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USA Today
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
The woman at the center of Diddy's inner circle may take the stand
The woman at the center of Diddy's inner circle may take the stand Show Caption Hide Caption Witness describes moment Diddy allegedly held her over a balcony A witness in Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal sex-crimes trial testified that he dangled her over a 17-story balcony and threatened to kill her. For weeks, Sean "Diddy" Combs has watched from a courtroom table as witness after witness has taken the stand, unraveling a wide-ranging tale of alleged abuse and conspiracy. The common thread uniting many of the witnesses? They used to work for Combs. Ex-assistants, stylists and artists for his label Bad Boy Records have come forward – some willingly and some not – and testified about a man whose status as a public icon allegedly enabled him to be a private monster. On Thursday, June 5, a statement from prosecutors that they may have caught the big kahuna: Kristina "KK" Khorram, Combs' former chief of staff and right-hand woman. In an aside with the judge, lawyers for the government called Khorram "an agent and co-conspirator," marking the first time she has been referred to that way. The language implies Khorram has likely reached an agreement with the prosecution and will testify. Diddy Inc.: How Sean Combs' closest aides are unraveling his jet set empire in court Should she take the stand, she would likely be the closest person inside Combs' alleged criminal enterprise to do so. The government has accused the music mogul of leading a Promethean lifestyle powered by wealth and fame and propelled relentlessly forward by a combination of intimidation, manipulation, violence and even rape. To accomplish that, Combs enlisted an entourage of paid support staff and enablers who lived a life most mortals could only dream of – lavish, nonstop and, like Combs himself, at the white-hot center of fame, money and power atop the entertainment world, prosecutors say. And at the center of it was Khorram. In March, two months before Combs' trial began, she denied any involvement in the case or the flurry of civil lawsuits aimed at her "former boss," calling any allegations "untrue." "For months, horrific accusations have been made about me in various lawsuits regarding my former boss," Khorram's statement read. "These false allegations of my involvement are causing irreparable and incalculable damage to my reputation and the emotional well-being of myself and my family. I have never condoned or aided and abetted the sexual assault of anyone. Nor have I ever drugged anyone. "The idea that I could be accused of playing a role in – or even being a bystander to – the rape of anyone is beyond upsetting, disturbing, and unthinkable," the statement continued. "That is not who I am and my heart goes out to all victims of sexual assault." If Khorram testifies, she will join a growing cadre of ex-employees who allegedly helped Combs run his empire, and now may be the cause of its undoing. Diddy team admits to violence, but not sex trafficking. Will the jury see a difference? Some legal experts say their testimony, and that of more insiders to come, will bolster prosecutors' allegations that Combs oversaw a movable party operation that crossed the line into becoming a global criminal enterprise designed to "fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct." "It seems like each and every day, the testimony gets worse and worse for Sean Combs," said David Ring, a civil trial lawyer specializing in sexual assault cases who represented one of Harvey Weinstein's victims in a civil case, in a previous interview with USA TODAY. "And I think we're going to see more employees come forward who have to admit on the stand that they enabled these criminal actions because they felt like they were pressured into it." Contributing: Josh Meyer, Jay Stahl
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Kristina Korram, the woman guarding the dark secrets of Diddy or a victim?
