A woman testifies Sean ‘Diddy' Combs gave her night terrors by dangling her from a high-rise balcony
Sean "Diddy" Combs looks on as defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland cross examines Dawn Richard during Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 19, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
NEW YORK — A graphic designer testified Wednesday that she was so traumatized after Sean 'Diddy' Combs held her over a 17th-floor apartment balcony that she sometimes screamed in her sleep afterward.
Bryana 'Bana' Bongolan, 33, a friend of Combs' former longtime girlfriend Cassie, said the 2016 assault at Cassie's Los Angeles apartment caused a bruise on the back of her leg, along with back and neck pain. It also left her emotionally scarred, she told the jury.
'I have night terrors and paranoia and I would scream in my sleep sometimes,' said Bongolan, a creative and marketing director who runs her own art agency.
Her testimony came in the fourth week of evidence presentation by prosecutors as they seek to prove that Combs oversaw a racketeering organization composed of his employees and associates as he physically and sexually abused women for two decades.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and other charges that, if convicted, could send him to prison for 15 years to life.
Bongolan is the latest woman to testify that the hip-hop mogul acted violently toward her and Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, who already testified for four days about the abuse she incurred. Other witnesses described seeing him physically abusing women.
Cassie testified that she saw Combs bring one of her friends back over the railing of a balcony at her apartment in the early morning.
Cassie said she was asleep in her room when she awoke to the episode.
'I saw him bring her back over the railing of the balcony and then throw her onto the patio furniture,' Cassie testified.
When Bongolan recalled the attack, she said Combs barged into Cassie's apartment, lifted her up and put her on the rail. She said she feared that she would plummet to her death as she pushed back against Combs.
'I was scared to fall,' she said. Combs was yelling at her throughout the ordeal, Bongolan said, estimating he held her over the railing for 10 to 15 seconds.
She said Combs then threw her onto balcony furniture. Adrenaline helped her power through the ordeal, Bongolan said. She recalled getting up immediately after being thrown down.
Bongolan said Cassie, who was sleeping in the bedroom, then came out and asked Combs: 'Did you just hang her over the balcony?' Told that Bongolan's ex-girlfriend was also in the apartment, Combs swiftly left, Bongolan said.
Bongolan said she has lasting effects from Combs assaulting her.
'I have nightmares and I have a lot of paranoia and I used to scream a lot in my sleep, but it's dissipated a little bit,' she testified.
Part of her paranoia, she said, includes opening doors carefully and peeking into rooms before going inside, and she added that she had a nightmare as recently as a few days ago.
Bongolan said Combs gave her drugs on three or four occasions, including ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and G, a substance she understood was the depressant GHB.
She said she also did drugs about once a week with Cassie when Combs wasn't around.
Bongolan, testifying in response to a subpoena from prosecutors, was granted immunity after she initially said she would refuse to answer questions and invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. She was at least the third witness given immunity to testify.
Michael R. Sisak And Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Battle of Stoney Creek win over the U.S. offers a lesson about peace, say organizers of re-enactment
Social Sharing Despite the muskets, bayonets and firing cannons, organizers of the annual Battle of Stoney Creek re-enactment — which takes place this weekend in Hamilton — see the event as a celebration of peace. Alyssa Gomori, the site supervisor at Battlefield House Museum and Park where the 1813 battle and its subsequent re-enactments have taken place, says the event is a commemoration of a shared history with the United States — and a celebration of the peace that has held since the War of 1812 ended a couple years later. "It's not to glorify war or celebrate violence," she said this week, noting about 20 American re-enactors typically attend, a number that isn't changing this year despite the tensions between the two countries following the imposition of tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to annex Canada. "It's to commemorate that these were real people who fought and they put their lives on the line," she added. Re-enactor Laurence Michor, 64, who is also involved in event preparations, notes the War of 1812 re-enactment community stretches into both countries, as did the family ties of people fighting in the war itself. "You can't lose sight of the fact that perhaps on the other side is a cousin of yours," he told CBC Hamilton Wednesday at Battlefield Park, amid a flurry of preparations for the big weekend. Michor says while fewer Canadian re-enactors seem to be travelling to the U.S. for events this year, he continues to go and has felt nothing but appreciation and affection from his American counterparts. "The American people, aside from the political nature of things now and perhaps their [affinity for firearms], they're wonderful people," said Michor, who has uniforms of British and American soldiers but ends up playing an American more often in re-enactments. "They're very welcoming." Battle was an unexpected win for the British The Battle of Stoney Creek happened on June 6, 1813, midway through the War of 1812. The British had lost Fort George and Niagara-on-the-Lake, and retreated to Burlington Heights, now Dundurn Castle in Hamilton. The American troops made their way to what was then the Gage family home, now the Battlefield House Museum. "They set up camp, they lit campfires and they were just kind of resting to continue following the British," Gomori said. "The British found out that the Americans were here and they launched a surprise nighttime attack on the American contingent." "It was a victory for the British, which was not expected," she said. "The Americans had 3,500, the British sent 750…. But because it was a surprise, the Americans were not prepared." The Americans retreated, and the battle marked the furthest the Americans would make it into the Niagara Peninsula on foot during the war. 3 battles, a drone show and lacrosse The events marking the occasion this weekend are wide-ranging, and include several elements that recognize Indigenous participation in the war and on the land for thousands of years before it, including a drone light show that tells the story of the land's history from an Indigenous perspective. There will also be multiple lacrosse games. The site was expecting school groups for educational field trips in the lead up to the weekend, while Saturday and Sunday are the big days for the general public. There will be two re-enactments on Saturday and one on Sunday, and several other demonstrations, performances and events in between. The full schedule is available on the City of Hamilton website. The event has been running in this form since 1981, except during 2020 to 2022 due to the pandemic. Since then, it has seen record interest and attendance, with 10,000 people attending in 2023 and about 12,000 last year, Gomori said. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, based in downtown Hamilton, will also be participating, conducting a commemorative "ruck march" on Saturday, walking along the British soldiers' route from Dundurn Castle to Battlefield Park starting at 11 a.m. Deputy Commanding Officer Maj. Mike Wonnacott says it's an opportunity for the soldiers to connect their own work with those who defended Canada more than 200 years ago. "We felt that it was important for the soldiers in the garrison to draw a connection between the British and militia soldiers that would have participated in the battle, which is in their own backyard, and service to their communities and country today," he said in an email on Wednesday.
