Latest news with #DiddyCombs
CNN
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Suge Knight thinks Diddy should testify
Suge Knight calls in to Laura Coates Live from prison to weigh in on the trial of his longtime rival Sean "Diddy" Combs.
CNN
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Suge Knight thinks ‘Diddy' should testify
CNN's Laura Coates speaks with imprisoned former rap mogul Suge Knight, who urged longtime rival Sean 'Diddy' Combs to testify in his ongoing criminal trial. Knight is currently serving a 28-year sentence for a 2015 fatal hit-and-run.
CNN
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Recap of ‘Diddy' trial: Ex-assistant details multiple alleged sexual assaults by Sean Combs
People in entertainment Sean 'Diddy' Combs CrimeFacebookTweetLink Follow EDITOR'S NOTE: Warning: This story contains descriptions of rape and sexual violence. A former employee of Sean 'Diddy' Combs took center stage in his federal criminal trial Thursday and testified that he physically and sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions during the time she worked for him. The employee, who is testifying under the pseudonym 'Mia,' is expected to return to the stand on Friday to end the third week of testimony. The prosecution has said their case is expected to last about five weeks. Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, he could face a sentence of up to life in prison. Prosecutors have said Combs and some in his inner circle acted as a criminal enterprise and used threats, violence, drugs, bribery, arson, kidnapping and lies to coerce his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura into participating in 'Freak Offs' and to protect the music mogul's reputation. The defense has acknowledged Combs was violent with romantic partners and said he had 'a bit of a different sex life' but argued he has not committed the alleged federal crimes. Here's what we learned in testimony Thursday. Mia, who worked as Combs' personal assistant and for Revolt Films from 2009 until 2017, said he sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions. Speaking in nearly a whisper and sometimes breaking into tears, Mia said the first time Combs sexually assaulted her was a few months into her employment when they were at the Plaza hotel in New York City for his 40th birthday party. She said Combs asked to speak with her in the kitchen and offered her two shots of vodka that she consumed. She said the drinks 'hit me kinda hard.' She said she was shocked when Combs then leaned in to kiss her against the wall and put his arm up her dress. Mia said the next thing she remembered, she was sitting in a chair in another room as the sun came up. In another incident, which she said took place in 2009 or 2010, Mia testified she was asleep in a bottom bunk bed in Combs' Los Angeles home when he climbed on top of her and raped her. The door was unlocked because she wasn't allowed to lock it, per Combs' house rules. Mia also testified about an incident that she said took place at Combs' Los Angeles home. She said she was packing a bag on the floor in Combs' bedroom closet when Combs appeared with his penis out. 'He grabbed my head and he put it in there,' she said. Mia testified that she never initiated sexual contact with Combs or told him she wanted to have sex with him. She said she 'froze' and didn't react during each incident. She added during testimony that she never told him 'no' during the sexual assaults because she was afraid Combs would fire her, ruin her future or physically hurt her. 'I couldn't tell him 'no,' like, about a sandwich, I couldn't tell him 'no' about anything. There's no way I could tell him 'no,'' Mia said. Mia also testified that she never told the company's human resources department because they were there to 'punish' not protect, and she said she didn't think anybody would believe her. Mia said she 'absolutely' did not want to talk about these incidents but felt a moral obligation to speak out now because 'when you're scared into silence, these things continue to happen to others,' she said. 'It's the most traumatizing (and) worst thing that's ever happened to me,' Mia said. Mia also detailed several instances in which Combs physically assaulted her, threw objects at her or yelled at her. Mia testified that sometimes Combs treated her like his best friend or working partner. At other times, he treated her 'like a worthless piece of crap.' On one night, Mia testified, Combs made a request of her, but before attending to it, she went to her room to retrieve a tampon, causing Combs to launch into a 'humiliating rant' in front of everyone present. When she told him that she needed to change her tampon, he 'aggressively' threw a bowl of spaghetti at her, she said. The bowl did not hit her, she said. After that moment, she ran outside, barefoot, and hid in a bush until she went to a hotel later that night, she testified. In