Kristina "KK" Khorram has been silent for months. As the lawsuits piled up and the accusations against Sean 'Diddy' Combs spiraled from disturbing to surreal, the woman long known as his right hand, his fixer, his chief of staff, his loyal lieutenant, said nothing. Until now. On Wednesday, she broke her silence. In a carefully worded statement, Khorram called the allegations against her "false," "horrific," and "irreparably damaging." She said they had taken a toll on her family and mental well-being. She denied aiding or abetting sexual assault. She rejected the idea that she had ever drugged anyone. And she insisted she could never even be a bystander to rape. Whether her claims are true or not will be decided during the trial during which horrific allegations are being levelled against Diddy. But the question that haunts Khorram, and anyone who's ever stood beside a powerful man facing a reckoning, isn't just about what she did. It's about what she enabled . What she ignored . What she normalized in the name of loyalty. Live Events Khorram wasn't a low-level assistant running errands in the background. She was allegedly the gatekeeper,the orchestrator. The woman, according to multiple lawsuits, allegedly managed staff tasked with procuring sex workers, securing drugs, and cleaning up the aftermath of the parties the world never saw. In one lawsuit filed by music producer Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones, Khorram is said to have brushed off Jones' complaints that Diddy had groped him. Her reported response? 'Sean will be Sean.' A phrase that echoes generations of complicity cloaked in casual dismissal. In another case, filed by Ashley Parham, Khorram is accused of threatening Parham just before an alleged assault took place. Parham claims Diddy, comedian Druski, and Odell Beckham Jr. violently gang raped her, allegations denied by all. Even the police tasked with the investigation stated that Parham's allegations were 'unfounded'. Still, Khorram's alleged presence before the incident leaves an uncomfortable trail of implication. And in The Fall of Diddy , a docuseries digging into Combs' alleged double life, former assistant Phil Pines describes working directly under Khorram, being told to clean up hotel rooms after the parties were over. She was, in his telling, the quiet authority behind the curtain. Now she wants to be seen as a victim. Maybe she is of proximity, of perception, of a world that punishes women for men's crimes. But maybe she isn't. Because there's a deeper discomfort in this story: women can be complicit, too. They can reinforce the very power structures that ultimately harm other women. They can help sustain empires built on silence and secrecy. Khorram says her heart goes out to all victims of sexual assault. I believe her. But hearts and hands are two different things. And if she truly wants to separate herself from the empire Diddy built, it will take more than a statement. It will take the truth. Transparency. And the courage to name not just what she didn't do but what she did do for a man now surrounded by allegations of abuse, manipulation, and criminal behavior. Kristina Khorram may not have raped anyone. She may not have drugged anyone. But she was there. And she wasn't just watching. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Yahoo
Sean Combs' former chief of staff is accused in three lawsuits of aiding his alleged sex abuse
A day after Sean Combs and his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura settled an explosive lawsuit she filed against him in 2023, Combs was photographed at his Miami Beach home alongside his then-chief of staff, Kristina Khorram. Khorram, or KK as Combs referred to her publicly, had seen him through difficult times before. She was among a handful of people he credited during a BET Awards acceptance speech in June 2022 for having helped him through a dark period in his life. The year before, Combs praised Khorram on his Facebook page, introducing her to his millions of followers as the woman who kept everything in his life and business running. 'She's been my right hand for the last 8 years and has consistently proven to execute and get s--- done,' he wrote in the January 2021 post. 'Don't know how I'd function without her.' Khorram is under increasing scrutiny as her former boss faces trial in federal court next month on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. Ventura's lawsuit laid the groundwork for the criminal case, in which he's accused of forcing women to participate in elaborate, drug-fueled sexual encounters he called 'freak offs' that involved male sex workers. Combs has pleaded not guilty and is detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Khorram's role in Combs' trial, if any, is unclear. She has not been charged with any crimes and is not named in the indictment, which alleges Combs led a criminal enterprise that engaged in kidnapping, arson and bribery over the course of two decades. Last month, Khorram publicly denied 'aiding and abetting the sexual assault of anyone.' But she has been named in at least three civil lawsuits filed against him, which accuse her of knowing about his violent and criminal behavior, enabling it and covering it up. She started working for Combs in 2013 as a senior executive, according to her now-deleted LinkedIn account. Mark Lesko, a former federal prosecutor who was on the team that won a conviction against NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere, said in a sex trafficking case, particularly one involving a high-profile person like Combs, close employees and associates are essential to helping carry out the scheme. 