NewsBite

Updated

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Anonymous alleged victim ‘Mia’; Deonte Nash’s testimony continues

More shocking details of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ reign as hip-hop mogul have been delivered to jurors as his former longtime assistant took the witness stand.

Judge denies Sean 'Diddy' Combs' bid for mistrial

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ longtime stylist took the witness stand to continue to offer testimony of the disgraced rap mogul’s violent secrets as he testified at Diddy’s sex-trafficking trial in Manhattan.

Celebrity stylist Deonte Nash, who worked with the Bad Boy Records founder for a decade, returned to the stand on Thursday, local time, after revealing new insider details on Wednesday about Diddy’s threatening nature and abuse — and then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura’s attempts to escape him.

But it was alleged victim ‘Mia’, Diddy’s former assistant, who offered the most brutally shocking details of his alleged behaviour.

Diddy, 55, is accused of using his fame, fortune and many businesses to run a sex-trafficking and racketeering scheme in which he controlled and manipulated Ventura, 38, for over a decade, using violence and threats, and forcing her and others into drug-fuelled “freak-off” sex marathons that went on for days.

He faces life in prison if convicted and he has denied the allegations.

Diddy sat between his lawyers at the defence table in a tan sweater over a white button down shirt, his hands folded in his lap.

The trial, on Day 12, is not being televised because cameras are prohibited inside the federal courthouse.

FOLLOW UPDATES BELOW:

DIDDY THREW SPAGHETTI AT ASSISTANT

Mia told jurors the music mogul once threw a bowl of spaghetti at her.

The frightening pasta tossing incident unfolded at 3am in his Los Angeles home.

The Bad Boy Records founder maniacally told her to “go get everybody,” but first she started heading to her bedroom in the mansion where she also lived — which made Diddy upset.

“He went on a really humiliating rant in front of everybody,” she recalled.

“There was blood dripping down my leg and I said, ‘I’m on my period. I just need to change my tampon.’

“He immediately had a bowl of spaghetti in his hand and he threw it at me and started aggressively cursing me out, like I had to get the hell out of his house.”

The bowl of spaghetti missed Mia by only a couple arms lengths, and Diddy chased his long-suffering assistant up stairs until she hid in a bush, she testified.

The absurd string of events is just one disturbing anecdote that Mia, who worked for Diddy from 2009 to 2017, offered about her former boss during her first day on the witness stand in at his sex trafficking and racketeering trial.

Cassie's 21st Birthday at Jet Nightclub at The Mirage Hotel and Casino on September 08, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Picture: Denise Truscello/WireImage for Jet Nightclub
Cassie's 21st Birthday at Jet Nightclub at The Mirage Hotel and Casino on September 08, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Picture: Denise Truscello/WireImage for Jet Nightclub

Mia also spoke about the “chaotic”, “toxic” and sometimes “exciting” environment she worked in.

“The highs were really high and the lows were really low.”

“He’s thrown things at me, he’s thrown me against the wall, he’s thrown me into a pool, he’s thrown an ice bucket on my head,” Mia said.

“He has slammed my arm into a door and he’s also … sexually assaulted me,” she told prosecutor Madison Smyser.

Mia spoke softly and stared down at the witness stand, not making eye contact with anyone as she described Diddy’s alleged violence and sexual abuse toward her.

Cassie Ventura has welcomed her third child, a baby boy. Picture: Instagram
Cassie Ventura has welcomed her third child, a baby boy. Picture: Instagram

Before Mia took the witness stand, Judge Arun Subramanian told the jury and others following the trial that she is using the pseudonym to “protect her identity” as an alleged sexual assault victim.

He told the public to “not in any way shape or form document the witness in any notes [or] sketches.”

The judge said not to describe her appearance in any way.

DIDDY WOULD TAKE AWAY CASSIE’S THINGS WHEN HE WAS ‘UPSET’

Sean “Diddy” Combs would take away the things he paid for from his long-term on-and-off girlfriend Cassie Ventura when he was “upset” with her, according to testimony.

Mia, Combs’ employee who is testifying anonymously, said his company paid for Ventura’s homes and cars.

Prosecutor Madison Smyser asked Mia – Ventura’s close friend – if Combs would “ever take away things he paid for?”

“All the time,” Mia said, noting he took her car, jewellery and financial support away when he was “upset” with her.

Mia said that Combs had control over nearly every decision involving Ventura’s singing and acting career.

CASSIE ‘STARTED GUSHING BLOOD’

Mia testified about once trying to intervene to stop the music mogul’s attack on girlfriend Cassie Ventura.

“He threw me against he wall so quick and so easily and I realised we were in real danger,” Mia said, noting that stylist Deonte Nash also tried to stop the assault.

