If any other man had asked how she was feeling, pregnant Fox5 reporter Michelle Ross wouldn’t have batted an eyelid.
When spoken by the most notorious villain in the entertainment industry, even a simple ‘how are you?’ can sound suspiciously ominous.
Ross, who is seven months pregnant, isn’t the only expectant mother on the rapper’s mind.
Next week, a heavily pregnant Cassie Ventura is expected to take the stand in Diddy’s blockbuster sex trafficking trial.
The rapper’s former girlfriend, who was the victim in the infamous assault video leading to his apprehension, is central to what could be the most eagerly awaited celebrity trial in recent times.
This singer, currently pregnant with her third child with spouse Alex Fine, was seen in New York recently as the tedious process of jury selection in her previous partner’s trial continued.
She announced her pregnancy in February this year, and is understood to be in her third trimester.
While she wasn’t present in court on Friday, her wellbeing took center stage.
Her lawyer, citing her pregnancy, requested that she be able to take breaks every 90 minutes.
Cassie, the star witness against the rapper, was seen in new York City this week. She will be heavily pregnant when she faces her alleged abuser next week
The rapper, 55, repeatedly nodded and smiled at the individuals being questioned during the jury selection process this week
The prosecution agreed not to cross examiner Ventura on medical issues, either.
The rapper’s charm offensive with the pregnant reporter seemed to have worked.
‘We can still see his charismatic personality in the courtroom, the same personality that we saw over the last two decades in the limelight,’ Ross said of the rapper’s demeanor as she recalled the moment Diddy addressed her in court.
‘When we all all had to get up before the jury walked in – I am seven months pregnant – and when I stood up, Diddy and I were in clear view of each other and he mouthed to me, how are you?’ so that’s just an example of how observant he has been during the trial.’
Throughout the proceedings, the rapper has repeatedly nodded and smiled at the individuals being questioned during the jury selection process.
He appeared to be showing his approval for some jurors by nodding his head up and down or shaking it left and right, giving a subtitle indication of how he was feeling towards each person.
The musician nodded when a female black juror talked about how her sister had become addicted to crack during the crack epidemic in New York – apparently referring to the 1980s or 90s. The woman was allowed onto the next stage after saying she could put it out of her head when deliberating.
As the selection process went on, Diddy smiled when a black female juror said she didn’t know any people on the list of celebrities who may come up in the case but ‘I wish I did.’
Pregnant Fox5 reporter Michelle Ross was shocked when Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs addressed her in the middle of his sex-trafficking trial this week
Ventura is expected to testify in the trial next week. She has not yet been seen in court
But his treatment of Cassie will be far less gentlemanly.
On Friday, his team painted her as a violent temptress, insisting he couldn’t have coerced her into any kind of sexual acts that she didn’t want to commit herself.
The mutual abuse between Cassie and Diddy was so bad it amounted to ‘domestic violence’, his lawyer went as far as to say.
Marc Agnigilo said Cassie was a ‘strong capable individual who does not shy away from confrontations’.
‘It’s relevant to her nature, the fact she’s a strong person who is capable of starting physical confrontations and it’s independently relevant’, he added.
Alexandra Shapiro, another of Diddy’s lawyers, said that the incidents ‘may become relevant to rebutting the government’s argument that she was coerced, because she was a strong person.’
Shapiro added that ‘the whole dynamic between these two individuals is at the very heart of this case’.
Judge Arun Subramanian appeared skeptical.
Diddy is expecting her third child with husband Alex Fine. The pair have two daughters
He noted ‘strong people can be coerced just like weak people’, adding that Shapiro’s argument was a ‘stretch.’
The judge said he was not seeing the ‘connection’ between the witnesses’ supposed acts of violence and whether she could be coerced.
Diddy’s team fought back, insisting: ‘The relevance there is we are going to take the position that there was mutual violence in their relationship.
‘There was hitting on both sides, that kind of behavior on both sides. We’re probably going to refer to it as domestic violence’.
Their doomed romance will take center stage next week, when the trial finally gets underway.
It was delayed again on Friday by the prosecution’s failure to find one of their witnesses, a woman who seems to have gone missing.
With the eyes of the world watching, the judge is now concerned some others may withdraw.
As for the Bad Boy mogul, the performance of his lifetime remains on pause.