'The principal, like Diddy, or like Keith Raniere, or like R. Kelly, they're not going to get into the logistics,' Lesko said in an interview. 'They're not going to get into the minutiae of running a sex trafficking ring. They view themselves as above that, and they're going to ultimately be the beneficiaries of it, unfortunately, but they need their workers, people who can execute on their orders to accomplish the goals of the criminal scheme.' Raniere and R. Kelly were convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering. Music producer Rodney Jones said he lived with Combs for months at a time while they worked on an album in 2022 and 2023. In a lawsuit filed last year, he compared the relationship between Combs and Khorram to that of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse. The indictment alleges Combs forced women to participate in the freak offs, which he arranged, directed and often filmed, and used his power and prestige to silence victims through blackmail and violence. Prosecutors say Combs' employees — including high-ranking supervisors, personal assistants and security and household staff — acted as his intermediaries by arranging travel and hotel rooms for freak offs, stocking the rooms with supplies including controlled substances, lubricant, baby oil, extra linens and lighting, finding women and others whom he targeted for abuse, and concealing and covering up the abuse. NBC News requested interviews with the three accusers either directly or through their attorneys. Only one responded, but declined to answer specific questions about the suit. Combs has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct in more than 50 civil lawsuits since he and Ventura privately settled her complaint. His attorney said the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing, and Combs has vehemently denied the allegations in the pending civil suits. Khorram did not reply to phone and email messages requesting an interview for this article. Her attorneys did not reply to requests for comment regarding the allegations that have been made against her in the civil suits. One of her attorneys, Deborah Colson, said last week that she could not comment on whether Khorram was testifying at Combs' trial. In a statement last month to Rolling Stone, Khorram said: 'For months, horrific accusations have been made about me in various lawsuits regarding my former boss. These false allegations of my involvement are causing irreparable and incalculable damage to my reputation and the emotional well-being of myself and my family. I have never condoned or aided and abetted the sexual assault of anyone. Nor have I ever drugged anyone.' 'The idea that I could be accused of playing a role in — or even being a bystander to — the rape of anyone is beyond upsetting, disturbing, and unthinkable. That is not who I am and my heart goes out to all victims of sexual assault. I am confident that the allegations against me will be proven to be untrue.' Seven Güzel, who described herself in a complaint filed in February as an aspiring signed artist when she met Combs in the fall of 2017, said Combs groomed her before sexually assaulting and raping her on multiple occasions. She said she fell into a cycle of abuse with Combs, who plied her with alcohol and drugs. She alleges that Khorram aided in the alleged abuse by arranging places and transportation for it to occur, contacting her on Combs' behalf and 'generally' covering up the abuse. Güzel also said Khorram acquired illicit drugs and substances for him to incapacitate alleged victims. Jones, a music producer who said he lived and traveled with Combs during the making of Combs' LP 'The Love Album: Off the Grid,' alleged in his suit that Khorram enabled Combs' behavior. Jones' suit alleges Combs sexually harassed and assaulted him, tried to 'groom' him into having sex with another man and forced him to hire sex workers and participate in sex acts with them. The suit says that when Jones expressed to Khorram his discomfort about Combs' advances, she dismissed it as friendly horseplay, telling Jones it was Combs' way of 'showing that he likes you.' On several occasions when Combs would undress and walk around his home naked, Khorram would say she was leaving and disappear, Jones said. 'KK's hypocrisy is breathtaking at best and or enabling at worst,' the suit says. Jones also says in the lawsuit that he saw Khorram order her assistants to keep Combs 'high' on gummies and pills, and that she required all employees, 'from the butler to the chef to the housekeepers,' to carry a pouch or fanny pack filled with cocaine, ecstasy, tusi (a combination of ecstasy and cocaine in a pink powder) and other drugs. Khorram would also order and pay sex workers for Combs, according to the suit. Jones claimed to have a text message from Khorram asking him to contact a particular sex worker. Jones was terrified of Combs and felt he could not tell him no, he said in the suit. In response, a representative for Combs said: 'Mr. Jones's lawsuit is pure fiction — a shameless attempt to create media hype and extract a quick settlement. There