By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, briefly showed up to the New York sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs on Friday to support the hip-hop mogul, a longtime friend.
Ye, dressed in white, arrived at Manhattan federal court before noon while the trial was on a break and spent about 40 minutes in the building. He didn’t get into the main courtroom and instead observed testimony on a closed-circuit monitor in an overflow room.
Asked if he was at the courthouse to support Combs, he responded “yes” and nodded. He then hustled to an elevator and did not appear to respond when a reporter asked if he might testify on Combs’ behalf when the defense begins presenting its case as early as next week.
Ye didn’t answer further questions as he left the courthouse, walking past reporters and TV cameras, and ducked into a waiting black Mercedes sedan.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges alleging that he used his fame, fortune and violence to commit crimes over a 20-year period.
Ye’s appearance at the courthouse came a day after a woman identified in court only by the pseudonym “Jane” finished six days of testimony.
She testified that during a relationship with Combs that stretched from 2021 until his arrest last September at a Manhattan hotel, she felt coerced into having sex with male sex workers while Combs watched.
Defense attorneys have argued that Combs committed no crimes and that federal prosecutors were trying to police consensual sex that occurred between adults.
On Thursday, Jane testified that during a three-month break in her relationship with Combs, she flew to Las Vegas in January 2023 with a famous rapper who was close friends with Combs.
Prior to Jane’s testimony on the subject, lawyers and the judge conducted a lengthy hearing out of public view to discuss what could be divulged about the January trip.
Jane was asked if the rapper she accompanied along with the rapper’s girlfriend was “an individual at the top of the music industry as well … an icon in the music industry.”
“Yes,” Jane replied.
Once in Las Vegas, Jane testified, she went with a group including the rapper to dinner, a strip club and a hotel room party, where a sex worker had sex with a woman while a half-dozen others watched.
She said there was dancing and the rapper said, “hey beautiful,” and told her he’d always wanted to have sex with her in crude terms. Jane said she didn’t recall exactly when, but she flashed her breasts while dancing.