WARNING: This story contains allegations of sexual violence and may affect those who have experienced it or know someone affected by it.
Sean (Diddy) Combs’s former personal assistant testified on Thursday that the hip-hop mogul sexually assaulted her, threw her into a swimming pool, dumped a bucket of ice on her head and slammed her arm into a door during a torturous eight-year tenure.
The woman, testifying at Combs’s sex trafficking trial under the pseudonym “Mia,” has alleged that he put his hand up her dress, forced her to perform oral sex and climbed into her bed to have sex with her against her will. She touched on the allegations briefly at the start of her testimony and was expected to discuss them in detail as her questioning continued.
Mia, speaking slowly and haltingly at times, portrayed Combs as a brutal, controlling taskmaster who put his own needs and desires above the health and well-being of his staff and loved ones. She said Combs berated her for mistakes, even ones made by other employees, and loaded her with so many tasks she didn’t sleep for days.
“It was chaotic. It was toxic,” said Mia, who worked for Combs from 2009 to 2017. “It could be exciting. The highs were really high and the lows were really low.”
‘Happy to chaotic’
Asked what determined how her days would unfold, Mia said: “Puff’s mood,” using one of Combs’s many nicknames.
Mia said Combs’s employees were always on edge, because his mood could “change in a split second,” causing everything to go from “happy to chaotic.”
Mia’s testimony echoed that of prior prosecution witnesses, including several of Combs’s other personal assistants and his longtime girlfriend Cassie, who saw him as demanding, mercurial and prone to violence. She is the second of three women to testify about alleged sexual abuse by Combs.
Cassie, an R&B singer whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, spoke for four days during the trial’s first week of testimony, telling jurors Combs subjected her to hundreds of “freak-offs” — drug-fuelled marathons in which she said she engaged in sex acts with male sex workers while Combs watched, filmed and coached them.
A third woman, using the pseudonym “Jane,” is also expected to testify about participating in freak-offs. 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.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges. His lawyers have conceded that he could be violent at times, but he denies using threats or his music industry clout to commit or cover up abuse.
The trial judge, Arun Subramanian, has permitted some women accusing Combs of sexual abuse to testify under pseudonyms for their privacy and safety. Subramanian instructed court sketch artists not to draw Mia and told reporters and members of the public not to describe her appearance.
Mia testified that she saw Combs beat Cassie numerous times, detailing a brutal assault at Cassie’s Los Angeles home in 2013 that the singer and her longtime stylist Deonte Nash also recounted in their testimony. Mia said she was terrified that Combs was going to kill them all, describing the melee as “a little tornado going on.”
The witness recalled jumping on Combs’s back and attempting to stop him from hurting Nash and Cassie. Mia said Combs shook her off, threw her into a wall and slammed Cassie’s head into the corner of a bed, causing a deep, bloody gash on the singer’s forehead. Other times, she said, Combs’s abuse caused Cassie black eyes and fat lips.
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Mia said Combs sometimes had her working for up to five days at a time without rest as he hopped from city to city for club appearances and other engagements, and she started relying on her ADHD medication — a slow-release version of the stimulant Adderall — as a substitute for sleep. At times, Mia said, she was Combs’s only personal assistant, taking on duties typically performed by four or five people.
Combs, with residences in Miami, Los Angeles and the New York area, let Mia and other employees stay in his guest houses — but she wasn’t allowed to leave without his permission and couldn’t lock the doors, she testified.
“This is my house. No one locks the doors,” Combs said, according to Mia.
Mia didn’t appear to make eye contact with Combs, who sat back in his chair and looked toward her as she testified. Occasionally, he leaned over to speak with one of his lawyers. Mia kept her head down as she left the courtroom for breaks. She testified that she remains friends with Cassie.
Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
