DEDHAM, Mass. (Court TV) — A private chef who used to work for NFL star Stefon Diggs was scolded in court after she had trouble answering questions from the defense when she returned to the stand on Tuesday.
Jamila Adams testifies on May 5, 2026. (Court TV)
Jamila Adams, who worked for Diggs as a private chef, has accused the former Patriots wide receiver of attacking her while she was in her bedroom at her home. Diggs has pleaded not guilty to felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery.
At the start of the trial on Monday, Adams claimed that Diggs smacked her, put her in a chokehold and threw her down after she confronted him via text message about several issues.
On Tuesday, Adams returned to the witness stand to continue her testimony. During cross-examination, Adams appeared to struggle to respond to questions from Digg’s attorney about texts she sent to Diggs and about financial demands her attorney allegedly made to the defendant.
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When Diggs’ defense attorney asked Adams whether her attorney had “demanded” $5.5 million from the NFL player three weeks ago, Adams responded, “Mr. Diggs offered me $100,000 to recant my statement.” The attorneys immediately went to a sidebar and then a recess. When Adams returned to the stand after the recess, but before the jury was brought in, Judge Jeanmarie Carroll offered her a stern warning: “This is not an opportunity for you to interject your own narrative and evade responding to questions the court deems appropriate. And if you continue to do so, your entire testimony may be stricken.”
Stefon Diggs listens to testimony on May 5, 2026. (Court TV)
As the jury returned, Carroll reminded the panel that she had stricken Adams’ comment from the record and explained, “When an answer is stricken from the record, it does not exist.”
Returning to the $5.5 million demand, Adams continued to demur when pressed by Diggs’ attorneys. “That is client-lawyer privilege, I cannot speak on that,” she said.
After Adams finished her testimony, prosecutors rested their case against Diggs. Diggs’ defense began its presentation of evidence with an expert who analyzed cellphone messages that were allegedly deleted from Adams’ phone.
Diggs, who had six consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons with Minnesota and Buffalo from 2018-2023, signed with New England in 2025 for a three-year, $69 million deal; the team released him in March 2026 after the Patriots lost to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.
