Hotel Manager Claims Diddy Was Flagged for Candle Use, Shares Aliases

A manager at a prominent Los Angeles hotel is sharing a glimpse into Sean “Diddy” Combs’ requests before a typical stay.

Frédéric Zemmour — who serves as the general manager of L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills — testified in Diddy’s ongoing trial on Thursday, May 22, and walked the jury through the rapper’s hotel records. (Diddy, 55, has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied all of the allegations against him.)

While testifying at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse in New York City, Zemmour helped explain an internal note about the famous hotel guest.

“ALWAYS spills candle wax on everything and uses excessive amounts of oil,” the internal note stated. “Likes the room HOT! Please set thermostat to 75 degrees.”

The piece of evidence also included an instruction for employees to mark the room “out of order upon departure for deep cleaning.”

At one point, Diddy received a $500 fee for leaving “large deposits of candle wax” on furniture.

According to The Washington Post, Zemmour also testified that Diddy would book rooms under aliases including “Frank Black” and “Ryan Lopez.” Staffers, however, allegedly knew the rap mogul’s identity and placed him in certain entry-level rooms, according to the court exhibits.

Zemmour did not face cross-examination from Diddy’s defense team, and the government proceeded to call another witness soon after.

Prosecutors have claimed that Diddy held “freak offs” at various hotels and requested that rooms be prepared to his liking. Candles, mood lighting and baby oil were allegedly some of Diddy’s frequent requests for hotel workers.

Previously, prosecutors have described freak offs as “elaborate and produced sex performances” that Diddy allegedly orchestrated and coerced others to participate in.

In September 2024, Diddy was arrested in New York City on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has vehemently denied all allegations and pleaded not guilty.

“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a statement at the time of his client’s arrest. “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. To his credit, Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

Since Diddy’s trial began on May 5, the rapper has heard testimony from his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, Kid Cudi and Danity Kane’s Dawn Richard. The trial is expected to last through early July.

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