Sean “Diddy” Combs trial: Sex worker known as “The Punisher” takes the witness stand

A witness known as “The Punisher” has testified about the “freak-offs” at the centre of the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex-trafficking trial. Follow updates.

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Sharay Hayes, a former male exotic dancer with the stage name “The Punisher,” took the witness stand in the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex-trafficking trial on Tuesday, local time, in Manhattan.

Last week, Cassie Ventura testified that Hayes was one of the male escorts that Combs forced her to have sex with during a “freak-off.”

Hayes, 51, worked as a dancer from 2012 to 2016.

He said he got the nickname “The Punisher” when he was a teenager playing basketball on West 4th Street in New York.

In addition to his testimony, Combs’s ex-personal assistant David James testified that the disgraced music mogul took drugs every day including Obama-shaped ecstasy pills and Viagra.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

He faces life in prison if convicted.

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‘THE PUNISHER’ TAKES THE STAND

A sex worker referred to as “The Punisher” said he participated in “freak-offs” about eight or 12 times with Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie Ventura.

Sharay Hayes testified that during his first “freak-off,” Sean Combs was naked, wearing a Muslim-like face covering that only showed his eyes, and held a bottle of lubricant.

Hayes said the room was “dimly lit” with candles and that there were bottles of baby oil in bowls of water.

“She told me not to acknowledge her husband, not to look at him when he came out,” Hayes testified.

“I could not see his face,” Hayes said. “He had what the Muslim women wear, where their face is completely covered and you could only see his eyes.”

Hayes said the man was carrying a bottle of Astroglide personal lubricant and he masturbated and then left the room.

He said the session ended with Ventura going into another room with Combs.

She then came back and gave Hayes US$1,200 before he left.

Hayes testified that he recognised Ventura because he followed Combs on Instagram.

DIDDY THREW CONDOMS AND CASH AROUND

Sean “Diddy” Combs would throw condoms and cash down as he ordered around Cassie Ventura and an escort nicknamed “The Punisher” during “freak-offs,” graphic testimony revealed.

“I like this s--t,” Combs once told the pair after chucking cash on a bed while the escort and Ventura were having sex, Sharay “The Punisher” Hayes testified.

On his last encounter with Ventura and Combs, Hayes said Combs threw condoms on the couch and told him in an “assertive,” “aggressive” tone that he was “ready” to see him have sex with Ventura.

Hayes testified he understood he was there “to create a scene” and Combs was like a movie director during the sex marathons while he and Ventura were like actors in the scenarios.

He also said it could be stressful having Combs direct things and that on that last encounter, he wasn’t able to perform sexually for that reason.

THE PUNISHER WROTE ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION BOOK BASED ON EVENTS

“Me, personally, a sexual scenario with a woman’s partner present actively giving directions was not the norm for me, so it created some discomfort that could affect my performance,” Hayes testified.

Hayes testified that he recently published “In Search of Freezer Meat,” a men’s self-help book about erectile dysfunction by way of a penis implant that he said features Combs and Ventura.

SEX PARTY AT TRUMP HOTEL

He said that after he was booked to perform for a group of friends in 2012, he was surprised to find only two people in the hotel room.

Hayes said Ventura was wearing a wig and a bathrobe with nothing underneath.

“I was expecting a crowd but there was no one else,” he told the jury.

“She told me she and her husband wanted to create a sexual scene with baby oil.”

Hayes said he was told to arrive at Trump International Hotel at midnight to perform a “striptease for a small group of friends.”

He said when Cassie Ventura called him to set up the occasion, she told him her name was Janet and it was her birthday.

EX-ASSISTANT DAVID JAMES SAID COMBS HAD MULTIPLE WEAPONS

A long-time assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs resigned after realising his life was in danger when his boss took three handguns to confront industry rival Suge Knight at a California diner, a court has heard.

Personal assistant David James gave evidence about the 2008 incident when he and a trusted Diddy bodyguard known as D-Roc went to get food at Mel’s drive-in diner in Los Angeles.

“That’s motherf***ing Suge Knight,” D-Roc reportedly told James.

