2 ¾ to 3 cups (340-455 g) diced rhubarb about 1/4-inch thick, about 5-6 medium stalks
2 cups (about 455 g) sliced strawberries
⅔ cup (141 g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons (28 g) cornstarch
Streusel Topping:
1 cup (142 g) all-purpose flour
½ cup (106 g) brown sugar
½ cup (113 g) cold butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lin a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and set aside.
For the filling, in a large bowl, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and cornstarch. Mix well; the mixture will start to thicken and become syrupy as it is stirred. Set aside.
Roll out the pie crust to 12 inches and place in a 9-inch pie plate, easing the pie crust into the edges of the pie plate without stretching. Trim, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Tuck the overhanging pie crust underneath so it is even with the edge of the pie plate. Flute the edges.
Scrape the strawberry rhubarb mixture evenly in the pie shell.
For the streusel, combine the flour and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Add the butter and use a pastry blender or two knives to cut it into the flour mixture until crumbly.
Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the top of the pie filling.
Place the pie on the prepared baking baking sheet (to catch any drips), and bake for 65 to 75 minutes, until the streusel is golden and the filling has thick (not runny) bubbles popping at the edges. Cover the pie crust edges with a pie crust shield or tent the top with foil to prevent over browning, if needed. It’s important to bake the pie fully so it sets properly.
Let the pie cool completely to allow the filling to thicken. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or sweetened, whipped cream, if desired.
Our loyal Weekend Gardener listener and friend Steve is the pot master of the universe when it comes to daylilies (Hemerocallis). You may have heard them referred to as “ditch lilies. These perennials originated in China. I must say though, they just love the climate here in North Carolina.
There are over 60-thousand varieties with lots of colors from pale yellow to pink to lavender to maroon. They are extremely popular in North Carolina and there are active daylily clubs all over the state including Raleigh. Our friend Steve’s club meets at the Ralston Arboretum. Once upon a time Rufus entered a daylily from his landscape in the club’s marvelous show and won a blue ribbon. You would have thought he had been handed the Nobel prize.
The daylily is easy to grow and has many uses in the landscape. As you might expect, daylilies need a full sun exposure for the best blooming. That translates into at least 6 hours. They prefer well-drained soil which means level ground is good, however daylilies work well on slopes. They can adapt to most soils and are drought tolerant. Due to their ginormous root system, they can help stabilize the soil to help prevent erosion. They also look good in mixed borders. If you like reliable, this is your plant.
As the name indicates, each individual daylily bloom only lasts a day. Of course there are numerous buds on any healthy plans so you will get weeks of blooming pleasure. There are also reblooming varieties available too.
Your local nursery and plantsmen at the state farmers market will have plenty of information about dayliles and some popular varieties.
When you find the perfect spot in your yard, break up the soil and add some organic matter. If you have your own backyard compost, that will work well for your purpose. The daylily folks recommend planting a foot apart as the foliage and root system both need room. Set each plant’s crown about an inch below the surface. Tamp the soil down to secure your plant and to prevent air pockets. Water the daylilies after planting. Add a couple of inches of hardwood mulch or pinestraw. Continue watering deeply as needed until well established. Daylilies like slightly moist soil. Pay close attention if you plant in the early summer when you are likely to be inspired by the beauty of the flowers. They are usually near their peak around here in mid to late June.
I don’t fertilize anything in my landscape except for the small patch of fescue I have and the one grandiflora rose I maintain because it has extraordinary blooms and is totally reliable. For daylilies, some folks use a balanced fertilizer with low nitrogen and higher potassium and potash, something like Plantone from Espoma in the spring. Generally don’t go overboard with fertilizer especially with a blooming plant.
Daylilies are of course a bulb, so you may want to divide them once in a while to revitalize, move to other parts of your landscape or share with a neighbor. The folks at the Hemerocallis society recommend dividing your plants right after they bloom. Just dig up the whole plant, separate the clumps and get as much soil off the roots as possible. Pull the clumps apart, separate by the roots.
