactly one month after he posted that apology, he abused her, leaving her face covered in bruises. After the abuse, she said, Combs leaned close to her and asked her: "Is this coercion?" The woman, who testified under the pseudonym "Jane," said he then demanded she put on makeup, pop an ecstasy pill, and have sex with a male escort. "Take this fucking pill. You're not going to ruin my fucking night," Jane said Combs demanded as she screamed, "I don't want to! I don't want to!" Prosecutors say Combs sex trafficked Ventura and Jane by means of false promises, violence, and coercion. Jane's and other trial witnesses' testimony contradicts the story she says Combs told people close to him after the CNN video was released. Jane testified that when the news broke, Combs "huddled" with his team and his family. "He said that that was the only time that they had physical violence like that," Jane said of the abuse between Combs and Ventura. "He said that she was a hitter and she would hit. At trial, the jury has heard testimony from multiple witnesses describing more than a dozen times they said Combs physically abused Ventura between 2008 and 2018. A witness said Combs personally counted a $100K bribe to kill the Cassie hotel video A former security guard described Combs personally pulling $100,000 out of a paper bag and counting it, painting an image that's both surprising and legally significant. The guard said Combs hoped the cash — prosecutors call it a bribe — would bury forever a 15-minute video showing him beating Ventura in the hallway of the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles in March, 2016. Combs fed "stacks of $10,000 at a time" into a money-counting machine, then stuffed it back in the paper bag, according to the ex-guard, Eddy Garcia. The ex-guard said Combs then handed him the bag as payment for a USB thumb drive containing what both men believed was the only copy of the incriminating footage. "Eddy, my angel," the guard said Combs called him after the transaction. "Something like this would ruin him," he said Combs told him. Eight years later, a surviving copy of the video was first made public by CNN. Now, it's the single most important piece of evidence in the trial, both sides say. Prosecutors say the video shows Combs in the very act of sex-trafficking Ventura, meaning coercing her through physical force into engaging in sex at the hotel with a male sex worker known only as "Jewels." The first charge in Combs' indictment accused him of racketeering, a charge that requires proof of at least two underlying crimes. Prosecutors may argue that the video alone is proof of three underlying crimes: sex trafficking, bribery, and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors hope the video will also clinch the second charge in Combs' indictment, which accuses him of sex trafficking Ventura. Both racketeering and sex trafficking carry maximum sentences of life in prison. Combs raped his PA, "Mia," as she slept in the staff room at his Beverly Hills mansion, she said One of Combs' former personal assistants testified under the pseudonym "Mia," telling jurors he sexually attacked her four times between 2009 and 2017, when she was in her mid-20s and early said that two of the attacks were at the sprawling glass and concrete mansion he rented in Beverly Hills, including a rape in the staff bedroom. She described waking to feeling Combs on top of her. "Be quiet," she said he told her. "I knew his power and I knew his control over me," she told the jury, her voice hushed and halting. "And I didn't want to lose everything that I worked so hard for — or this, like, this world that was the only thing I had anymore." Combs beat Ventura outside a Prince party, Mia also told jurors Combs once attacked Ventura during a party thrown by music icon Prince, the former personal assistant also testified. The ex-PA, who used the pseudonym "Mia," told the jury she and Ventura had snuck out to Prince's Los Angeles home after learning he would be performing for a small gathering — a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience, as Ventura described it on the stand. Prince did not disappoint. Mia said that as he played music, they danced atop his backyard pool, which was backlit and covered in purple plexiglas. Then Combs showed up, she said. "I saw his bucket hat come through the entrance and then made eye contact with him," Mia said of Combs. "Me and Cass just booked it." They ran through Prince's house and into the woods out front, where "Puff caught Cass," and started beating her, Mia said, until Prince's security intervened. Later that night, Ventura testified that Combs continued to beat her back at her hotel, leaving her with "bruising on my face, knots on my head." Ex-employee Capricorn Clark testified Combs kidnapped her at gunpoint Capricorn Clark, another former personal assistant and one who became one of his top marketing executives, kicked off week three of the trial by telling jurors that he once kidnapped her at gunpoint. It was December 2011, after Combs learned of rapper Kid Cudi's brief relationship with Ventura, Clark testified on May 27. Combs was "furious" with Clark for keeping him in the dark about Ventura's romance with the "Pursuit of Happiness" rapper, she said. Clark told the jury that Combs, armed with a gun, went