In Show of Support, Kanye West Makes Surprise, but Brief, Appearance at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s Trial

West says he wants to show support for his longtime friend.

AP Photo/Michael R. Sisak
Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, leaves federal court during the trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs in New York, Friday, June 13, 2025. AP Photo/Michael R. Sisak

The rapper Kanye “Ye” West made a surprise appearance at Sean “Diddy” Combs’s Manhattan racketeering and sex-trafficking trial on Friday morning. The two artists are longtime friends and Mr. West has voiced support for Mr. Combs since his arrest. 

Wearing an all white outfit and black sunglasses, Mr. West got out of a black car and walked up to the front doors of the courthouse just before 11:30 a.m. He answered “yes” to a shouted question about whether he was there to support Mr. Combs.

Mr. West didn’t answer another question about whether he would testify for Mr. Combs.

Mr. West was greeted by one of Mr. Combs’s sons, and they walked into the lobby together before riding up an elevator. He didn’t enter the main courtroom but watched some testimony on a closed-circuit monitor in an overflow room, the Associated Press reported.

Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, leaves federal court during the trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in New York, June 13, 2025. AP/Larry Neumeister

Mr. West left the courthouse at about noon and didn’t answer questions as he got back into the black car and rode off.

Mr. Combs is being tried on a five-count federal indictment that includes salacious claims of holding drug-fueled sex sessions with girlfriends and male prostitutes, known as “Freak Offs,” and of sexual and physical abuse. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors claim Mr. Combs violently attacked his girlfriends and employees and made them have sex with prostitutes as part of a “criminal enterprise.” His staff, prosecutors argue, supported his criminal acts in furtherance of his sexual desires, staying silent while they watched him get violent and protecting him from people who spoke up. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

A special agent who was involved in the search of Mr. Combs’s Los Angeles home testified on Friday morning.  Special Agent Andre LaMon told the jury that investigators recovered about 200 bottles of baby oil and 900 bottles of lubricant from this home, CNN reported. The jury was shown photos of the evidence from the scene.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Coke from Kanye West onstage during the 2022 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater on June 26, 2022, in Los Angeles. Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET

Mr. LaMon also testified that several guns, including one that appeared to have its serial number scratched or sanded off, were found in the home.

That testimony was followed by questioning of one of Mr. Combs’s assistants. Jonathan Perez was testifying under an immunity order. He described “king nights,” which was code for Mr. Combs going to a hotel to spend private time with a woman. Mr. Perez says he would bring food, liquor, condoms, lubricant, and other items to set up in the hotel room.

Mr. Perez would then be responsible for cleaning up the room after the “king nights.” He described the rooms as “a mess and in disarray.”

Testimony from Mr. Perez continued Friday afternoon after a lunch break.


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