Diddy trial live: Combs's second alleged victim Mia to give evidence - as stylist recalls 'attack'

Sky News

7 days ago

Stylist tells court Cassie kept 'freak offs' from him for several years
The defence's cross-examination of stylist Deonte Nash now goes back to the alleged violent incident mentioned earlier (14.38 post), in which Cassie cut her head.
Nash apparently saw alleged victim "Mia" video calling Cassie on Facetime and saw she had a black eye, attorney Xavier Donaldson says.
"Yes," the stylist replies.
Asked if he saw a picture or a video, he says no, but he "saw it in person, when her make-up wears off you can see it". Cassie had a press event about a week later, he adds.
Donaldson then returns to Nash's testimony about a time in 2013 when Ventura told him that sex videos Combs was allegedly threatening to release publicly showed her with other men.
Cassie has accused Combs of forcing and coercing her into "freak offs", sexual encounters with male escorts, and claims he filmed them and made threats about the footage.
Yesterday, the court heard that prior to 2013, Nash had told Cassie not to worry, as he thought Combs was also in the footage and therefore wouldn't jeopardise his own reputation.
Nash, who has been friends with Cassie since 2008, confirms this was the first time he learnt she was having sex with other men.
"That part of her life she kept from you?" Donaldson asks.
"Yes," Nash replies.
Stylist tells court he set Cassie up with actor Michael B Jordan
Stylist Deonte Nash now confirms he has been friends with Cassie for 15 years and speaks to her every day.
He tells the court that he knows of Kid Cudi – the rapper Cassie had a brief relationship with in 2011 – but he did not know the romance overlapped with Cassie's on-off relationship with Sean Combs.
He says Cassie did not tell him that she and Combs had broken up, but "people on the team said it".
Questioning by defence lawyer Xavier Donaldson now turns to 2015, when Cassie spent time in South Africa to shoot a film. "Mia", another alleged victim who will testify later today, was also there.
Another stylist saw Diddy with another woman in Miami at around this time, the court hears.
Nash tells jurors that when Cassie heard, she said something like: "Why is he out humiliating me, trying to ruin my career?"
Donaldson then asks about the actor Michael B Jordan, star of Black Panther and the Creed films, whose name has come up previously during the trial.
"Yes, I did hook her up with Michael B Jordan," Nash says. "I know where we're going with this. He's fine, she's fine. I mean, why not?"
Nash, who has been reminded by Judge Arun Subramanian to stick to answering the questions put to him, says Cassie was not with Diddy at this point.
Donaldson also asks about another of Cassie's relationships, which Nash says at first that he doesn't know anything about.
Then he adds: "Oh, the cute football player? Yes."
This was close to 2017, he says.
Stylist explains why he didn't give full details of alleged attack on Cassie by Diddy
Attorney Xavier Donaldson is asking questions for the defence and starts by checking how stylist Deonte Nash is doing.
"Blessed," he replies.
The cross-examination turns to Capricorn Clark, a former employee of Sean "Diddy" Combs, who gave evidence on Tuesday.
Clark alleged that in 2011, Diddy kidnapped her at gunpoint when he went to confront rival rapper Kid Cudi after learning he had been seeing his then on-off partner Cassie.
Nash says he "learned a lot from" Clark while she was employed at Diddy's Bad Boy Records and that they worked together in 2016 for Cassie's song Love A Loser, which was released in 2017.
Asked about Cassie's styling around that time, Nash says it was "curated" and that they needed approval from Diddy, which they got.
Donaldson then asks about an incident in which Cassie "suffered a gash on her head", which came up during Nash's evidence yesterday.
The stylist said he was at Cassie's apartment, helping her pack for a music festival, when Diddy stormed in, grabbed her by the hair, pulled her off a couch and hit her repeatedly. Mr Nash said he and alleged victim Mia – set to give evidence later – jumped on the rapper's back in an attempt to get him to stop.
Donaldson asks Nash to confirm he saw Cassie hit her head on a bed frame and he confirms he did. Asked if Diddy "kept kicking her", he replies: "Yes."
The defence lawyer says Nash met with the government many times when questioned about this case, but never mentioned the kicking.
"They didn't ask," Nash replies. He says he gave as little information as possible and only answered what he was asked.
Remember, he has been subpoenaed – legally ordered – to give evidence in court.
Stylist Deonte Nash returns to the stand
After further legal discussions, stylist Deonte Nash is now returning to the stand to give evidence.
Today he is wearing a white shirt, a jacket and a large pair of jeans. Sean "Diddy" Combs is wearing a cream sweater over a white shirt.
The plan was for Nash's evidence to finish yesterday but cross-examination took longer than anticipated.
Nash has been subpoenaed to give evidence – meaning he is there following a legal order – and he made it clear yesterday it was not his choice to be in court.
