Sean “Diddy” Combs’ courtroom sketch artist admitted she may have “crossed the line” and “let her feelings creep in” as she sketched the rapper standing trial for sex trafficking.
“He actually looks pretty sinister,” Christine Cornell told NBC News, indicating one of her sketches of Combs’ face as he watched ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura testify to years of abuse and coercion into sexual acts with male escorts. “It was one where I thought, ‘Did you cross the line, Christine? Are you letting your feelings creep in? Because I confess, I am having a little bit of a hard time with him.”
Notably, Cornell also sketched Donald Trump during his hush money trial.
Cornell’s reaction comes as Combs’ trial wraps up soon and the prosecution begins its closing arguments Thursday. Combs is charged with racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution in addition to his sex trafficking charge, tied to allegations he beat and blackmailed his ex-girlfriends Cassie Ventura and another known as “Jane” into orchestrated sex performances.
The prosecution narrowed its focus in the charges against Combs on Wednesday, dropping the kidnapping, attempted arson, and aiding and abetting charges in an effort to make it easier for jurors to convict the disgraced rapper.
Combs was reprimanded by the trial judge for his gestures towards jurors during the trial, which the judge said was an “inappropriate” attempt to “influence” their perception. He risked further scolding on Thursday when he “scooted his chair back a few feet” from the defense and “shot looks toward the jury” while prosecutors played audio of him ordering his ex “Jane” to “get on your job” when it comes to his sex performances, according to The New York Post, which also reports that Combs’ three adult daughters were present in court.
Cornell said Combs’ gestures, however small, were enough to unsettle her from day one. “We had one little communication, I think on the first day. I was looking at him with my binoculars. And I see him staring straight at me,” she continued, mimicking the cheeky little wave she said the disgraced rapper gave her that day.
“I’m sitting directly behind Diddy, which is probably not what most people would prefer,” she also said, as she described her viewpoint towards the stand where an 8-months-pregnant Ventura spent four days testifying last month about the most brutal abuses alleged against Combs.
“Cassie was a particularly beautiful specimen,” Cornell said, “so you have to hone in on the particular-ness of her beauty. You don’t want to just draw another good-looking gal. I try to get the feeling in there… you want to get it right. I found her incredibly charming and very poised and I wanted to give her her due.”
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