to her house in a rage and banged on the door. "He just said, 'Get dressed, we're going to go kill'" him, Clark testified that Combs told her, using the N-word to refer to Kid Cudi. Combs then took Clark to Kid Cudi's Los Angeles home, she told the jury, describing it as being "kidnapped." "The way he was acting, I just felt like anything could happen," a tearful Clark testified. Ex-exec says years before "freak offs" Combs took Kim Porter to hotels too — with candles and baby oil In the first week of trial testimony, Ventura told jurors that starting in late 2008, she was coerced by Combs into a decade's worth of near-weekly "freak offs" — dayslong sex performances, usually at luxury hotels, involving male escorts, Glade candles, and numerous bottles of baby oil. Clark told jurors that in the years she was Combs personal assistant, from 2004 until 2006, she would set up and clean up the hotel rooms where Combs took another longterm girlfriend, model Kim Porter, the mother of four of Combs' children. During those years, Combs and Porter would stay for days at luxury hotels in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York. Clark said, as a personal assistant, she made sure Combs' suite was stocked with ecstasy, baby oil, and pricey Diptyque candles. Cleanup was tricky, Clark told jurors, who mentioned "handprints left in oil on the, like, ultra-suede wall" as a particular problem. "It was just a lot of baby oil. It was just everywhere." These were not "freak offs," Porter's former family attorney, Suzanne Kimberly Bracker, told Business Insider. "He was madly in love with Kim," said Bracker, who helped negotiate Combs' child support settlement and who said that Porter had two children with Combs at the time. "There is absolutely no way that he would share her with another man," she said. "He would tell her 'I'm not gonna pay for an apartment with my kids in one room while you're with another guy in the other bedroom.'" Kid Cudi said Combs broke into his house and probably torched his Porsche Kid Cudi took the witness stand in Combs' trial on May 22, telling jurors that in December 2011, the music tycoon broke into his Hollywood Hills home, enraged after finding out about the rival rapper's short-lived romance with Ventura. Kid Cudi, given name Scott Mescudi, told the jury that he returned home after the break-in to find the Christmas gifts he'd planned to give his family unwrapped and opened. His dog, he said, had been shut in the bathroom. "Motherfucker, you in my house?" Mescudi recalled telling Combs over the phone as he raced home to confront him. Combs was gone by the time he arrived, Mescudi said. Mescudi also told the jury that some two weeks later, his Porsche was firebombed while in his driveway. The Porsche "arson" is a specific element in the racketeering charges against Combs. Prosecutors alleged in court papers that Combs ordered his underlings to torch a vehicle "by slicing open the car's convertible top and dropping a Molotov cocktail inside the interior." Cassie's mom describes 'trying to hit' Combs in a fight over her daughter's stolen phone Regina Ventura corroborated her daughter's testimony, telling jurors she witnessed the aftermath of two of Combs' violent, jealous rages over romantic rivals. The first was in 2011. The mom said Cassie Ventura came home to Connecticut for the Christmas holidays with a large bruise on her back. Cassie Ventura had told jurors the week before that the bruise was from being kicked to the ground by Combs during a fight over Mescudi. Regina Ventura also confirmed a 2016 incident from shortly before the younger Ventura's 30th birthday. Combs had swiped her cellphone, Cassie Ventura testified, after learning about her affair with an unnamed professional NFL player. When she returned to her Los Angeles apartment without her phone, her mother, who was visiting, called the police and confronted Combs outside the building as her daughter remained upstairs, the elder Ventura testified. "I was yelling and screaming and trying to hit him," the mom told jurors. "He did give it back," she told jurors of the missing phone. Cassie screamed, 'Isn't anybody seeing this?' as Combs attacked her on his private jet, ex-assistant says A former Combs personal assistant described watching — and doing nothing — as his boss brutally attacked a cowering Ventura in the bedroom of the rapper's private jet. George Kaplan, 34, said the attack happened on a crowded flight to Las Vegas in the latter half of 2015. Kaplan said he heard the sound of screams and shattering glass coming from the jet's bedroom. He said he turned to see Combs standing over Ventura with a "whiskey rock glass" in his hand, as she cowered on the bed. "After the glass crashed, Ventura screamed, 'Isn't anybody seeing this?'" Kaplan told the jury. "Did you look away?" asked a federal prosecutor, Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey. Kaplan said he did. "And after you looked away, what did you hear?" the prosecutor asked. "Further glass crashing and chaos." When the prosecutor asked what, if anything, the Combs security staff did in response, Kaplan answered, "Nothing." No one, he said, went back to check on Ventura after Combs left the bedroom to rejoin his employees. "I was 23 years old," Kaplan said in explanation of his own inaction. "All