It’s always a good idea to do a little maintenance to your day lilies during and after the blooming season. Remove spent blooms after flowering. In winter, get rid of dead foliage and cut the stakes to the ground.
There are lots of daylily experts around the state. You can check the North Carolina Hemerocallis Society and many local clubs like the Raleigh Daylily Club. Everyone should find a sunny spot in their landscape for these beauties. Don’t be the only person in your neighborhood to be without daylilies, you hear!
By ERIC THAYER, MORGAN LEE and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press
PARAMOUNT, Calif. (AP) — President Donald Trump is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom after a second day of clashes between hundreds of protesters and federal immigration authorities in riot gear.
Confrontations broke out on Saturday near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles, where federal agents were staging at a Department of Homeland Security office nearby. Agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls, and protesters hurled rocks and cement at Border Patrol vehicles. Smoke wafted from small piles of burning refuse in the streets.
Tensions were high after a series sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, including in LA’s fashion district and at a Home Depot, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.
Tear gas and smoke filled the air on the southern outskirts of Los Angeles on Saturday as confrontations between immigration authorities and demonstrators extended into a second day and top Trump administration officials vowed to prosecute anyone who interferes with enforcement. (AP video shot by Eugene Garcia)
The White House announced that Trump would deploy the Guard to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester.” It wasn’t clear when the troops would arrive.
Newsom, a Democrat, said in a post on the social platform X that it was “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.” He later said the federal government wants a spectacle and urged people not to give them one by becoming violent.
In a signal of the administration’s aggressive approach, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to deploy the U.S. military.
“If violence continues, active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert,” Hegseth said on X.
Sporadic confrontations broke out again Saturday in the heavily Latino satellite city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles, the second day of clashes between hundreds of protesters and federal immigration authorities in riot gear. Agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls, and protesters hurled rocks and cement at Border Patrol patrol vehicles. (AP video shot by Eric Thayer)
Trump’s order came after clashes in Paramount and neighboring Compton, where a car was set fire. Protests continued into the evening in Paramount, with several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities holding up barbed wire to keep the crowd back.
Crowds also gathered again outside federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including a detention center, where local police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.
Standoff in Paramount
Earlier in Paramount, immigration officers faced off with demonstrators at the entrance to a business park, across from the back of a Home Depot. They set off fireworks and pulled shopping carts into the street, broke up cinder blocks and pelted a procession of Border Patrol vans as they departed and careened down a boulevard.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said federal agents made more arrests of people with deportation orders on Saturday, but none were at the Home Depot. The Department of Homeland Security has a building next door and agents were staging there as they prepared to carry out operations, he said on Fox11 Los Angeles. He didn’t say how many people were arrested Saturday or where.
Paramount Mayor Peggy Lemons told multiple news outlets that community members showed up in response because people are fearful about activity by immigration agents.
“When you handle things the way that this appears to be handled, it’s not a surprise that chaos would follow,” Lemons said.
Some demonstrators jeered at officers while recording the events on smartphones.
“ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,” a woman said through a megaphone. “You are not welcome here.”
More than a dozen people were arrested and accused of impeding immigration agents, Essayli posted on X, including the names and mug shots of some of those arrested. He didn’t say where they were protesting.
Trump calls up the Guard
Trump federalized part of California’s National Guard under what is known as Title 10 authority, which places him, not the governor, atop the chain of command, according to Newsom’s office.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that the work the immigration authorities were doing when met with protests is “essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this violence, California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens.”
The president’s move came shortly after he issued a threat on his social media network saying that if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not “do their jobs,” then “the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”
Trump signed the order shortly before he went to attend a UFC fight in New Jersey, where he sat ringside with boxer Mike Tyson.
Newsom said in his statement that local authorities “are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice,” and “there is currently no unmet need.”
The California Highway Patrol said Newsom directed it to deploy additional officers to “maintain public safety.”
In 2020, Trump asked governors of several states to deploy their National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police. Many agreed and sent troops.
