Cassie, Michael B. Jordan relationship takes center stage in Diddy trial
Cassie, Michael B. Jordan relationship takes center stage in Diddy trial
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Former stylist for Cassie testifies of more alleged abuse by Combs
Deonte Nash, a friend and stylist of Cassie Ventura Fine, testified in Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal trial of more alleged abuse by Combs against Fine.
As the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs stretched into its fourth week, the web of high-profile celebrities name-dropped from the witness stand grew.
Deonte Nash, Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura Fine's longtime stylist, took the stand again on Thursday, May 29, to chronicle his friendship with both Ventura Fine and Combs, and to testify to any abuse he witnessed.
During cross-examination, Combs' attorney Xavier Donaldson asked Nash about being at the Revolt Conference in Miami in 2015 to style Lil Kim while Ventura Fine was shooting a movie in South Africa. Unprompted, Nash jumped in, saying, "Yes, I did hook her up with Michael B. Jordan. I know where you're going with this." Smiling, he clarified that Ventura Fine was "somewhat" pursuing Jordan, and that they were "dating, talking and getting to know each other."
Mia, an ex-assistant of Combs going by a pseudonym who also began testifying Thursday, helped with the set-up, Nash said.
Former Diddy assistant Mia says he sexually assaulted her, threw her in a pool: Live updates
When defense lawyers began painting the setup as a consolation prize after Ventura Fine had discovered Combs was out with another woman, Nash pushed back.
"Uh, uh, uh. That's not how that happened," he told the court, according to ABC.
The courtroom moment falls into a pattern as Ventura Fine's relationships with other men come under a microscope. Both prosecutors and defense appear interested in discussing her romantic involvements outside of Combs, whom she dated on and off for 10 years. She and others have testified to jealousy and violence on the part of Combs when he felt Ventura Fine was seeing other men.
Witnesses say Sean 'Diddy' Combs broke the law for decades. Why didn't they say anything?
Jordan's name appeared on a list of other celebrities shown to potential jurors before opening arguments aimed at filtering out those who might have strong opinions on any of the A-listers mentioned. Also included on the list was Kid Cudi, whom Ventura Fine also briefly dated, and who has testified that he believes Combs broke into his house and set his car on fire as a result of the relationship.
Earlier in the trial, Ventura Fine, who is a key witness for the prosecution, touched on her connection to Jordan, revealing that Combs had suspected she was in a relationship with the actor after the pair broke up in 2015.
At the time of their split, she was filming "Honey 3: Dare to Dance" in South Africa. Asked about Combs' reaction to an alleged relationship with Jordan, Ventura Fine said she "wasn't there to see it," according to NBC News, but added that he had attempted to get in contact with her.
Kerry Morgan testifies on Diddy, Cassie and Michael B. Jordan
During cross-examination earlier this month, Kerry Morgan, a former friend of Ventura's, was asked by defense attorney Marc Agnifilo whether Combs was jealous of Jordan.
Morgan said Ventura Fine began talking to Jordan shortly before a two-month trip to South Africa. "They were not together, and (Combs) was jealous," Morgan explained. "She was trying to leave him."
Obama, Britney Spears, Michael B. Jordan All the celebs mentioned during the Diddy trial
Deonte Nash talks Cassie's relationships with NFL players
Defense lawyers, burrowing in on Ventura Fine's romantic history, asked Nash about her relationship with former NFL linebacker Andre Branch.
"Oh, the cute football player?" he said, seemingly confirming the attachment. He was then asked whether Ventura Fine dated someone named Brandon in the NFL, to which he responded that he did not have details to share.