was no RICO conspiracy, and Mr. Jones was not threatened, groomed, assaulted, or trafficked. We look forward to proving — in a court of law — that all of Mr. Jones's claims are made-up and must be dismissed.' In a response to Jones' lawsuit filed on April 7, Khorram denied all the allegations. Phillip Pines, 40, said in a lawsuit filed in December that he worked as a senior executive assistant to Combs for about two years, from December 2019 through Dec. 29, 2021, and reported directly to Combs and Khorram. He named the two in a lawsuit filed in December and participated in Investigation Discovery's docuseries 'The Fall of Diddy,' which debuted in January. Pines said in his lawsuit he once witnessed Combs kick a guest in the buttocks and stomach in Miami, and that when he told Khorram about it and said he was upset, she told him never to speak about it and that 'there are repercussions that can happen if he did.' Pines alleged in the suit the guest was given 'nice gifts and a nice dinner' to make up for it. In the documentary, Pines said the guest was a woman. Pines' suit also said that when he traveled with Combs, Combs and Khorram put him in charge of the 'MVP' bag, a black Gucci bag that contained illicit drugs and sex toys. Lesko, the former federal prosecutor, said it is likely prosecutors have already sought to compel Khorram's testimony, or are in the process of doing so. 'I strongly suspect that the government is interacting closely with Diddy's inner circle, with his high-level employees and associates, one way or the other, to try to unravel the story here,' Lesko said. This article was originally published on
NBC News
26-04-2025
- NBC News
Sean Combs' former chief of staff is accused in three lawsuits of aiding his alleged sex abuse
A day after Sean Combs and his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura settled an explosive lawsuit she filed against him in 2023, Combs was photographed at his Miami Beach home alongside his then-chief of staff, Kristina Khorram. Khorram, or KK as Combs referred to her publicly, had seen him through difficult times before. She was among a handful of people he credited during a BET Awards acceptance speech in June 2022 for having helped him through a dark period in his life. The year before, Combs praised Khorram on his Facebook page, introducing her to his millions of followers as the woman who kept everything in his life and business running. 'She's been my right hand for the last 8 years and has consistently proven to execute and get s--- done,' he wrote in the January 2021 post. 'Don't know how I'd function without her.' Khorram is under increasing scrutiny as her former boss faces trial in federal court next month on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. Ventura's lawsuit laid the groundwork for the criminal case, in which he's accused of forcing women to participate in elaborate, drug-fueled sexual encounters he called 'freak offs' that involved male sex workers. Combs has pleaded not guilty and is detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Khorram's role in Combs' trial, if any, is unclear. She has not been charged with any crimes and is not named in the indictment, which alleges Combs led a criminal enterprise that engaged in kidnapping, arson and bribery over the course of two decades. Last month, Khorram publicly denied 'aiding and abetting the sexual assault of anyone.' But she has been named in at least three civil lawsuits filed against him, which accuse her of knowing about his violent and criminal behavior, enabling it and covering it up. She started working for Combs in 2013 as a senior executive, according to her now-deleted LinkedIn account. Mark Lesko, a former federal prosecutor who was on the team that won a conviction against NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere, said in a sex trafficking case, particularly one involving a high-profile person like Combs, close employees and associates are essential to helping carry out the scheme. 'The principal, like Diddy, or like Keith Raniere, or like R. Kelly, they're not going to get into the logistics,' Lesko said in an interview.'They're not going to get into the minutiae of running a sex trafficking ring. They view themselves as above that, and they're going to ultimately be the beneficiaries of it, unfortunately, but they need their workers, people who can execute on their orders to accomplish the goals of the criminal scheme.' Raniere and R. Kelly were convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering. Music producer Rodney Jones said he lived with Combs for months at a time while they worked on an album in 2022 and 2023. In a lawsuit filed last year, he compared the relationship between Combs and Khorram to that of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, whowas sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse. The indictment alleges Combs forced women to participate in the freak offs, which he arranged, directed and often filmed, and used his power and prestige to silence victims through blackmail and violence. Prosecutors say Combs' employees — including high-ranking supervisors, personal assistants and security and household staff — acted as his intermediaries by arranging travel and hotel rooms for freak offs, stocking the rooms with supplies including controlled substances, lubricant, baby oil, extra linens and