At the time, Knight was the head of Death Row Records, a fierce competitor to Combs’ Bad Boy Records business.

David James witness for the prosecution arrives at Manhattan Federal Court during the Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial on May 20, 2025 in New York City. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

Mr James said Knight asked D-Roc “what are you doing in my city”, before four SUVs pulled up and a man handed Knight a gun.

The former assistant told the court that in response, he and D-Roc went and picked up Combs from his house and when they returned, “Mr Combs had three handguns on his lap”.

When they arrived back at the diner, Knight was gone.

“I was really shook up by it,” Mr James said.

“It was the first time being Mr Combs’ assistant where I realised my life was in danger.”

OBAMA-SHAPED ECSTASY PILLS, VIAGRA, SPERM BOOSTERS

James testified that Combs kept various pill bottles in his toiletry bag, a Louis Vuitton pouch that previous witnesses Cassie Ventura and Dawn Richard both testified that Combs called his “med bag.”

Combs kept pills including Viagra, weight loss pills, Percocet, ecstasy, water pills, and “sperm booster” pills in the bag, which James testified he kept by his side at all times.

“There were various pills but one was in the form of a former president’s face,” James told jurors, then clarified that the ecstasy pills were shaped like former President Barack Obama, whom Combs met on multiple occasions.

James testified that Combs took drugs “every day.”

The former assistant also said he was asked to fill Combs’ hotel rooms with applesauce, Jello, Fiji water, and Ciroc vodka.

He admitted he sometimes joined in on the partying by drinking Ciroc vodka and taking ecstasy, which he called “Diddy-bopping.”

He testified that Combs once kept an “embarrassing” video of him dancing at a party “in case he ever needs it.”

Regina Ventura, mother of Cassie Ventura, departs the Manhattan Federal Court during the Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial on May 20, 2025 in New York City. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

CASSIE’S MUM SAID COMBS BLACKMAILED THEM WITH SEX TAPE

Casandra Ventura’s mother Regina Ventura has told a court she feared for her daughter’s safety when she was dating Combs.

Taking the witness stand in the federal court trial, Ms Ventura recounted having to take out a loan against the family’s Connecticut home to pay Combs US$20,000.

The court heard he demanded the payment after learning she had been dating Kid Cudi, real name Scott Mescudi, during their on and off again relationship.

Ms Ventura told a jury in the federal court in lower Manhattan she paid the money to Combs because she believed he would harm her daughter, but days later the money was returned.

Her daughter last week gave evidence she first disclosed Combs’ threats to release videos of her having sex with escorts during “freak offs” in an email to her mum on the way home for Christmas.

Ms Ventura said when her daughter arrived home, she took photos of bruising on her body allegedly inflicted by Combs.

“I was scared for my daughter’s safety,” she said.

The mother said she felt “physically sick” after reading her daughter’s email in which she said Combs threatened to harm her and warned he would release at least two sex tapes.

FEDERAL AGENT TESTIFIES ABOUT RAIDING DIDDY’S MIAMI HOME

Special Agent Gerard Gannon testified about raiding Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Miami home months before he was arrested in September.

Gannon - who works in Homeland Security’s human trafficking group - testified about being apart of a group of 80 or 90 agents who searched Combs’s Miami Beach home on March 25, 2024.

The house was on Star Island -- where a lot of “celebrities and rich people live,” Gannon told the jury.

During the dramatic raid, agents used an armoured car “to break open the gate,” he testified.

Combs’ Holmby Hills home in the Los Angeles area was also raided the same day.

The jury was shown photos taken during a raid of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Miami home, showing sex toys, bottles of baby oil and parts of AR-15 firearms.

The images depicted upper and lower receivers of the semi-automatic weapon, sex toys, six bottles of baby oil, eight bottles of Astroglide personal lubricant, condoms, platform high heels and women’s lingerie.

Special Agent Gerard Gannon held up a pair of 7-inch heels found during the raid of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Miami home as trial wrapped up for the day.Gannon was asked about the heels and other evidence found at Combs’ home since the agent was present for the March 25, 2024 search.

Originally published as Sean “Diddy” Combs trial: Sex worker known as “The Punisher” takes the witness stand