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, Jay Stahl
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
American Military News
2 hours ago
- American Military News
Second accuser of Sean ‘Diddy' Combs takes the stand, alleges sexual assault
Sean 'Diddy' Combs was accused of sexually assaulting his former assistant at Manhattan federal court Thursday and subjecting her to brutal working conditions as the feds beef up their case against the disgraced rap mogul. Mia, testifying under a pseudonym, worked as a personal assistant for Combs from 2009 through 2017. She said the job was all-consuming, and the hours could be untenable, with her longest shift, fueled by Adderall, lasting five days. 'Puff's mood' determined the atmosphere. Mia told prosecutor Madison Smyser that she had frequently been the target of Combs' violence. 'It was chaotic. It was — it could be toxic. It could be exciting. Like, the highs were really high, and lows were really, really low,' Mia said. 'He's thrown things at me. He's thrown me against the wall. He's thrown me into a pool. He's thrown an ice bucket on my head. He slammed my arm into a door.' After a long pause, Mia added, 'He's also sexually assaulted me,' noting it had happened more than once. Getting cursed out, berated and having her intelligence questioned by the Bad Boy Records co-founder was par for the course, the witness said. While working as his live-in assistant, the jury heard that she couldn't leave his properties without permission — even off the clock — or lock her bedroom door. Mia recalled Combs sending his security guards to find her when she went out after he'd gone to bed one night, 'desperate' to see some friends. 'I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to leave,' she said. Mia is the second of three alleged victims the jury is slated to hear from in the feds' sweeping case against Combs and is expected to testify to allegations included in the indictment relating to racketeering and forced labor. Manhattan federal court Judge Arun Subramanian ordered court artists and members of the public not to sketch her likeness in any way. Before Combs, she said she had stints working for Harvey Weinstein's ex-wife, designer Georgina Chapman, and comedian Mike Myers. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, transporting individuals for prostitution, and related offenses and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. The Manhattan U.S. attorney's office alleges that as Combs was at the peak of his success and considered among the wealthiest and most influential forces in hip-hop, from 2004 through 2024, he was running a criminal enterprise operated by a network of staff who engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, bribery, obstruction of justice, kidnapping and arson. Combs' ex-girlfriend, Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, spent four days on the stand during the first week of testimony, describing violent beatings and being coerced into debasing sexual performances with male performers that Combs dubbed 'freak-offs.' She said she never wanted to participate in the sessions and that Combs hung videos of the humiliating encounters over her head as blackmail in testimony backed up by Combs' and Ventura's former stylist, Deonte Nash, on Wednesday. Nash said he witnessed Combs threaten to send the footage to Ventura's parents' workplaces. Mia said Thursday that she and Ventura were as close as sisters and considered her relationship with Combs 'inequal' and 'toxic.' She recalled seeing Combs being physically violent with Ventura 'all the time.' Mia corroborated testimony jurors heard from Ventura and Nash about a particularly savage beating that left Ventura gushing blood from her head. Both witnesses said they tried to jump on Combs to get him to stop. 'Oh my god. He's actually going to kill her,' Mia recalled thinking. 'His eyes turned black. … I was trying to get him to stop. It was like he was looking through me.' A third woman, Jane, which is also a pseudonym, is yet to testify about allegedly being forced into disturbing sexual performances by Combs. Jurors have heard from a former Combs assistant, Capricorn Clark, that he turned up at her house in the middle of the night with a gun in December 2011 and kidnapped her as he sought to hunt down Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, after hearing he was dating Ventura. Clark said she waited outside the 'Day 'n' Nite' rapper's home while Combs and an associate broke in. Weeks later, Mescudi's Porsche was blown up in his driveway in an apparent Molotov cocktail attack. ___ © 2025 New York Daily News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
New York Post
9 hours ago
- New York Post
Diddy's prison duds are up for sale — but not from his ongoing trial
Life imitates art. The prison costume that Sean 'Diddy' Combs donned on screen in 'Monster's Ball' more than two decades before he was locked up for a horrifying string of alleged sex and abuse crimes is up for auction. Bidding on GWS Auctions will open next week for the rapper's iconic ensemble from the star-studded 2001 romantic-thriller drama. 3 Sean 'Diddy' Combs played a convicted murderer in the 2001 film 'Monster's Ball.' ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection Advertisement In the film, Combs, 55, played a murderer — 11 years before he allegedly broke into rapper Kid Cudi's home in a real-life plot to kill his love rival. 'The costume is worn by Sean Combs during the beginning to middle of the film while in prison and meeting with his son and wife 'Leticia' (portrayed by Halle Berry) to say goodbye before being executed,' the auction house wrote. The outfit includes a short-sleeved white Hanes crew neck T-shirt, a light grey crew neck sweatshirt with cut-off sleeves, a pair of Faded Glory blue jeans — with one pant leg sliced off — and a pair of black canvas slip-on shoes. Advertisement It also comes with a production costumer's tag with insider details on the costumer and movie scene in which it appears. 3 The costume will be up for bidding next week. GSW Auctions The duds are a far cry from the orange monochrome jumpsuit Combs is mandated to wear while he sits at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Combs' trial has been ongoing for more than three weeks, with the judge expecting it to last as long as eight. Advertisement On Friday, the rapper's former live-in assistant remained strong as she was laboriously grilled in Manhattan court over her explosive accusations that the disgraced music mogul repeatedly sexually assaulted her. 3 The film came out more than two decades before Combs was arrested in Manhattan. ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection 'Mia' – who testified anonymously as an alleged victim of sexual abuse – also claimed that her ex-boss threatened to throw her off a yacht because she took too long counting $100,000 in cash. She is just one of Combs' many alleged victims over his decades as an A-list celebrity, the most notorious being his ex-girlfriend and alleged hostage, Cassie Ventura. Advertisement Combs allegedly sexually and physically abused Ventura and refused to free her from his toxic grasp — going so far as to plot to kill rapper Kid Cudi when he heard Ventura had moved on with him, prosecutors allege. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry up to life in prison, if convicted.
