THE judge in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial has threatened to throw the music executive out of the courtroom after he tried to interact with the jury.
Judge Arun Subramanian singled out Combs before the jury returned from its lunch break, calling his behavior “absolutely unacceptable.”
“There was a line of questioning where your client was nodding vigorously and looking at the jury,” the judge told Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead defense attorney.
“I could not have been any clearer in terms of what I said.”
Judge Subramanian said he saw Combs looking and attempting to interact with the jury on two separate occasions during the testimony of Bryana Bongolan, a friend of Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura.
“I looked and I saw you client looking at the jury and nodding vigorously,” the judge added.
“It is absolutely unacceptable.”
The judge then asked Agnifilo, “Is it going to happen again?” to which the defense attorney assured him it would not.
“It cannot happen again,” Judge Subramanian said, warning that if the issue continued, it could result in the “exclusion of your client from the courtroom.”
The rebuke comes a day after Combs briefly interacted with a juror during Wednesday’s proceeding.
While lawyers were conferring with the judge, Combs rubbed his hands together to keep warm in the frigid courtroom, then looked towards the jury box to see a male juror rubbing his arms, according to The New York Times.
“Cold,” Combs reportedly mouthed at the juror with a grin.
The juror nodded and smiled, according to the outlet.
After the lunch break, prosecutors called a female witness who is testifying under the pseudonym Jane to the stand.
Jane told jurors that she was in a relationship with Combs from 2021 to 2024, after meeting in Miami, Florida, in late 2020.
“He was really charming, really nice, and I was already drawn to him pretty instantly,” Jane said about her first interaction with Combs.
She described her relationship with Combs as private, but testified that the music mogul, 55, told her he was seeing multiple woman.
However, when prosecutors asked if she sensed she had the option of a monogamous relationship, Jane said no.
COMBS DANGLES CASSIE’S FRIEND OVER A BALCONY
Jane’s testimony came after Bongolan, Ventura’s friend, told the courtroom about the “volatile” relationship between the singer and Combs.
Bongolan told jurors she was hesitant about meeting the disgraced music mogul, 55, while he was in a relationship with her friend of over a decade.
“I did not want to meet him right away. I had seen a black eye,” the witness said referring to Ventura, who she said begged her to meet Combs.
Bongolan testified about the traumatizing incident where Combs dangled her over a 17th floor balcony in 2016.
The witness told jurors that she was smoking on a balcony when Combs came up behind her, lifted her up, and put her on top of the balcony railing.
Bongolan said the music executive screamed at her, “You know what the f**k you did.”
The victim, who said she still has nightmares about the incident to this day, did not know what he was talking about.
She said Combs then threw her onto balcony furniture, leaving her with leg injuries and neck pain.