I wanted to do was have a great job in the entertainment industry." Ultimately, he told the jury, this and similar domestic violence incidents drove him to quit. Another former personal assistant told of the night he said Diddy went looking for Suge Knight Combs' former personal assistant spent two days on the witness stand, and in his most dramatic testimony, described how a 2008 run for cheeseburgers at an all-night diner nearly escalated the East Coast-West Coast rap wars. It started at 4 a.m. in the parking lot at Mel's Drive-In in Los Angeles, the ex-assistant, David James, testified. Combs' trusted security guard, Damian "D-Roc" Butler, noticed that Suge Knight, cofounder of rival recording studio Death Row Records, was sitting in an Escalade just a few parking spots away. James, Combs' personal assistant from 2007 to 2009, testified that he was at the wheel of Combs' silver Lincoln Navigator when Knight and D-Roc faced off. "What are you doing in my city?" James, according to his testimony, remembered hearing Knight asking Combs' security guard, who had introduced himself as "D-Roc, Biggie's boy," a reference to the rapper Notorious B.I.G. Within moments, James and the bodyguard saw someone pass a gun to Knight and watched as four SUVs pulled up into different corners of the parking lot, he told jurors. James testified that he was ordered by D-Roc to speed back to Combs' Hollywood Hills estate. There was no mention of whether they drove back with or without the cheeseburgers. Once back home, and as Ventura protested in tears, Combs grabbed three guns for the ten-minute drive with D-Roc back to Mel's, testified James, who said he was still the driver. Knight was nowhere to be found upon their return, James said. "It was the first time I realized my life was in danger," the former PA testified, telling jurors that he sent in his resignation soon after. Dawn Richard testified about a brutal beating, an alleged death threat, and flowers Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard was the fifth prosecution witness, and her testimony on May 16 alleged that in 2009, Combs brutally beat Ventura after she took too long to cook him dinner. "Where's my fucking egg?" Richard recounted to the jury Combs shouting in 2009, as he stormed into the kitchen of his rented Los Angeles mansion. "He took the skillet with the eggs in it and tried to hit her in the head, and she fell to the ground," Richard testified. Ventura cowered on the floor "in a fetal position" as Combs punched her and kicked her, she testified. Then he dragged her upstairs by her hair, she said, adding that she then heard the sound of screaming and breaking glass from the third floor. The next day, Combs called Ventura and Richard into the mansion's first-floor recording studio, she said. "He said that what we saw was passion, and it was what lovers in a relationship do," Richard said. She said Combs told the two women that "he was trying to take us to the top, and that, where he comes from, people go missing if they say things like that, like, if people talk. And then he gave us flowers." While back on the stand on May 19, Richard re-emphasized that she felt this was a threat to her life. The details in the testimony came as a surprise to Combs' lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, who called it prejudicial and "just a drop dead lie." "It didn't happen," the lawyer complained to the judge. "And the reason we know it didn't happen is that Ms. Ventura didn't talk about it" during her four days on the witness stand. On cross-examination on May 19, Richard agreed that she only recalled the alleged death threat in speaking with prosecutors earlier this month. It had gone unmentioned, she agreed, during a half-dozen prior interviews with prosecutors. Combs attacked Ventura over bathroom use, prosecutor and ex-bestie say Ventura was beaten by Combs for the most minor of perceived infractions, including taking too long in the bathroom, prosecutor Emily Johnson said in her opening statement. "He beat her when she didn't answer the phone when he called. He beat her when she left a freak off without his permission," Johnson said. Ventura's ex-best friend, Kerry Morgan, was called to the witness stand on May 19 and told jurors about two attacks on Ventura she witnessed, including one while on vacation in Jamaica in 2013. Morgan said Ventura at one point went to the bathroom at the residence where they were staying, and Combs said, "She's taking too long." "A few minutes later, I heard her screaming — like guttural. Terrifying," Morgan said. "He was dragging her by her hair on the floor." Morgan told jurors that she saw Combs push Ventura to the ground, causing her to hit her head on the paving bricks. "She didn't move. She fell on her side," Morgan said, adding, "I thought she was knocked out." Ventura, too, had testified that arguments with Combs would regularly result in physical abuse. Ventura —who dated Combs on and off from 2007 to 2018 — described six separate times when Combs' attacks left her with injuries, with the most severe beating occurring in Los Angeles in 2009 following a party Combs had hosted at a club called Ace of Diamonds. Ventura said she punched Combs in the face after he called her a "slut or a bitch" for talking to a record producer. Combs retaliated in the