Jurors now hear he has a flight at 2pm New York time – 7pm here in the UK – and prosecutor Maurene Comey says she hopes he can make it.
Motion to strike expert witness testimony denied by judge
Before the trial resumes hearing evidence, there are a few legal matters to tend to.
A motion was made by the defence to strike testimony given by psychologist Dawn Hughes last week – which Judge Arun Subramanian has now denied.
She told the court victims of abuse often experience a "low sense of self" and tend to stay with abusers because they yearn for the love and compassion experienced in a relationship's early "honeymoon phase".
Hughes, who appeared as an expert witness – meaning she has specialised knowledge in her particular field but is not involved directly in the case – also explained how a victim's memory can sometimes become jumbled; retaining awareness of abuse, but mixing up details.
She did not examine Cassie or Combs, the court heard.
The defence's argument that her testimony was "pseudoscience" was rejected by the judge.
Court in session
Today's hearing is now under way.
Deonte Nash, a former stylist for Sean Combs and his former partner Cassie, will be back on the stand soon after beginning his testimony yesterday.
We'll bring you all the latest from his evidence.
Alleged victim Mia 'wanted to take secret of what Combs did to the grave'
Today's hearing should be getting started shortly.
As we reported earlier, the trial is later set to hear from another alleged victim of Sean "Diddy" Combs.
While fellow alleged victim Cassie waived her right to anonymity, this woman is not being named in court and so the pseudonym "Mia" is being used instead.
We know a little about her already from the opening statement given by the prosecution at the start of the trial.
Mia was "worked to the bone for years" as an assistant of Combs, the prosecution said.
She alleges that Combs forced himself on her sexually and forced her to perform a sex act. She also alleges he snuck into her bed to have sex with her against her will.
Combs, together with "trusted bodyguards and advisors... agreed to commit different crimes, including kidnapping and arson, distributing drugs to other people, exploiting employees for labour - and in Mia's case, sex, bribery and obstruction, sex trafficking, and transporting people for prostitution," the prosecution's opening statement said.
"Mia will tell you how she could not talk about what happened to her until recently, how she wanted to take the secret of what the defendant did to her to her grave."
As always, there are no cameras in court but we should have some artist sketches of the proceedings later today.
However, Judge Arun Subramanian has said there will be no sketches of Mia to preserve her anonymity.
Who is giving evidence today?
Yesterday, evidence from Deonte Nash, a former stylist for Combs and his ex Cassie, overran. He is due to continue his testimony when proceedings resume today.
Once he finishes, the court will hear from Mia, a pseudonym for the second alleged victim in the case.
Her evidence is expected to last until Friday.
A reminder of the charges
While we wait for court to start again today, here's a reminder of the five felony charges faced by Sean "Diddy" Combs: Racketeering conspiracy;
Two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion;
Two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
The rapper was initially charged with three offences - racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Two extra counts - one each of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution - were added earlier in April.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
What the charges mean
Racketeering broadly means engaging in an illegal scheme or enterprise, and the charge falls under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act (RICO) in the US.
According to the US justice department's definition of RICO statute, it is also illegal to "conspire to violate" the laws.
The prosecution alleges that between 2008 and 2024, Combs "led a racketeering conspiracy that engaged in sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice, among other crimes".
Welcome back for day 12 of the Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial
Welcome back to our coverage of the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs.
The rapper faces five felony charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. He denies all charges.
Today will be day 12 of the trial. Yesterday, we heard from three witnesses – including stylist Deonte Nash, who alleged that Diddy beat his ex Cassie during their relationship.
Nash also revealed that Cassie gave birth to her third child on Tuesday, just two weeks after she testified against her former partner in court.
Jurors also heard from LAPD officer Chris Ignacio and fire department officer Lance Jiminez.
Ignacio was involved in an investigation into a 2011 break-in at rapper Kid Cudi's house, while Jiminez was called to a suspected arson attack on one of Cudi's cars in 2012.
During his evidence last week, Cudi alleged Diddy was behind both incidents – a claim the defendant's lawyers denied.
Catch up with a summary of what we heard from them in our full recap of day 11 below...