lighting, finding women and others whom he targeted for abuse, and concealing and covering up the abuse. NBC News requested interviews with the three accusers either directly or through their attorneys. Only one responded, but declined to answer specific questions about the suit. Combs has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct in more than 50 civil lawsuits since he and Ventura privately settled her complaint. His attorney said the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing, and Combs has vehemently denied the allegations in the pending civil suits. Khorram did not reply to phone and email messages requesting an interview for this article. Her attorneys did not reply to requests for comment regarding the allegations that have been made against her in the civil suits. One of her attorneys, Deborah Colson, said last week that she could not comment on whether Khorram was testifying at Combs' trial. In a statement last month to Rolling Stone, Khorram said: 'For months, horrific accusations have been made about me in various lawsuits regarding my former boss. These false allegations of my involvement are causing irreparable and incalculable damage to my reputation and the emotional well-being of myself and my family. I have never condoned or aided and abetted the sexual assault of anyone. Nor have I ever drugged anyone.' 'The idea that I could be accused of playing a role in — or even being a bystander to — the rape of anyone is beyond upsetting, disturbing, and unthinkable. That is not who I am and my heart goes out to all victims of sexual assault. I am confident that the allegations against me will be proven to be untrue.' Seven Güzel, who described herself in a complaint filed in February as an aspiring signed artist when she met Combs in the fall of 2017, said Combs groomed her before sexually assaulting and raping her on multiple occasions. She said she fell into a cycle of abuse with Combs, who plied her with alcohol and drugs. She alleges that Khorram aided in the alleged abuse by arranging places and transportation for it to occur, contacting her on Combs' behalf and 'generally' covering up the abuse. Güzel also said Khorram acquired illicit drugs and substances for him to incapacitate alleged victims. Jones, a music producer who said he lived and traveled with Combs during the making of Combs' LP 'The Love Album: Off the Grid,' alleged in his suit that Khorram enabled Combs' behavior. Jones' suit alleges Combs sexually harassed and assaulted him, tried to 'groom' him into having sex with another man and forced him to hire sex workers and participate in sex acts with them. The suit says that when Jones expressed to Khorram his discomfort about Combs' advances, she dismissed it as friendly horseplay, telling Jones it was Combs' way of 'showing that he likes you.' On several occasions when Combs would undress and walk around his home naked, Khorram would say she was leaving and disappear, Jones said. 'KK's hypocrisy is breathtaking at best and or enabling at worst,' the suit says. Jones also says in the lawsuit that he saw Khorram order her assistants to keep Combs 'high' on gummies and pills, and that she required all employees, 'from the butler to the chef to the housekeepers,' to carry a pouch or fanny pack filled with cocaine, ecstasy, tusi (a combination of ecstasy and cocaine in a pink powder) and other drugs. Khorram would also order and pay sex workers for Combs, according to the suit. Jones claimed to have a text message from Khorram asking him to contact a particular sex worker. Jones was terrified of Combs and felt he could not tell him no, he said in the suit. In response, a representative for Combs said: 'Mr. Jones's lawsuit is pure fiction — a shameless attempt to create media hype and extract a quick settlement. There was no RICO conspiracy, and Mr. Jones was not threatened, groomed, assaulted, or trafficked. We look forward to proving — in a court of law — that all of Mr. Jones's claims are made-up and must be dismissed.' In a response to Jones' lawsuit filed on April 7, Khorram denied all the allegations. Phillip Pines, 40, said in a lawsuit filed in December that he worked as a senior executive assistant to Combs for about two years, from December 2019 through Dec. 29, 2021, and reported directly to Combs and Khorram. He named the two in a lawsuit filed in December and participated in Investigation Discovery's docuseries 'The Fall of Diddy,' which debuted in January. Pines said in his lawsuit he once witnessed Combs kick a guest in the buttocks and stomach in Miami, and that when he told Khorram about it and said he was upset, she told him never to speak about it and that 'there are repercussions that can happen if he did.' Pines alleged in the suit the guest was given 'nice gifts and a nice dinner' to make up for it. In the documentary, Pines said the guest was a woman. Pines' suit also said that when he traveled with Combs, Combs and Khorram put him in charge of the 'MVP' bag, a black Gucci bag that contained illicit drugs and sex toys. Lesko, the former federal prosecutor, said it is likely prosecutors have already sought to compel Khorram's testimony, or are in the process of doing so. 'I strongly suspect that the government is interacting closely with Diddy's inner circle, with his high-level employees and associates, one way or the other, to try to unravel the story here,' Lesko said.