back seat of a chauffeured luxury vehicle by punching and kicking Ventura throughout a ten-minute ride to the rapper's rented mansion, she said. She said she hid under the back seat to escape the attack. Combs demanded she stay hidden in a hotel for a week so her bruises could heal, she said. The surprising things Combs kept in his luxury NYC hotel room while waiting to be arrested The prosecution's fourth witness took the witness stand briefly on May 16 to detail what she and other Homeland Security investigators say they found inside Combs' suite at Manhattan's Park Hyatt New York after his September arrest. Combs had checked into the luxury Midtown hotel, his lawyers have said, in case federal prosecutors in Manhattan had asked him to surrender voluntarily. Special Agent Yasin Binda told the Combs jury she photographed what her colleagues found inside the room. Those items included a clear plastic bag of baby oil bottles found inside a duffle bag. There were three more bottles of baby oil in his bathtub, alongside two bottles of personal lubricant. Two more bottles of lubricant were recovered from a nightstand drawer, next to a prescription pill bottle she said held two small baggies containing a pink powder. On the living room floor was a large blue party light of the kind Ventura testified were used to illuminate freak offs. Similar bags of pink powder have previously been seized from Combs and tested positive for ecstasy and other drugs, a prosecutor had said in court the day after Combs was arrested. Ventura's big settlements after her lawsuit and that infamous hallway-beatdown video In some of her final moments on the witness stand, Ventura was asked by the defense about a legal settlement that she said she is on the verge of receiving from the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. "I think it was $10 million," Ventura said of the settlement, hesitating when asked for the total amount agreed to. The InterContinental is where security cameras captured Combs beating Ventura in a hallway in 2016, as she tried to flee what prosecutors say was one of Combs' freak offs. The jury was shown the infamous footage at the beginning of the trial. Johnson, the prosecutor, said in her opening statements that at the time of the attack, Combs paid a security guard at the hotel $100,000 in a brown paper envelope in exchange for the footage. Combs apologized for his actions in the video after CNN published the footage last year. It was the second big-money settlement revealed in Ventura's testimony. Earlier in her testimony, Ventura told jurors that Combs paid her $20 million to settle her civil suit against him in 2023. Britney Spears and Michael B. Jordan were among the celebrities mentioned at the trial Pop icon Britney Spears and actor Michael B. Jordan were both name-dropped on May 15, on Ventura's third day of testimony. During a cross-examination, Ventura was asked to tell the jury about the 21st birthday party Combs threw for her in 2007, at a club in Las Vegas. The party was a significant moment in the Combs-Ventura story. Ventura testified that Combs, who recently signed her to his record label, gave her an uninvited kiss in a bathroom, sparking their relationship. "I believe there were other celebrities there in attendance?" defense attorney Anna Estevao asked Ventura, who answered yes, there were. "Sean was there, and he brought Dallas Austin, he brought Britney Spears," Ventura said, referring to the "Oops!… I Did It Again" singer and the record producer. "I think those were the two people that stand out to me," Ventura added. Asked how a 21-year-old of limited fame was able to attract such big names to her party, Ventura credited Combs, saying, "That was all him." Jordan's name came up as the cross-examination focused on 2015, when Combs became suspicious that she was having an affair with the actor. "Is Michael B. Jordan a celebrity?" Estevao asked. "I would say so," Ventura answered, sounding surprised. Ventura said she first joined Diddy's freak offs out of love Ventura testified on May 13 that she was initially nervous, but felt a sense of responsibility to participate in Combs' freak offs. "I was just in love and wanted to make him happy," Ventura told the jury. Ventura testified that in 2007, Combs first proposed "this sexual encounter that he called voyeurism, where he would watch me have a sexual encounter with a third man, specifically another man." "I didn't want to upset him if I said it scared me or if I said anything aside from, 'OK, let's try it,'" she said. Johnson said in her opening statements that Combs eventually made it Ventura's job to find and book escorts to participate in the sex encounters. While on the stand, Ventura described in detail what went on during freak offs. Prosecutors say Combs arranged, directed, and often electronically recorded the sex performances. Ventura testified that Combs would urinate and ask escorts to urinate on her during the freak offs. "It was disgusting. It was too much. It was overwhelming," she said. "I choked." Read the original article on Business Insider
Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
‘The Northern Ireland team did a whip round for me so I could stay on at 1958 World Cup': Billy Hunter (93) recalls Swedish adventure