CTV News
4 hours ago
- CTV News
CTV National News: Elon Musk and Trump lashing out against each other
Watch A war of words is beginning to emerge between U.S. President Trump and Elon Musk following the billionaire's White House exit. Joy Malbon has the details.
Globe and Mail
5 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Takeaways from AP's report on the business interests of Trump's surgeon general pick
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — President Donald Trump's pick to be U.S. surgeon general has repeatedly said the nation's medical and food systems are corrupted by special interests and people out to make a profit at the expense of Americans' health. Yet as Dr. Casey Means has criticized scientists, medical schools and regulators for taking money from the food and pharmaceutical industries, she has promoted dozens of products in ways that put money in her own pocket. The Associated Press found Means, who has carved out a niche in the wellness industry, set up deals with an array of businesses. In some cases, she promoted companies in which she was an investor or adviser without consistently disclosing the connection, the AP found. Means, 37, has said she recommends products that she has personally vetted and uses herself. Still, experts said her business entanglements raise concerns about conflicting interests for an aspiring surgeon general, a role responsible for giving Americans the best scientific information on how to improve their health. Here are some takeaways from the AP's reporting. Growing an audience, and selling products Means, 37, earned her medical degree from Stanford University, but she dropped out of her residency program in 2018, and her license to practice is inactive. She said she saw firsthand how 'broken and exploitative the healthcare system is" and turned to alternative approaches to address what she has described as widespread metabolic dysfunction driven largely by poor nutrition and an overabundance of ultra-processed foods. She co-founded Levels, a nutrition, sleep and exercise-tracking app that can also give users insights from blood tests and continuous glucose monitors. The company charges $199 per year for an app subscription and an additional $184 per month for glucose monitors. Though scientists debate whether continuous glucose monitors are beneficial for people without diabetes, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promoted their use as a precursor to making certain weight-loss drugs available to patients. With more than 825,000 followers on Instagram and a newsletter that she has said reached 200,000 subscribers, Means has a direct line to an audience interested in health, nutrition and wellness. Many companies, including Amazon, have affiliate marketing programs in which people with substantial social media followings can sign up to receive a percentage of sales or some other benefit when someone clicks through and buys a product using a special individualized link or code shared by the influencer. Means has used such links to promote various products sold on Amazon. Among them are books, including the one she co-wrote, 'Good Energy"; beauty products; cardamom-flavored dental floss; organic jojoba oil; sunglasses; a sleep mask; a silk pillowcase; fitness and sleep trackers; protein powder and supplements. She also has shared links to products sold by other companies that included 'affiliate' or 'partner' coding. The products include an AI-powered sleep system and the prepared food company Daily Harvest, for which she curated a 'metabolic health collection.' On a 'My Faves' page that was taken down from her website shortly after Trump picked her, Means wrote that some links 'are affiliate links and I make a small percentage if you buy something after clicking them.' It's not clear how much money Means has earned from her affiliate marketing, partnerships and other agreements. Daily Harvest did not return messages seeking comment, and Means said she could not comment on the record during the confirmation process. Disclosing conflicts Influencers who endorse products in exchange for something of value are required by the the Federal Trade Commission to disclose it every time. But most consumers still don't realize that a personality recommending a product might make money if people click through and buy, said University of Minnesota professor Christopher Terry. While Means did disclose some relationships like newsletter sponsors, the AP found she wasn't consistent. For example, a 'Clean Personal & Home Care Product Recommendations' guide she links to from her website contains two dozen affiliate or partner links and no disclosure that she could profit from any sales. Means has said she invested in Function Health, which provides subscription-based lab testing for $500 annually. Of the more than a dozen online posts the AP found in which Means mentioned Function Health, more than half did not disclose she had any affiliation with the company. Though the 'About' page on her website discloses the affiliation, that's not enough, experts said. She is required to disclose any material connection she has to a company any time she promotes it. Representatives for Function Health did not return messages seeking comment. While the disclosure requirements are rarely enforced by the FTC, Means should have been informing her readers of any connections regardless of whether she was violating any laws, said Olivier Sylvain, a Fordham Law School professor, previously a senior advisor to the FTC chair. 'What you want in a surgeon general, presumably, is someone who you trust to talk about tobacco, about social media, about caffeinated alcoholic beverages, things that present problems in public health,' Sylvain said, adding, 'Should there be any doubt about claims you make about products?' Potential conflicts pose new ethical questions Past surgeons general have faced questions about their financial entanglements, prompting them to divest from certain stocks or recuse themselves from matters involving their business relationships for a period of time. Means hasn't yet gone through a Senate confirmation hearing and has not yet announced the ethical commitments she will make for the role. Emily Hund, author of 'The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media,' said as influencer marketing becomes more common, it is raising more ethical questions — like what past influencers who enter government should do to avoid the appearance of a conflict. 'This is like a learning moment in the evolution of our democracy,' Hund said. 'Is this a runaway train that we just have to get on and ride, or is this something that we want to go differently?'
