The judge overseeing the US federal trial of fallen hip-hop giant Sean 'Diddy' Combs threatened to remove him from the courtroom after he apparently made facial expressions at jurors.
It was "absolutely unacceptable" that Mr Combs should be "looking at jurors and nodding vigorously" during witness testimony, Judge Arun Subramanian told him.
"It cannot happen again."
The court had been hearing testimony from Bryana Bongolan, who had alleged that Mr Combs dangled her from a balcony before throwing her against furniture.
Today, defence attorney Nicole Westmoreland probed inconsistencies between civil lawsuits, pre-trial interviews with the government and Ms Bongolan's testimony this week, apparently provoking Mr Combs's vigorous engagement.
The judge also scolded the defense team for the lapse in courtroom decorum.
The prosecution is next expected to call Jane, a woman who will speak under a pseudonym in relation to one of the sex trafficking charges against Combs.
Mr Combs, 55, faces upwards of life in prison if convicted of crimes of sex trafficking and racketeering.
Prosecutors say he ran a criminal enterprise of high-ranking employees and bodyguards who enforced his power with illicit acts including kidnapping, bribery and arson.
A lawyer for Mr Combs accused Ms Bongolan of falsely testifying that the hip-hop mogul held her over the balcony of a Los Angeles apartment, and suggested Mr Combs was on the east coast of the US at the time of the alleged attack.
Bryana Bongolan, a friend of Mr Combs's former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, testified yesterday that Mr Combs in September 2016 held her over the rail of the balcony at Ms Ventura's apartment and then threw her onto the balcony's furniture, causing her bruises.
Prosecutors say the incident was among several violent acts that Mr Combs took against Ms Ventura and people close to her during the decade he was coercing Ms Ventura to take part in drug-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers known as "freak offs".
Mr Combs has pleaded not guilty to five counts including racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. He could face life in prison if convicted on all counts.
Ms Bongolan had not stated the exact date of the alleged balcony attack during her testimony yesterday.
Jurors yesterday saw a picture Ms Bongolan took of a bruise on her leg taken on 26 September, 2016.
A civil lawsuit Ms Bongolan filed against Mr Combs last year said the incident took place "on or about 26 September 2016".
Today, Mr Combs's lawyer Nicole Westmoreland asked Ms Bongolan if she was aware that Mr Combs performed at a concert in New Jersey on 25 September, 2016 and attended an event in New York with Ventura the following day.
Ms Westmoreland also showed jurors a document from the Trump International hotel in New York indicating that someone named "Frank Black" stayed there from 24 September, 2016 through 29 September, 2016.
Previous witnesses at the trial have testified that Mr Combs, like other celebrities, frequently used aliases when staying at hotels.
"You came in here and you lied to the ladies and gentlemen of this jury, didn't you?" Ms Westmoreland asked.
"I can't agree with you," Ms Bongolan replied.
Under further questioning from prosecutor Madison Smyser, Ms Bongolan said she did not know the exact date of the incident because it happened "a while ago," but said she had no doubt it took place.
"I will never forget him holding me on that balcony," Ms Bongolan said.