another incident, when Combs' Wi-Fi didn't work, he threw a computer at Mia's head but missed, she testified. Mia described the work environment with Combs as 'chaotic' and 'toxic,' determined by Combs' ever-changing mood. Mia said she was 25 or 26 when she first applied to work for Combs. When she and the head of human resources went to Combs' apartment for an interview with him, Combs answered the door in his underwear, she testified. The HR employee left after introducing them, and Combs later put more clothes on, Mia said. The former assistant said she didn't sleep during her first 24 hours on the job and said working long hours on little sleep was the norm. One time, she said she worked for five days straight without sleep, using extended-release Adderall to stay awake. The jury was shown a list of Mia's job responsibilities that she wrote in November 2011. The list included 'PROTECT HIM AT ALL TIMES' and 'anticipating his needs, whims, and moods.' She also wrote that Combs could ask her to do '17,000 things at one time' ranging from 'cracking his knuckles to writing his next movie to doing his taxes.' Mia said she wasn't allowed to leave Combs' homes without his permission. Only Combs' security personnel were allowed to lock their doors, according to his rules, Mia testified. For about a year, Mia testified, she was the only personal assistant. Asked how she felt during that time, she said: 'I didn't have time to feel. But, like, insane.' On the stand, Mia recalled incidents of physical violence by Combs against his now ex girlfriend Cassie Ventura, including one during which Mia remembers fearing that Combs was going to kill Ventura. One incident, first detailed on the stand by Ventura, took place at Ventura's apartment. Mia said she and stylist Deonte Nash, who began his testimony on Wednesday and concluded on Thursday, witnessed Combs assaulting Ventura and tried to intervene. Choking up on the stand, Mia said she saw Combs pick Ventura up and thought, 'is he going to kill her.' 'His eyes turned like black and there was like no getting through,' she said of Combs' demeanor during the incident. 'Like I was trying to get him to stop and it was like he was looking through me.' Mia said Combs slammed Ventura's head into the corner of a bed, opening up a gash. The jury was earlier in the trial shown a photo of an eyebrow scar that Ventura said came from the assault. Afterward, Combs told Mia to get in touch with an assistant to schedule a doctor's appointment to fix Ventura's injury and told her to say that Ventura fell because she was drunk, Mia testified. In 2012, during a trip to Turks and Caicos with Combs and Ventura, Mia said she was woken up by Ventura, who ran into the room screaming that Combs was going to 'kill' her. In another incident in Turks and Caicos, Mia testified she and Ventura sought to escape Combs and took paddleboards out to sea while Combs was on the beach screaming at them. When the skies turned black, they had to decide if it was 'scarier to face Mother Nature or to go back to Puff,' she said. They went back to shore, she said. Overall, Mia said she never saw Ventura fight back. 'I've just seen her with her arms up, for him to stop,' she said. Mia said she never reported anything to the police. 'I believed that Puff's authority was above the police,' she said. Confidentiality was the most important thing to him, Mia testified, and she 'was supposed to protect him from people.' Deonte Nash, a celebrity stylist who worked with Combs and Ventura for about a decade, testified on cross-examination Thursday morning that he 'always' had concerns for Ventura's safety. The comments came when defense attorney Xavier Donaldson asked Nash about his previous testimony in which he said he saw a man enter Ventura and Combs' hotel room over New Years in 2016-2017. Nash said he left their room after Ventura said Combs wanted to invite another man over. Donaldson suggested that since Nash left without asking any questions, he must not have had any concerns about Ventura's safety. 'I always did,' Nash said. 'In this situation, you left the room anyway, correct?' Donaldson asked, shortly after. 'Yes,' Nash responded.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Diddy ‘threatened to post sex tapes online' of ex Cassie at Freak-Offs with other men she ‘didn't want to' be with