Billy Hunter is 93 years young. In 1958 this remarkable man travelled to Sweden as a fan to cheer on Northern Ireland at the World Cup Finals and remembers the matches like they were played last week. As we sit and chat in his daughter Jane's house in Randalstown, I marvel at his recall as he talks about legends of that era like Harry Gregg, Danny Blanchflower, Bertie Peacock, Billy Bingham and Peter McParland.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Legendary Actress, 74, Stuns With 'Ageless Beauty' in Red-Hot Swimsuit
Legendary Actress, 74, Stuns With 'Ageless Beauty' in Red-Hot Swimsuit originally appeared on Parade. stunned fans with her ageless appearance in a new swimsuit photo. On June 14, the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman actress, 74, took to Instagram with a snapshot of herself rocking a red one-piece. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 "A little sunshine, a lot of gratitude, and just the right amount of splash. ☀️," the former Bond girl captioned her update. In the featured image, Seymour posed while sitting poolside on a rock with a glowing smile. She put one hand on her hip and the other resting on a bent knee as her other leg dangled in the water, although her ginger hair was completely dry. Check out the gorgeous picture! In the comments, Seymour's followers had to pick up their jaws from the ground before showering the Somewhere in Time star with praise. One Instagram user declared, "My God she looks fantastic." Another exclaimed, "So beautiful Jane you defy time ❤️🫶☀️ and the years, you are magnificent." Someone else echoed, "I believe that your picture is in the dictionary next to the word goddess." A different Instagram follower shared, "Ageless beauty. Fantastic actress too." Meanwhile, yet another commented, "Still gorgeous Jane 🔥🔥🔥," as a second agreed, writing, "WOW!!! Hottie!!!🔥❤️." In February, Seymour opened up to Parade about aging, referring to women over 50 as the "unseeners." "Anti-aging, for me, [is that] you're not going back," she shared. "You're going to be the best you can be at the age you're at. You can age super fast if you give up. I can't tell you how many people 45 and over just go, 'Oh well, I suppose I'm done now.'" For Seymour, however, she's "having more fun in my career" and "having more fun in my life" at her current age. She declared, "I'm doing all kinds of things I would never have dared do before because I'm just going, 'Why not?'" Next: Legendary Actress, 74, Stuns With 'Ageless Beauty' in Red-Hot Swimsuit first appeared on Parade on Jun 16, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
If ‘Materialists' left you wanting more Dakota Johnson, this rom-com on HBO Max is for you
You'd have to be living under a rock if you haven't yet encountered any publicity for "Materialists", the new Celine Song-directed romantic movie featuring an A-list triangle between Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans. (The trio has been busy on the promo circuit these past few weeks.) That film, which sees Johnson play a modern-day matchmaker in New York City, had us reminiscing about another one of the actress's recent romantic titles — no, none of that "Fifty Shades" mess, but rather "Am I OK?" a queer 2022 dramedy co-directed by married couple Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne. Coming out during a summer saturated with Dakota Johnson performances (including "Cha Cha Real Smooth" and "Persuasion"), "Am I OK?" is a standout for the performer, playing a woman navigating coming out in her thirties. And the sweet flick is currently available to watch on HBO Max — here's why you should add the rom-com to your next watch list. Johnson stars as Lucy, a 32-year-old woman living in Los Angeles with her lifelong best friend Jane (Sonoya Mizuno). Lucy has been unsatisfied in her romantic relationships with men, and, after a little soul-searching, she realizes that the problem might not be guys at all — it might be girls. However, Lucy's late-in-life self-discovery about her sexuality comes at a complicated time, with Jane receiving a work promotion that requires her to relocate to London. Ahead of the impending move, Jane encourages her bestie to explore her burgeoning feelings, including pursuing a flirtation with her massage therapist co-worker, Brittany (Kiersey Clemons). Soon, Lucy and Jane are traversing a tricky landscape of friendship, acceptance and growth as Lucy comes to terms with who she really is and what she really wants. (Writer-producer Lauren Pomerantz reportedly penned the script based on her own experience of coming out in her 30s.) Most coming-out comedies tend to skew younger, in the high school and college age ranges, so it's refreshing to have some late-bloomer screen representation in an LGBTQ+ movie. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. "Am I OK?" has a solid 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critical consensus notes, "Anchored in an authentically relatable approach to its story of self-discovery, 'Am I OK?' is further elevated by strong work from Dakota Johnson and Sonoya Mizuno." Along with critical love for the film's " touchingly personal script by Lauren Pomerantz" (per Peter Travers for ABC News), Johnson and Mizuno's onscreen chemistry was widely praised, with John Anderson of the Wall Street Journal commending the co-stars for spinning "a convincing friendship out of a gossamer narrative, and an engaging relationship out of pure charm." Calling "Am I OK?" one of the most exciting indie movies out of 2022's Sundance Film Festival, The Atlantic's Shirley Li dubbed the flick "part romantic comedy, part coming-out story, part much-delayed coming-of-age tale — and all breezily charming." Sounds more than OK to us! Watch "Am I OK?" on HBO Max now