But the Bad Boy Records founder didn’t relent and he threw Ventura on the bed and she cut her face on the corner.

“She just started gushing blood,” Mia said.

Combs instructed Mia to call a friend who had a doctor connection and tell them “Cass was drunk and hit her head,” Mia recalled.

Cassie Ventura. Picture: Department of Justice
Cassie Ventura. Picture: Department of Justice
Cassie Ventura. Picture: Department of Justice
Cassie Ventura. Picture: Department of Justice

‘THUDS’: ‘MIA’ RECOUNTS HEARING FIRST DIDDY FIGHT WITH CASSIE

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ assistant testified about the first time she witnessed the aftermath of the music mogul attacking Cassie Ventura.

Assistant Mia said the fight happened around 2009 or 2010 at Combs’ Los Angeles home.

“I remember upstairs loud thuds, like something hitting the wall,” Mia testified.

Then “I just remember seeing suitcases being thrown over the foyer” from the second floor, she testified.

Mia then found Ventura “hiding and crying and shaking behind a bush.”

But Ventura gestured for Mia to act like she wasn’t there, so Mia left and didn’t mention where Ventura was staked out.

DIDDY FORCED PEOPLE TO PLAY ‘DRUG ROULETTE’ AT BURNING MAN

Sean “Diddy” Combs orchestrated a drug “guessing game” using white powders of cocaine, ketamine and molly during Burning Man, according to testimony.

The Bad Boy Records founder laid out three white powders and “one was molly, one was cocaine and one was ketamine,” Combs’ former assistant Mia testified.

When it was Mia’s turn she got “nervous” and tried to opt out but Combs “wouldn’t let it go.”

Mia tried taking a fake snort of the drugs but Combs “got close to my face and was upset that I just tried to fake it.”

He eventually separated a dose for Mia to snort which she did “but when I got away from him for a minute, I blew a lot of it out because I was so scared of watching what ketamine did to others,” she testified.

Chelsea Handler, host of TV show Chelsea Lately. Picture: Foxtel, 2009.
Chelsea Handler, host of TV show Chelsea Lately. Picture: Foxtel, 2009.

DIDDY WAS ON DRUGS ON CHELSEA HANDLER’S SHOW

Sean “Diddy” Combs sometimes got high at “inappropriate” times like during a board meeting and once during Chelsea Handler’s TV show, his ex-assistant testified.

“There were a few times at the studio and there were a handful of times that stuck out to me where I thought this was an inappropriate time,” Combs’ former assistant Mia testified.

“Like one time was a board meeting, one time was going to the Chelsea Handler show,” Mia told the jury.

“There were just a few times where I was like ‘Oh, gosh when am I going to have to pull him to the side and say you look a little crazy at the moment.’”

ASSISTANT FLED DIDDY ON CARIBBEAN TRIP

Sean “Diddy” Combs was so volatile and violent on a trip in Turks and Caicos with his girlfriend Cassie Ventura and his assistant Mia that the two women found themselves running away from him twice.

The trio were on a trip in Parrot Cay in 2012 when Mia was woken by Ventura one night “running and screaming.”

“You gotta help me, he’s going to kill me,” Mia recalled Ventura saying about Combs.

The two women barricaded themselves into a room, blocking the door with furniture as an irate Combs banged and screamed on the door to get inside.

The duo snuck out of a back door in the room and ran down the beach away from him, Mia recalled.

The pair had to flee from him a second time on that trip, when they laid flat on paddle boards off the shore while the Bad Boy Records founder ran along the beach “screaming,” and “irate.”

But the weather started to change while they were floating, Mia recalled.

“I was trying to weigh whether it was scarier to face mother nature or go back to Puff [Combs],” Mia said, noting they did eventually return to him.

Mia said she never reported any of the assaults to the cops because “I believed that Puff … was above the police.”

Musician Prince, whose security guards intervened in a fight between Diddy and Cassie. Picture: AFP
Musician Prince, whose security guards intervened in a fight between Diddy and Cassie. Picture: AFP

PRINCE’S SECURITY GUARDS INTERVENED IN FIGHT

Mia, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ assistant, testified that Prince’s security guards had to get the Bad Boy Records founder off of his girlfriend Cassie Ventura.

Ventura and Mia snuck out to an exclusive party Prince – aka “The Artist” – was hosting without the knowledge of Ventura’s controlling boyfriend Combs.

But Combs eventually showed up “caught up to [Ventura] and had her on the ground,” Mia told the jury.

“It’s like he started to attack her but Prince’s security swiftly intervened,” Mia recalled.

After the two women went to the party, Mia was told by the head of Human Resources that she was suspended without pay and was in “big trouble” for “being insubordinate.”

NO LOCK ALLOWED ON ASSISTANT’S BEDROOM DOOR

Sean “Diddy” Combs didn’t allow his live-in assistant to lock her bedroom door, while his male live-in security guards could, according to testimony.

