NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs ’ former private assistant testified Thursday that the hip-hop mogul sexually assaulted her, threw her right into a swimming pool, dumped a bucket of ice on her head and slammed her arm right into a door throughout a torturous eight-year tenure.
The lady, testifying at Combs’ intercourse trafficking trial underneath the pseudonym “Mia,” has alleged that he put his hand up her gown, pressured her to carry out oral intercourse and climbed into her mattress to have intercourse together with her towards her will. She touched on the allegations briefly at first of her testimony and was anticipated to debate them intimately as her questioning continued.
Mia, talking sluggish and haltingly at instances, portrayed Combs as a brutal, controlling taskmaster who put his personal wants and needs above the well being and wellbeing of his workers and family members. She stated Combs berated her for errors, even ones made by different workers, and loaded her up with so many duties she did not sleep for days.
“It was chaotic. It was toxic,” stated Mia, who labored for Combs from 2009 to 2017 and co-founded the Revolt Movies studio with him. “It could be exciting. The highs were really high and the lows were really low.”
Requested what decided how her days would unfold, Mia stated: “Puff’s temper,” utilizing one among his many nicknames.
Mia stated Combs’ workers had been at all times on edge as a result of his temper may “change in a split second” inflicting the whole lot to go from “happy to chaotic.”
Mia’s testimony echoed that of prior prosecution witnesses, together with a number of of Combs’ different private assistants and his longtime girlfriend Cassie, who noticed him as demanding, mercurial and vulnerable to violence. She is the second of three ladies to testify about alleged sexual abuse by Combs.
Cassie, an R&B singer whose authorized identify is Casandra Ventura, spoke for 4 days in the course of the trial’s first week of testimony, telling jurors Combs subjected her to lots of of “freak-offs” — drug-fueled marathons wherein she stated she engaged in intercourse acts with male intercourse employees whereas Combs watched, filmed and coached them.
A 3rd girl, utilizing the pseudonym “Jane,” can be anticipated to testify about taking part in freak-offs. The Related Press doesn’t establish individuals who say they’re victims of sexual abuse except they select to make their names public, as Cassie has performed.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not responsible to intercourse trafficking and racketeering prices. His attorneys have conceded that he might be violent at instances, however he denies utilizing threats or his music business clout to commit or cowl up abuse.
The trial decide, Arun Subramanian, has permitted some ladies accusing Combs of sexual abuse to testify underneath pseudonyms for his or her privateness and security. Subramanian instructed court docket sketch artists not to attract Mia and advised reporters and members of the general public to not describe her look.
Mia testified that she noticed Combs beat Cassie quite a few instances, detailing a brutal assault at Cassie’s Los Angeles residence in 2013 that the singer and her longtime stylist Deonte Nash additionally recounted of their testimony. Mia stated she was terrified that Combs was going to kill all of them, describing the melee as “a little tornado going on.”
The witness recalled leaping on Combs’ again and making an attempt to cease him from hurting Nash and Cassie. Mia stated Combs shook her off, threw her right into a wall and slammed Cassie’s head into the nook of a mattress, inflicting a deep, bloody gash on the singer’s brow. Different instances, she stated, Combs’ abuse prompted Cassie black eyes and fats lips.
Mia stated Combs generally had her working for as much as 5 days at a time with out relaxation as he hopped from metropolis to metropolis for membership appearances and different engagements, and he or she began counting on her ADHD medicine — a slow-release model of the stimulant Adderall — as an alternative to sleep. At instances, Mia stated, she was Combs’ solely private assistant, taking up duties usually carried out by 4 or 5 individuals.
Combs, with residences in Miami, Los Angeles and the New York space, let Mia and different workers keep in his visitor homes — however she wasn’t allowed to depart with out his permission and could not lock the doorways, she testified.
“That is my home. Nobody locks the doorways,” Combs stated, in keeping with Mia.
Mia did not seem to make eye contact with Combs, who sat again in his chair and seemed towards her as she testified. Sometimes, he leaned over to talk with one among his attorneys. Mia stored her head down as she left the courtroom for breaks. She testified that she stays pals with Cassie.