SEAN "Diddy" Combs threatened Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura that he would send her "freak-off" videos to her parents to get them fired from their jobs, a stylist and friend of the singer testified. Combs ' trial descended into chaos early after his defense team demanded a mistrial, claiming prosecutorial misconduct over questioning of the destroyed evidence from Kid Cudi's car firebombing. 6 6 6 6 6 6 Marc Agnifilo, Combs' lead attorney, argued the prosecution made an "outrageous" suggestion when they claimed the music executive, 55, could have played a part in the destruction of fingerprint evidence from Cudi's arson investigation. The defense claimed the suggestion was raised to the jury during the prosecution's questioning of arson investigator Lance Jimenez. Jimenez was testifying about his investigation into Cudi's car bombing and said that the fingerprint evidence recovered from the bottle of the Molotov cocktail was destroyed without his knowledge in 2012. Jimenez told the courtroom that the DNA evidence was destroyed on orders from the Los Angeles Police Department, who was not part of his team. After the judge called for a brief 10-minute break and the jury was escorted out of the courtroom, Agnifilo said the remarks "implied that someone in this courtroom was responsible for the destruction of the fingerprint cards." Combs' defense team urged Judge Arun Subramanian to declare a mistrial, citing prosecutorial misconduct. However, the motion was quickly denied. Judge Subramanian agreed to strike the questions and responses about the fingerprint evidence from the record. The judge then instructed the jury to disregard all the information disclosed about the DNA evidence, saying the questions and responses were irrelevant to the case. FREAK-OFF VIDEO THREATS Deonte Nash, Ventura's friend and a celebrity stylist, testified about the repeated threats Combs allegedly made against his then-girlfriend. Nash told the courtroom how during one phone conversation, Combs threatened Ventura that he would release the videos of her participating in "freak-offs" on the internet. When asked what Ventura said about the recorded sexual encounters, Nash said she told him "she didn't want to" have sex with the men. Combs also warned Ventura that he would send a copy to her parents' workplace to get them fired from their jobs, Nash said on the stand. Nash testified how he saw bruises on Ventura's body 'quite often.' The day began with testimony from an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, who responded to the break in at the property of rapper Kid Cudi, born Scott Mescudi, in December 2011. VICTIM #4 EXPECTED TO TESTIFY THURSDAY The prosecution is expected to call forth Victim #4, who is being identified in court only by the pseudonym "Mia,." Mia is a former employee of Combs, who prosecutors say was coerced into sex with him. During opening statements, prosecutor Emily Johnson described Mia as a former personal assistant whom Combs worked "to the bone for years." Johnson said that at some point, Combs allegedly forced himself on her sexually, coerced her to perform oral sex on him, and even snuck into her bed to have sex with her against her will. On Tuesday, Capricorn Clark, who worked for Combs on and off between 2004 and 2018, testified about her former boss' violent and arduous demands that led her to develop stress-induced alopecia. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges as prosecutors continue to paint him as the ringleader of a criminal enterprise. He has denied all allegations against him and insists he's only engaged in consensual sex. The federal trial is expected to last eight weeks. If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) at 800-656-HOPE (4673).
CNA
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNA
R&B singer Cassie gives birth to third child as Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex trafficking trial continues
Casandra Ventura, the R&B singer and actor known simply as Cassie, has welcomed her third child, a son. The news arrived Wednesday (May 28) in the midst of the ongoing Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex trafficking trial, at which Cassie is an essential witness. She finished testifying earlier this month while visibly pregnant over four emotional days on the stand, during which she described being beaten and raped by a man she once loved. Reports from multiple media outlets said Cassie gave birth in a New York hospital Tuesday. Stylist Deonte Nash, who worked for Combs for a decade, testified Wednesday that he talked to Cassie the previous day to congratulate her on the birth. Cassie, 38, is perhaps best known for the platinum-selling 2006 hit single Me & U. She married personal trainer Alex Fine in September 2019. Their first daughter, Frankie Stone Fine, was born that same year and they welcomed their second daughter, Sunny Cinco Fine, in 2021. The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has. Combs, 55, is on trial in New York on charges that he exploited his status as an entertainment executive to force women, including Cassie, into drug-fuelled 'freak-offs' with male sex workers and engaged in other abusive acts against people who relied on him for their careers. Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. After departing the trial, Cassie, who dated Combs for a decade, released a statement through her lawyer saying she hoped her testimony helps others 'heal from the abuse and fear'.
