Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial recap: Witness testifies that Combs dangled her off 17th-floor balcony and threatened to kill her
The trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs continued Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, with two more witnesses — a forensic video expert and a woman who said Combs once dangled her off a balcony — taking the stand in the high-profile sex trafficking case.
Federal prosecutors say that for decades Combs abused, threatened and coerced women to participate in marathon sexual encounters called "freak offs" and used his business empire, along with guns, kidnapping and arson, to conceal his crimes.
The 55-year-old hip-hop mogul is facing five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs has pleaded not guilty. If convicted he could face life in prison.
Here are some key takeaways from Wednesday's testimony culled from various reporters and news organizations in the courtroom, including CNN, NBC News, and the Washington Post.
Bryana Bongolan, a friend of Combs's ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, was granted immunity to testify after invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
She told the court that during an altercation with Combs in 2016, he held her over a 17th-story balcony at Ventura's apartment before slamming her into the balcony's furniture.
Bongolan said that Combs came up from behind, picked her up and held her by her armpits over the balcony railing while repeatedly yelling, 'Do you know what the f*** you did?" She told him she had no idea what he was talking about.
She said her feet dangled above the balcony railing for 10 to 15 seconds before he threw her onto the balcony furniture.
Bongolan said the assault left her with bruises and neck pain and caused her to have 'night terrors.'
Photos of Bongolan's injuries were shown in court.
Bongolan said she did not report the incident to police because she was scared of Combs.
During cross-examination, the defense attempted to discredit Bongolan's memory of the incident while getting her to acknowledge that she did not remember some of the details surrounding the alleged attack.
Big picture: Bongolan included the allegation in a $10 million civil lawsuit she filed against Combs in November. Ventura mentioned the balcony incident in her 2023 lawsuit against Combs without naming Bongolan as the victim. Bongolan said Wednesday that Ventura asked if she could identify her in the suit, but she refused.
She also testified about the violence she witnessed in Ventura's relationship with Combs.
Bongolan said that she saw Ventura with a black eye multiple times and witnessed Combs throw a knife at Ventura at Ventura's apartment in Los Angeles. Ventura picked up the knife and hurled it back at Combs, Bongolan said. Both of their throws missed each other. She said she did not report the incident to police because she feared Combs.
She also told the court that Combs once threatened her while she and Ventura were at the beach.
'He came up really close to my face and said something along the lines of, 'I'm the devil and I could kill you,'' Bongolan said.
According to Bongolan, Combs had likely taken cocaine before issuing the threat.
Big picture: During her direct testimony, Bongolan acknowledged she and Ventura often took drugs, including marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine — an admission that was seized upon by the defense.
Under cross-examination, Bongolan said they spent most of their time together getting high. 'Yeah, we had a problem,' she testified.
Frank Piazza, a forensic video expert, was the first witness called by prosecutors to testify on Wednesday.
Piazza told the court that surveillance video of Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend Ventura inside the InterContinental in Los Angeles on March 5, 2016, which has been shown to jurors multiple times during the trial, was not manually altered.
He said there were "no anomalies" in the footage, which showed Combs kicking and dragging Ventura in an elevator bank inside the hotel. Ventura said the attack took place when she tried to leave a 'freak off.'
Prosecutors also showed the jury a longer compilation of footage from the hotel around the time of the attack.
Big picture: The video is a key piece of evidence in the government's case as it seeks to prove that Ventura was forced by Combs to have sex with male escorts as part of 'freak offs' held at various hotels. And prosecutors used the forensic video expert to authenticate it while refuting claims by the defense that the footage, which was first aired by CNN in 2024, had been doctored.
While Piazza was on the witness stand, the prosecution filed into evidence 10 "sex videos" involving Ventura that were recovered from a laptop she turned over to the government.
Piazza testified that he enhanced the footage on most of them and the audio on one of them.
The videos, dated between 2012 and 2014, came from a user profile labeled "Frank Black," which is one of the aliases Combs used while traveling.
They were filed under seal, meaning only the jury will be able to see them.