CNN
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Kristina Khorram, former chief of staff to Sean Combs, denies ‘horrific accusations' against her
As Sean 'Diddy' Combs battles criminal charges and dozens of civil suits, his life and some of those in it are under intense scrutiny. Now the former chief of staff of his Combs Enterprises (now known as Combs Global), Kristina Khorram, is speaking out. 'For months, horrific accusations have been made about me in various lawsuits regarding my former boss,' Khorram said in a statement obtained by CNN. 'These false allegations of my involvement are causing irreparable and incalculable damage to my reputation and the emotional well-being of myself and my family.' 'I have never condoned or aided and abetted the sexual assault of anyone. Nor have I ever drugged anyone,' Khorram continued. 'The idea that I could be accused of playing a role in – or even being a bystander to – the rape of anyone is beyond upsetting, disturbing, and unthinkable. That is not who I am and my heart goes out to all victims of sexual assault.' 'I am confident that the allegations against me will be proven to be untrue,' Khorram added. CNN has reached out to representatives for Combs for comment. He has previously denied all allegations of sexual assault against him. Khorram has been named as a defendant in three civil complaints against Combs. She has not been charged with any crimes. Here's what we know about her: Combs faces up to life in prison if convicted for his indictment in the Southern District of New York on counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty. The mogul is best known as a rapper and producer, but his decades long career has been so much more than music. His empire has also included fashion, media, food and spirits. According to a 2021 Facebook post from Combs, Khorram was essential to his business life. 'Meet Kristina Khorram, Chief of Staff at Combs Enterprises. Kristina aka KK keeps everything in my life and my business running,' Combs wrote in the post. 'She's been my right hand for the last 8 years and has consistently proven to execute and get sh*t done. Don't know how I'd function without her.' In the suit filed by Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones, a former producer and videographer for Combs, months before Combs was indicted, Jones alleges that Khorram was 'instrumental in organizing and executing the RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations] and TVPA [Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000] Enterprises.' 'According to Mr. Jones, Defendant Khorram ordered sex workers for Mr. Combs,' the suit states. 'On one occasion, she sent Mr. Jones a text message requesting that he call a particular sex worker. We have the message.' Khorram has requested to join Combs' motion to dismiss the case. Khorram is also named in a sexual harassment and battery suit filed by Phillip Pines, a former assistant to Combs who names both the mogul and Khorram as his 'supervisors' in his lawsuit. Pines alleges in his suit that he witnessed a great deal while working for Combs. 'At a time in Miami, Mr. Combs became upset at a guest and became violent. Mr. Combs kicked the guest in the butt and stomach,' the suit states. 'Kristina Khorram asked Plaintiff what happened, and Plaintiff told her and how upset he was about it. Defendant Khorram instructed Plaintiff to never speak about it and there are repercussions that can happen if he did.' Khorram is also named in a third civil lawsuit filed last October in California.