Trump also threatened at the time to invoke the Insurrection Act for those protests — an intervention rarely seen in modern American history. But then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper pushed back, saying the law should be invoked “only in the most urgent and dire of situations.”
Trump did not invoke the act during his first term, and he did not do so Saturday, according to Leavitt and Newsom.
Arrests in Los Angeles
Protests kicked off a day earlier in Los Angeles after federal authorities arrested 44 people for violating immigration law Friday.
DHS later said recent ICE operations in Los Angeles resulted in the arrest of 118 immigrants, including five people linked to criminal organizations and people with prior criminal histories.
David Huerta, regional president of the Service Employees International Union, was also arrested Friday while protesting. The Justice Department confirmed that he was being held Saturday at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles ahead of a scheduled Monday court appearance.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for his immediate release, warning of a “disturbing pattern of arresting and detaining American citizens for exercising their right to free speech.”
___
Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Price from Bridgewater, New Jersey. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Eric Tucker in Washington and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed.
1 (1 1/2-lb.) skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1/2″ cubes
2 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for serving
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
4 Tbsp. Japanese mayonnaise (such as Kewpie), divided
2 1/4 tsp. sriracha, divided
Kosher salt
2 tsp. black and white sesame seeds
Directions
Arrange a rack in upper third of oven; preheat to 400°. Lightly coat a standard 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
Scoop 1 heaping Tbsp. sushi rice into the center of each piece of nori. Transfer nori to prepared tin rice side up. Using a spoon, gently pack rice into an even layer in bottom of cup.
In a large bowl, toss salmon, scallions, oil, 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise, 2 tsp. sriracha, and 1/4 tsp. salt until combined. Divide salmon mixture among muffin cups (about 1/4 cup each), spooning on top of rice.
Bake until salmon is almost cooked through, about 11 minutes.
Turn on broiler and broil, watching carefully to ensure salmon doesn’t burn, until tops are charred in places and salmon is cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine remaining 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise and 1/4 tsp. sriracha.
Arrange sushi cups on a platter. Drizzle with mayonnaise mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Dozens of dogs found living in packed, filthy conditions were removed from a North Carolina home.
Animal control officers responding to a complaint in Raleigh discovered 101 dogs crammed in stacked cages or roaming in confined quarters at the home on Wednesday, the Wake County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said on Facebook. Many of the dogs were small breeds. Among those rescued were several puppies and older dogs.
The homeowner agreed to relinquish the dogs, along with 21 chickens, news outlets reported. The dogs were taken in by eight different shelters and were undergoing medical assessments, the SPCA chapter said. Many dogs had matted fur as well as skin and dental issues.
It wasn’t known whether the homeowner faces charges. A telephone call to the Raleigh police department wasn’t immediately returned Friday.
On Friday, the chapter said that several dogs under its care were “getting the spa day of their lives — and their first taste of fresh air, possibly ever. We’re seeing a lot of smiles from these guys.
“This is the biggest moment in these dogs’ lives, and we are feeling so grateful to be a part of their healing.”
CHICAGO (AP) — A bottlenose dolphin at a Chicago zoo gave birth to a calf early Saturday morning with the help of a fellow mom, in a successful birth recorded on video by zoo staff.
The dolphin calf was born at Brookfield Zoo Chicago early Saturday morning as a team of veterinarians monitored and cheered on the mom, a 38-year-old bottlenose dolphin named Allie.
“Push, push, push,” one observer can be heard shouting in video released by the zoo Saturday, as Allie swims around the tank, the calf’s little tail fins poking out below her own.
A bottlenose dolphin at the Brookfield Zoo Chicago gave birth to a calf early Saturday morning with the help of a fellow mom. (AP Video)
Then the calf wriggles free and instinctively darts to the surface of the pool for its first breath. Also in the tank was an experienced mother dolphin named Tapeko, 43, who stayed close to Allie through her more than one hour of labor. In the video, she can be seen following the calf as it heads to the surface, and staying with it as it takes that first breath.