Mia — who is testifying anonymously — said she started living at Combs’ home around 2009 or 2010 and he told her “this is my house, no one locks their doors.”

Her room “was just a place I was staying, it was his house,” Mia told the jury.

Meanwhile, Combs’ four male live-in security guards were allowed to lock their bedroom doors, she said.

“One had a dead bolt and another had a keypad where the cameras were,” Mia said.

‘I HAD A BREAKDOWN’: MIA TESTIFIES

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-assistant, Mia, testified she worked round the clock for the music mogul, once going five days without sleep.

Mia said she would take her extra strength ADHD medication to help her stay awake for her never-ending shifts and this eventually led to a breakdown.

“I had a physical breakdown,” Mia told the jury. “I remember my hearing went, I felt like I was underwater. My equilibrium was off.”

She said she had blurred vision and she saw lights that weren’t there.

“I burst into tears, hysterical and I couldn’t stop crying.”

Combs finally allowed her to go to sleep after the meltdown, she said.

DIDDY INTERVIEWED MIA WHILE IN HIS UNDERWEAR

Sean “Diddy” Combs interviewed Mia for an assistant position at his apartment and answered the door in his underwear, according to testimony.

Mia said the head of human resources brought her to the Bad Boy Records founder’s apartment for an interview where he greeted her in his underwear.

She said when the rapper opened the door he was half naked and on the phone, and the head of HR, Vashta Wilson, left her there.

Combs eventually dressed during the interview.

Deonte Nash, Cassie Ventura's stylist testifies. Picture: Supplied/AP
Deonte Nash, Cassie Ventura's stylist testifies. Picture: Supplied/AP

CELEBRITY STYLIST REVEALS CASSIE’S VIEW OF DIDDY SIDE CHICKS

Celebrity stylist Deonte Nash testified Cassie Ventura “wasn’t impressed” with one of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ side chicks while Ventura was in a long-term on-and-off relationship with the music mogul.

Nash said that when Combs, who also went by the name “Puff Daddy,” was with a woman named “Gina,” Ventura would encourage people to go out and have fun with her.

Ventura would ask Nash and others to go to hotspot restaurants like Nobu and Toscanova.

Gina is the pseudonym that one of Combs’ alleged victims is being referred to at trial.

The gossipy titbits came out when Combs’ lawyer Xavier Donaldson was grilling Nash about Ventura’s former flings while she was in her tumultuous relationship with the Bad Boy Records founder, including former NFL linebacker Andre Branch and an NBA player identified at trial as “Brandon.”

Michael B. Jordan at the Global Premiere of
Michael B. Jordan at the Global Premiere of "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" at Leicester Square on May 15, 2025, in London. Picture: John Phillips/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

STYLIST SET CASSIE UP WITH MICHAEL B. JORDAN, NFL PLAYER

Celebrity stylist Deonte Nash told jurors that he set Sean “Diddy” Combs’ longtime girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, up with actor Michael B. Jordan after Combs allegedly cheated on her.

Nash said Ventura found out that Combs had been with another women when she was in South Africa for a movie shoot in 2015.

“Why does he keep humiliating me and trying to ruin my career?” Ventura asked Nash after finding out about Combs allegedly cheating.

Nash then introduced and set Ventura up with the “Creed” actor because she and Combs had “broken up.”

“You hooked [Cassie] up with Michael B Jordan, right?” Diddy’s lawyer asked.

“Indeed,” Nash replied. “He fine, she fine, why not?”

Andre Branch #50 of the Miami Dolphins (L) in 2017 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images/AFP
Andre Branch #50 of the Miami Dolphins (L) in 2017 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images/AFP

Ventura and Jordan then started, “talking, dating, getting to know each other more so.”

Nash also confirmed that Ventura dated Andre Branch, a former NFL linebacker, around 2017 when he played for the Miami Dolphins.

DIDDY’S SONS RETURN TO COURT, FIST BUMP OFFICER

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sons appeared in good spirits as they returned to court.

Justin Combs and stepbrother Quincy Brown fist bumped a court officer when entering for the sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial.

Combs, 31, and Brown, 33, wore collared jackets and glasses as they walked in.

Also in attendance was brother King Combs, 27, in a black shirt and beanie.

Notably absent were the rapper’s daughters, Chance Combs and twins Jessie and D’Lila Combs. The twins recently graduated from high school amid the trial.

Originally published as Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Anonymous alleged victim ‘Mia’; Deonte Nash’s testimony continues

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/north-america/sean-diddy-combs-trial-anonymous-alleged-victim-mia-deonte-nashs-testimony-continues/news-story/df1453ceb95c1f18f76a90ebbc154770