17 hours ago
Key moments from the third week of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial
NEW YORK -- Some of Sean 'Diddy' Combs ' ex-employees took a central role in the third week of his sex trafficking trial, including personal assistants who testified that the hip-hop mogul was capricious, controlling and violent. The week began with Capricorn Clark, a personal assistant who was later a global brand director for Combs' company. She recalled witnessing Combs beating his longtime girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, and said he raged about wanting to kill rapper and romantic rival Kid Cudi. It ended with another ex-assistant, testifying under the pseudonym 'Mia," who alleges Combs raped her during a torturous eight-year tenure working for the rap star. She is the second of three women expected to testify that he sexually assaulted them. Combs has pleaded not guilty. The trial resumes Monday in federal court in Manhattan. Here are key moments from Week 3: Former employees of Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment described repeatedly witnessing him beat Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, but said they didn't report the abuse to law enforcement because they feared Combs would harm them. Clark testified that the day she started as Combs' personal assistant in 2004, he threatened he would kill her if her previous work for rival rappers interfered with her work for him. Then, she testified, she watched in shock as Combs viciously assaulted Cassie, his on-again, off-again girlfriend for more than a decade, in 2011 after learning she was dating Cudi. Clark said her 'heart was breaking from seeing her get hit like that," and neither she nor Combs' bodyguard intervened. She said she called Cassie's mother and told her: 'Please help her. I can't call the police, but you can.' Weeks later, Clark said, she reported what happened to Cassie to the president of Bad Boy Records. She also testified about her own run-ins with Combs, telling jurors that he kidnapped her at gunpoint and took her to Cudi's house as he fumed that he was going to kill the rapper. Cudi testified that he believed Cassie and Combs had broken up. He said his relationship with Cassie only lasted a few weeks. Clark said she stayed in Combs' SUV while he broke into the home. She said she was fired weeks later for what she contends was a trumped-up reason. One of the week's biggest developments came outside the courtroom. Cassie, 38, delivered her third child less than two weeks after testifying for four days as the prosecution's prize witness. The news of her son's birth Tuesday reached the jury the next day when Cassie's longtime stylist, Deonte Nash, testified that he was still close to Cassie and had sent her well wishes after the birth. Cassie, known for the platinum-selling 2006 hit single 'Me & U,' married personal trainer Alex Fine in September 2019 — about a year after breaking up with Combs for good. Their first daughter, Frankie Stone Fine, was born in 2019. They welcomed a second daughter, Sunny Cinco Fine, in 2021. Jurors heard from a Los Angeles police officer who responded to the December 2011 break-in at Cudi's home and an arson investigator who spoke about his efforts to solve the firebombing of Cudi's Porsche 911 weeks later. Officer Chris Ignacio said he found Christmas gifts, some opened, with luxury watches and purses. Cudi has testified that his dog was traumatized after being locked in a bathroom by intruders. Ignacio said he saw a car with tinted windows registered to Bad Boy outside the house but didn't approach it because he had no proof a crime had occurred. Prosecutors are trying to prove that Combs was behind the break-in and the subsequent firebombing, which involved a Molotov cocktail dropped through a hole sliced in the convertible's fabric roof. Lance Jimenez, a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator, said the explosive was made from a 40-ounce Olde English 800 malt liquor bottle and a silky designer handkerchief. 'I personally felt it was targeted,' he said of the Jan. 9, 2012, attack. Celebrity stylist Deonte Nash was a witness like no other, adding flair and humor within seconds of taking the stand on Wednesday. Asked if he wanted to testify, he declared: 'Absolutely not!' Nash said he knew Combs as 'Puff' and Cassie as 'Cass.' He said he responded to a Craigslist ad and started working at Bad Boy Entertainment as an intern and then a stylist from 2008 to 2018. Prosecutor Maurene Comey put a picture of Nash in front of him and asked, "Is it a glamour shot of you?' 'Yes. I look amazing,' Nash responded, drawing laughs. Asked what he had heard Combs call Cassie over the years, Nash answered 'Um, Baby Girl, CC, Cass' and then listed a number of slurs against women. Asked how often Combs used one particular slur, Nash said: 'Um, quite a bit. That was his fave.' Nash later testified that Cassie had confided in him that she didn't always want to go along with Combs' demands that she have sex with other men during his drug-fueled 'freak-off' marathons. Mia testified that Combs sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions: forcibly kissing her and putting his hand up her dress at his 40th birthday party, forcing her to perform oral sex as they packed for a trip, and raping her after he climbed into her bed at his Los Angeles home. Mia said she thought her sexual abuse was sporadic enough that each time it occurred, she thought it would never happen again. She said she put on a brave face and continued to work for Combs, in part because she felt shame, blamed herself and feared what would happen if she reported him to authorities. Cassie testified previously that Combs raped her after she broke up with him in 2018. Mia said she witnessed Combs physically attacking Cassie 'all the time' at his houses, her apartments, hotels, events and while traveling. She said Combs also turned his wrath on her, throwing her into a swimming pool, dumping a bucket of ice on her and hurling a bowl of spaghetti in her direction. Prosecutors insisted all week that they are ahead of schedule in presenting their case and said they could be done calling witnesses by mid-June. But Combs lawyer Marc Agnifilo said the defense's presentation might take longer than expected — particularly after prosecutors revealed they were making 'fairly substantial changes' to their plan. 'It may be that because of witnesses the government is not calling, we might have more on the defense case,' he said. As a result, he added, the trial might run to the start of July.