“That’s very common both in free-ranging settings but also in aquaria,” said Brookfield Zoo Chicago Senior Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Langan in a video statement. “It provides the mom extra protection and a little bit of extra help to help get the calf to the surface to help it breath in those couple minutes where she’s still having really strong contractions.”
In a written statement, zoo officials said early signs indicate that the calf is in good health. They estimate it weighs around 35 pounds (16 kilograms) and stretches nearly four feet in length (115-120 centimeters). That is about the weight and length of an adult golden retriever dog.
The zoo’s Seven Seas exhibit will be closed as the calf bonds with its mother and acclimates with other dolphins in its group.
As part of that bonding, the calf has already learned to slipstream, or draft alongside its mother so that it doesn’t have to work as hard to move. Veterinarians will monitor progress in nursing, swimming and other milestones particularly closely over the next 30 days.
The calf will eventually take a paternity test to see which of the male dolphins at the zoo is its father.
Zoo officials say they will name the calf later this summer.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — Sovereignty bested Journalism on Saturday in a Kentucky Derby rematch to win the 157th Belmont Stakes, the second hosted at Saratoga.
Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado traversed the field of eight on a fast Saratoga track after downpours throughout the morning and early afternoon dried up before post time.
Journalism ended up in second again and Baeza was third — the same 1-2-3 as the Kentucky Derby.
Journalism entered the gate at the Belmont as the 2-1 favorite, with Baeza the third favorite at 7-2.
Sovereignty led off the first leg of the Triple Crown by winning the Derby in early May. The Bill Mott-trained colt also edged Journalism in that race.
After the Derby win, the Godolphin-owned 3-year-old opted out of the Preakness to focus on the Belmont, forfeiting a shot at history to win the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown hasn’t been won since 2018, when Bob Baffert’s Justify won the 105th Belmont Stakes to secure the third jewel.
Journalism was the only horse to run in all three legs, winning the Preakness.
3 pounds of assorted beef cuts: chuck, bottom round, shanks
2 pounds lamb shanks
3 tablespoons oil
3 peeled and roughly chopped white or yellow onions
5 garlic cloves
4 cored roughly chopped vine-ripe tomatoes
4 seeded and stemmed dried guajillo chiles
4 seeded and stemmed dried ancho chiles
8-10 allspice berries
½ cinnamon stick, broken up
12-15 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 ½ tablespoons dried oregano
1 ½ tablespoons dried thyme
2 cups of water
1 gallon of water or beef stock
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
juice of fresh lemons
diced yellow or white onions, diced radishes, and chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
Directions
Season both the beef and lamb well on all sides with sea salt and pepper. Set aside.
Next, add the oil to a large pot or rondeau over high heat. Once it begins to smoke add in the meat and lamb and sear until well browned on all sides, about 6-8 minutes per side.
Remove the beef from the pot and set it aside.
Now, place in the onions and cook over medium heat for about 20-25 minutes or until caramelized.
Place in the garlic and give it a quick sauté with the onions for about 4-5 minutes.
Next, pour in the tomatoes, chiles, allspice berries, cinnamon, peppercorns, bay leaves, cumin seeds, oregano, and thyme and stew on medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes to soften up the peppers and cook the tomatoes.
Deglaze with 2 cups of water and continue to cook on medium-high heat until the liquid is reduced by ½ or about 15 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree at high speed until smooth. See note on how to blend hot food.
Pour the mixture back into the pot along with water or beef stock. Season this mixture well with salt and pepper.
Place the seared meat back into the pot, cover, and cook on medium-medium-high for about 2 hours, or until the meat is easily shredded. The liquid should be at a rapid bubble or a very low boil the entire time.
Remove the meat, discard any bones, and roughly chop on a cutting board. Keep aside.
Next, strain the remaining liquid through a fine-mesh strainer or chinois and return it to the pot along with the chopped meat.