Forbes
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Sean ‘Diddy' Combs Likely Won't Testify In His Sex Trafficking Trial
Sean 'Diddy' Combs likely will not take the witness stand in his own sex trafficking and racketeering trial, the Associated Press reported, as the defense projected just two to five days to make their case, which likely would have been much longer if Combs were to testify. Sean "Diddy" Combs likely will not testify at his own trial, the Associated Press reported. (Photo ... More byfor Sean "Diddy" Combs) Marc Agnifilo, a defense attorney representing Combs, told Judge Arun Subramanian the defense could possibly take less than two, but no more than five, days to make their case. Had Combs testified, his time on the witness stand likely would've taken at least a week, the Associated Press reported, considering the prosecution's star witnesses Cassie Ventura and 'Jane,' an unnamed alleged Combs victim, each spent about a week on the stand. Combs' defense lawyers will present their case to the jury once the prosecution wraps, which could be as early as tomorrow or sometime later this week, after weeks of testimony from dozens of witnesses. Subramanian said the jury may start deliberations as soon as next week, depending on how long the prosecution and defense take to rest their cases. Subramanian had previously said he wanted to finish Combs' trial, which began with witness testimony on May 12, before the July 4 weekend. Agnifilo previously raised the possibility of Combs testifying, telling TMZ in September the rapper is 'very eager to tell his own story.' Combs' rap rival Suge Knight said earlier this month Combs should testify to 'humanize' himself to the jury. But some legal experts have said testifying would be a risky move that could backfire on the defense. Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told People testifying would open him up to cross-examination by the prosecution and that whatever he says on the stand would be admissible evidence in the dozens of civil lawsuits that have been filed against him alleging sexual assault and sex trafficking. Entertainment lawyer Lisa Bonner told Page Six it is 'highly unlikely' Combs will take the stand, stating there is 'nothing to gain, especially if you have any skeletons in your closet,' and that he runs the risk of committing perjury if he is not truthful. Some have speculated whether President Donald Trump, who previously pardoned rappers including Lil Wayne and NBA YoungBoy for weapons charges, would pardon Combs, whom Trump has previously called a friend. Trump, in response to a reporter's question about whether he would pardon Combs, said in May he would 'look at the facts' and noted he hasn't spoken to Combs since before he entered politics. Rolling Stone reported in May, citing anonymous sources, that members of Combs' team have reached out to Trump allies to lay groundwork for a pardon, though sources told Rolling Stone that Trump officials have expressed reservations because of the severity of Combs' charges. Jurors were shown videos of Combs' 'freak offs' for the first time, which made some jurors look visibly uncomfortable, according to multiple reports. Unlike some photos shown to jurors, the 'freak off' videos were not shown to the entire courtroom and will not be made available to the public because they are sexually explicit. DeLeassa Penland, a special agent with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, took the stand Tuesday as prosecutors walked through Combs' phone records after he was caught on surveillance footage attacking Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. Combs repeatedly texted and called Ventura after the incident, to which Ventura said he is 'sick for thinking it's okay to do what you've done,' CNN reported. Combs is on trial for five federal charges: two counts of sex trafficking, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and one count of racketeering conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. High-profile witnesses who have already testified include his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, whose testimony took up much of the trial's first week. While on the stand, Ventura alleged Combs raped her in 2018, subjected her to years of physical abuse and coerced her to perform in 'freak-off' sex parties with male escorts. Rapper Kid Cudi also took the stand, testifying Combs broke into his house after he discovered Cudi was dating Ventura, after which his car exploded in his driveway. Two unnamed women, 'Mia' and 'Jane,' also took the stand, whom prosecutors say are victims of Combs' sex trafficking crimes. Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial: Trump Addresses Potential Pardon—Says He Would 'Look At The Facts' (Forbes) Who Is 'Jane' In The Diddy Trial? Sean Combs' Ex-Girlfriend And Alleged Victim Takes Stand For Cross-Examination (Forbes)
