Rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, showed up at the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial taking place in lower Manhattan.
Bystanders shouted “thanks for the support Kanye” as he entered the building, according to NBC News.
A reporter asked Ye, "Are you here to show support?" He replied, "Yes."
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WATCH HEREYe arrived around 11:30 a.m. and was spotted leaving the courthouse around a half-hour later. He never entered the actual courtroom where the trial is taking place.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges that carry a potential prison sentence of 15 years to life in prison. Prosecutors say he used fame, fortune, violence and threats to manipulate girlfriends into sex with paid sex workers in multi-day events that they later regretted.
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SIGN UP Defense attorneys say the government is prosecuting consensual sex between adults.
Courthouse security did not take Ye to the 26th floor where the trial occurs in one of the building's largest courtrooms. Admittance there is strictly controlled, with seats reserved for Combs' family and legal team, the media and spectators who wait in line for hours to get a coveted seat.
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The rapper was taken instead to a courtroom three floors below the trial floor. There, he briefly observed testimony on a large closed-circuit monitor in an overflow room that was one floor below the usual overflow room, which was packed with media representatives and courthouse employees who heard erroneously that he might be there.
As word of his actual location spread and spectators trickled into the room where Ye sat in the front row with Combs’ son, Christian, a bodyguard and another Combs' supporter on a side of the room that was otherwise kept vacant by a court officer, Ye looked around the room before abruptly getting up and leaving, along with the others with him.
Ye didn't answer further questions as he left the courthouse, walking past reporters and TV cameras and ducking into a waiting black Mercedes sedan.
The trial is taking place at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan federal courthouse at 500 Pearl Street and is in its fifth week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