To serve: Place the desired amount of birria consomé into a bowl and garnish with fresh-squeezed lemon juice, onions, radishes, and cilantro.
NEW YORK (AP) — Inside a Walmart store in New Jersey, a worker puts the finishing touches on a cake with an edible ink Sponge Bob on top. A colleague creates a buttercream rosette border for a different cake, while another co-worker frosts a tier of what will be a triple-deck dessert.
It’s graduation season, the busiest time of year for the 6,200 employees the nation’s largest retailer trained to hand-decorate cakes per customers’ orders. The cakes themselves come, pre-made, frozen and in a variety of shapes and sizes, from suppliers, not Walmart’s in-store bakeries.
But there’s no sugar-coating the importance the company places on its custom cake business. Its army of icing artisans are the highest paid hourly workers in a typical U.S. Walmart, excluding managers. Cake decorators earn an average of $19.25 per hour, compared with $18.25 for all non-managerial store workers, a company spokesperson said.
Walmart’s cake decorators, the chain’s top non-manager hourly earners, are driving strong business during graduation season with affordable, custom-designed cakes. (AP Video: Ted Shaffrey)
Melissa Fernandez, 36, started working in the electronics area and then the wireless services department of the Walmart in North Bergen, New Jersey, before she transferred to the deli area in search of better pay. But Fernandez had her eye on a cake decorating job and after spending two months getting trained by a store colleague, she picked up a piping bag full-time in 2021.
“I love baking at home. I love painting,” Fernandez said. “I love doing anything artistic, and I just always wanted to be a part of it.” After 11 years with Walmart, she said she now makes about $24.40 an hour.
Despite their elite status within Walmart, the retailer’s cake decorators have attracted detractors on social media.
The company promotes its personalized baked goods on TikTok, and the workers behind such creations do the same with their own profiles. As the content has grown in popularity, critics have accused Walmart decorators of stealing ideas and undercutting the work of professional cake artists with their low-priced products.
After TikTok videos praising Walmart’s $25 heart-shaped cakes with borders that resemble vintage lace cropped up before Valentine’s Day this year, a few bakers produced their own videos explaining why their cakes cost so much more and critiquing Walmart’s.
Debates ensued in the comments sections over whether Walmart represented evils of capitalism or served the needs of the masses.
A customized sheet cake that can be sliced to serve 96 people costs $59 at Walmart, about one-third to half the price that a nationwide sample of independent bakeries list online for similarly sized cakes. For $5.20 more, Walmart customers can add strawberry or “Bavarian creme” fillings, which like the bare cakes, are vendor-supplied.
The slice of the celebratory occasion cake market Walmart holds appears vast based on company-supplied figures. One out of four cakes sold in the U.S. comes from Walmart, and its employees will collectively decorate more than 1 million cakes during May and June, according to a company spokesperson.
The number of cakes decorated each day at the location where Fernandez works nearly doubles to 50-60 when school graduations come around, compared to 30-35 a day during the rest of the year, said Michael DeMarco, the manager of the store’s fresh food department. He credits the decorators’ talent and promotional efforts on TikTok.
“We’re getting a lot of repeat customers. We’re doing a lot more business because of just the viral sensations,” DeMarco said.
A TikTok video that showed Fernandez designing a $24 version of a customized bouquet cake — 12 cupcakes that are individually decorated and arranged to look like a bunch of flowers — received nearly a half-million views. The bouquet design was one of the North Bergen store’s most popular cakes last month, a company spokesperson said.
The dressy heart-shaped cakes, as well as cakes that resemble meals like sushi or a pile of spaghetti and meatballs, are popular too, she said. Fernandez also has created “burn away” cakes: an iced cake topped with an image printed on paper, which is set ablaze to reveal a different image underneath.
“TikTok helps me stay up to date,” she said. “A lot of trends that I see on there, within that week or within that month, customers will come asking about it. And we’re pretty up to date as well.”
