NEW YORK—Kanye West—now legally known as Ye—made a fleeting appearance at Manhattan’s federal courthouse Friday, quietly signaling support for embattled music titan Sean “Diddy” Combs as the high-stakes racketeering and sex-trafficking case edged through its fourth week.
Dressed in understated black, the 48-year-old rapper never stepped inside the main courtroom. Instead, he slipped into an overflow room, watched the live feed beside one of Combs’s sons for a few minutes, then departed. When an ABC reporter asked if he had come to back Combs, Ye offered a single nod and the word “Yes” before disappearing into a waiting SUV.
Evolving Testimony
Ye’s cameo arrived on the heels of searing testimony from a former girlfriend of Combs, testifying under the alias “Jane.” Her two-day stint on the stand ended Thursday with graphic descriptions of drug-laced “freak-off” encounters—sessions she says Combs orchestrated with hired escorts. Her narrative mirrored earlier accounts by longtime partner Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, strengthening prosecutors’ picture of a lavish but coercive sexual network allegedly controlled by the 55-year-old mogul.
Jane also recounted a 2024 trip to Las Vegas aboard a superstar rapper’s private jet, during which she procured a male escort for the artist and his girlfriend—an anecdote prosecutors say underscores the reach of Combs’s influence.
Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher
Jurors have heard a procession of staff, insiders, and ex-partners describe Combs as an exacting boss whose personal and professional worlds overlapped in unsettling ways. If convicted on the combined racketeering and sex-trafficking counts, Combs faces a potential life sentence.
The Bad Boy Records founder has pleaded not guilty, arguing through counsel that every sexual encounter at issue was consensual. His legal team has portrayed the prosecution’s case as sensationalist and built on jilted relationships.
Trial Marches Toward Summer
With more witnesses waiting in the wings and complex financial evidence still to be introduced, Judge Eleanor Patton has cautioned jurors to expect proceedings to stretch well into late June—if not beyond.
For now, Ye’s brief walk-on has added another layer of celebrity intrigue to a trial already heavy with music-industry star power, underscoring the cultural stakes that shadow the courtroom’s legal ones.