Big picture: Ventura and other witnesses testified that Combs threatened to release videos of Ventura participating in "freak offs" to get her to do what he wanted.
Another one of Combs's accusers who has agreed to testify under a pseudonym, 'Jane,' is expected to testify on Thursday. Jane, who is identified as 'Victim-2' in the indictment, alleges that she was forced to participate in 'freak offs' orchestrated by Combs.
Prosecutor Maurene Comey had said that direct examination of Jane will take at least two days, followed by cross-examination that is expected to be of similar length.
'Mia,' a former assistant and the first accuser to testify against Combs under a pseudonym, concluded three days of testimony on Monday.
Big picture: Earlier this week, prosecutors asked Judge Arun Subramanian to order a news organization that revealed the identity of Mia in a social media post to remove it. Subramanian said he would consider it if the government submitted a formal request. A YouTube streamer who captured and posted an image of her face has already been barred from the courthouse.
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Jane, who dated Combs from 2021 to 2024, testified that Combs falsely promised he'd spend quality time alone with her and dismissed her repeated requests to stop participating in his sexual 'hotel nights.' Jane said that Combs promised her the things she wanted, like date nights and quality time, but said he wanted to have 'hotel nights' first. She would agree, but then afterward they'd be too exhausted and 'spent the rest of our free time sleeping,' she testified. 'I need a breather and a break from you,' she wrote in a text message, read aloud in court Friday, from November 2021 after seeing Combs spend quality time with another woman shortly after Jane had a 'hotel night' with him. 'This doesn't make me feel good at all. Your true intentions with me are in plain sight.' Jane testified that they had a 'hotel night' on her birthday in 2022 in which she had sex with another man at Combs' direction. Soon after, she saw on social media that Combs had a 'big grandiose birthday' for another woman he was dating, and the contrast was 'heartbreaking,' Jane said. 'I don't ever want to do another hotel night,' she texted Combs around that time. 'I didn't want to do those things with you on my birthday but I wanted to make sure we had a good time.' In 2023, Combs suggested she fly to New York to visit him, but she was hesitant because she figured he'd want to have a 'hotel night' while she was there, she testified. He promised her they would have a romantic time just the two of them, so she agreed to go, she said. But when she was mid-air, Combs texted her about getting 'entertainment' for them, and she felt 'really disappointed,' she testified. Jane said they bickered 'about just how I was done with this and I didn't want to do this and like why every time I see you this is happening.' They ended up having a 'hotel night' that night, she testified. Jane also recounted two times when the man brought in for the 'hotel night' was someone she was not attracted to, and how Combs kept pushing for her to try and engage with him regardless. Regarding one of those times, in 2023, Jane testified Combs said to her, 'Are you sure? Maybe just a little bit' even though she said she knew that 'this was definitely not something that I could fake doing.' She said they eventually excused the man because she was 'repulsed by him,' and then another man came to the hotel after. Jane said she and Combs entered into a 'love contract' in 2023 in which he agreed to pay her $10,000-per-month rent as an allowance. He is still paying for her rent, even now, she testified on Friday. She also testified he threatened to cut her off financially if she stopped participating in 'hotel nights.' In text messages from August 2023 that were read aloud in court, amid a discussion about a 'hotel night,' Combs told her he put $15,000 on credit for things in her new house. When Jane then expressed hesitation about having the 'hotel night,' in part because she was having her period, Combs became angry and accused her of using him for money, according to the texts. Days later, she expressed frustrations to Combs with how he treated her, and Combs sent her an audio message threatening to stop financially supporting her. 'I'm about to really disappear on you, you feel me?' Combs said in the audio message that was played aloud in court for the jury. He said she had a 'rude awakening' coming if she didn't stop fighting him. 'You better get on your job, that's all it is,' Combs said. 