Jazzing up a cake by hand requires skill, whether or not someone else did the baking, she said. Funneling buttercream frosting through a bag and various sized piping tips to yield the desired design without misplaced blobs is not the same as drawing or painting, Fernandez explained.
“There’s a lot of pressure points that you have to practice in order to get the borders correct and the right thickness or the right texture,” she said.
Tiffany Witzke, who has been a Walmart cake decorator since July 2016 and works at a store in Springfield, Missouri, has more than 912,000 followers on TikTok. The job attracts people who “can be extremely skilled and talented,” Witzke said, adding that customers want increasingly complicated designs.
“When I first started, it was basically just borders and writing,” she said. “Now, everybody wants more and more and more on their cake.”
Liz Berman, owner of The Sleepy Baker, in Natick, Massachusetts, said she’s not worried about losing customers to Walmart because of her attention to detail and the premium ingredients she uses.
She charges $205 and up for a half-sized sheet cake, the bouquets made up of two dozen miniature cupcakes cost $110. All the cakes are made from scratch, and Berman said she designs everything herself.
“It’s just a totally different business model,” she said. “Everything I do is custom.”
For Walmart, the cake decorating business delivers higher profit margins than some other areas, such as groceries and electronics, according to Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor at market research firm Circana. But it’s also resonating with shoppers looking for affordable luxuries.
“We’ve gone into a period where the consumer is saying, ‘This is good enough,’” Cohen said.
Customers interviewed at the North Bergen store on a recent weekday seemed to be satisfied. George Arango, 34, picked up two customized cakes, one to celebrate a co-worker’s retirement and the other for a colleague getting another job. After researching prices on various store websites, he decided to give Walmart a try.
“The price is fantastic,” he said. “I’m walking out with two cakes for $40.”
By MICHAEL R. SISAK, LARRY NEUMEISTER and DAVE COLLINS Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs ‘ recent ex-girlfriend returned to the witness stand Friday in his sex trafficking trial, after testifying that he pressured her into drug-fueled sex marathons similar to those described by another former girlfriend, R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura.
The woman using the pseudonym “Jane” is among several witnesses at the trial — now at the end of its fourth week — who accuse Combs of violence, including Cassie. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to running his business empire as a racketeering enterprise that enabled and concealed the abuse of women over two decades. If convicted, he faces 15 years to life.
Prosecutors questioned Jane about sexual subjects right from the start Friday, beginning with a 2023 trip to Las Vegas where Jane said she and Combs had a “hotel night” with an “entertainer.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey asked if Combs ever used the word “freak.” Jane said he would say “he wants his freak.” She said she understood that to mean “he wanted me to be wild and sexual.”
Her description of “hotel nights” has closely paralleled Cassie’s earlier testimony about numerous “ freak-offs ” she had with male sex workers under Combs’ direction.
Jane said during her first day of testimony Thursday that she repeatedly told Combs, in person and in writing, that she didn’t want to have sex with other men. But Combs, who paid her rent and controlled other parts of her life, kept pressuring her and she felt “obligated” to take part in the “hotel nights,” she said.
Jane said Thursday that she got to know Combs during a “girls trip” to Miami in 2020 and dated him from 2021 to 2024. She said it began as a loving and passionate relationship, but he soon began sharing his fantasies involving her with other men and role playing. She said she came to regret it.
After May 2021, she said 90% of the times she had sex during her relationship with Combs, it was with other men while he watched. Asked if she wanted to have sex with other men, Jane softly said, “No… just Sean.”
Both Jane and Cassie have described trying to rush through the encounters just to get them over with. Jane said the encounters sometimes lasted over 24 hours.
The judge has taken steps to protect Jane’s anonymity, including warning observers not to describe or sketch her in a way that would reveal her identity. The Associated Press does not identify people who say they’re victims of sexual abuse unless they choose to make their names public, as Cassie has done.
On Thursday, Judge Arun Subramanian threatened to eject Combs from the courtroom if he continued “nodding vigorously” at jurors, telling lawyers that there should be no attempts by him to have an interaction with the jury.