'Because you got me on my job.' Jane testified that she understood her 'job' was 'taking care of him, being good to him and making sure he was happy,' which included the sexual encounters. She said his 'job' was taking care of her financially. Jane also texted Combs that he had been 'making things feel completely transactional lately' and was 'threatening me any chance that you get.' She testified that Combs was constantly reminding her that he paid for her home. Around the time when she and Combs entered into their 'love contract,' Combs also paid for Jane to get veneers 'because he didn't like my teeth,' Jane testified. At one point thereafter when Jane texted him complaining that she hadn't seen him alone outside of a hotel room for the 'hotel nights,' Combs responded, 'Well get over it please. Look at the roof over your head and that pretty smile. I don't want to do anything if that's still an issue.' In late 2023, she sent him messages saying she didn't want to play this role in his life anymore. 'I feel it's the only reason you have me around and why you pay for the house,' she wrote. 'I don't want to feel obligated to perform these nights for you.' Combs responded to the text, 'Girl stop.' The jury heard audio from a 'hotel night' in which Combs was dismissive of a request from Jane to have her male sex partner wear a condom. The audio was an excerpt from a video recording of a 'hotel night' that captured a conversation between Jane, Combs and a man named Don. On the recording, Jane said, 'you promised' to Combs, who expressed his disapproval. Jane said on the stand that she and Combs had a conversation before that 'hotel night' in which he told her it would be okay if she wanted the man she would have sex with to wear a condom. He eventually gave the 'entertainer' a condom, Jane said. She said she asked Combs to allow the 'entertainers' to wear condoms several times, but Combs was typically dismissive. Jane was asked why she needed Combs' permission to have the man wear a condom, and Jane seemed to get emotional and said she was 'still trying to process' that. She said she didn't insist on the man wearing a condom because then Combs would be 'unhappy.' At another point in her testimony, the jury saw 15 photos that weren't released to the public (none of the exhibits were shown to the public in court). Jane testified that each of the photos showed her and another man during a 'hotel night' and that Combs was present for all of the nights pictured. One female juror placed her hand over her face as the sexually explicit photos were displayed on the screens in front of them. Jane testified that when Combs would run out of drugs during a 'hotel night,' he'd call an assistant, a butler or one of his security guards to bring more. She recalled a time in 2022 when Combs directed her to pick up drugs from security personnel at his Los Angeles home and fly with them to meet him in Miami. She communicated with Combs' aide Kristina Khorram about picking up the 'package' at Combs' home. Jane said she asked Khorram if this was 'safe and okay,' and Khorram said, 'It's fine I do it all the time.' Jane flew with the drugs to Miami and later took ecstasy with Combs that she said came from the package. Jane testified that Combs gave her drugs during the 'hotel nights' that kept her awake for longer and made it easier for her to participate in the 'fantasy.' Jane cried and was emotional as she detailed one 'hotel night' in which she had sex with three other men, at Combs' insistence, on her birthday. Jane said she flew to Miami in 2023 to celebrate her birthday with Combs and he told her they'd spend quality time together. When they went to dinner, Combs brought up plans for a 'hotel night,' and she reluctantly agreed to participate. Jane said the first man who showed up that she never met before felt like a stranger and it was upsetting. 'More of an invasive moment because it was my birthday and I didn't want to do this on my birthday,' she said, crying. After the man left, Jane and Combs moved to a different suite at the hotel and Combs 'shifted his energy' and became more loving. He had arranged for cake, flowers and balloons in the suite, and they had some alone time, she said. But then another man came to the room for sex, and then a third man. 'I acted like it was nothing, but inside I hated it,' she said, adding between tears that she acted that way because she loved Combs. On the stand, Jane grew very emotional while discussing the birthday. She heaved more than once as she cried, and prosecutor Maurene Comey asked her repeatedly if she needed a break. Each time Jane said no. At another point in her testimony, a box of tissues was passed to her in the witness box by the courtroom deputy. After that birthday, Combs left her in the room and went on a private vacation with another romantic interest, Jane testified. According to messages read aloud in court, she texted him, 'Why do you lie to me?' She wrote to him that she wanted to get off the 'hamster wheel' and said, 'I didn't want to do all of that on my birthday.' Jane said she and Combs were on a break for about a month after that, but got back together.
