True Crime NYC

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'Diddy' trial recap: Combs' ex-assistant concludes 'humiliating' cross examination Jun 03, 2025

Show notes

Eyewitness News team, and ABC news legal contributor Bernarda Villalona dig deeper into the contentious cross examination of a woman who worked as a personal assistant to Sean Combs.

The former assistant concluded three days on the witness stand with attorneys for Combs grilling her so intensely that a prosecutor asked the judge to stop the cross examination, calling it "humiliating” and “harassing.”

The witness, testifying under the pseudonym “Mia,” told jurors last week that Combs tormented and sexually assaulted her during her time working as his personal assistant.

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'Diddy' trial recap: Combs' lawyers question 'Mia' about social media posts May 31, 2025

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The Eyewitness News team, and ABC News legal contributor Bernarda Villalona break down the defense's questioning of "Mia" about social media posts in their attempt to undercut her rape allegations.

Digging through years of social media posts, attorney Brian Steel attempted to suggest that the woman – testifying under the pseudonym “Mia” – misrepresented her feelings about working for Combs during hours of raw and emotional testimony Thursday.

Mia had told jurors the rap mogul threatened her for years, violently threw objects at her, and sexually assaulted her on three occasions including raping her while she was sleeping in his Los Angeles home.

Referring to a series of effusive social media posts by Mia, Steel tried to show jurors that Mia’s feelings toward Combs were different than those she had expressed on the witness stand.

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DIDDY ON TRIAL RECAP: Combs' former assistant says he raped her May 29, 2025

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A former personal assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs told the jury in this sex-trafficking trial that it was impossible to tell the rap mogul “no.”

Mia’s emotional testimony punctuated the twelfth day of testimony in the criminal case that has captured headlines and the public’s attention since prospective jurors first walked into the Manhattan courtroom on May 5. Breaking down in tears as she spoke from the witness stand in a hushed courtroom, Mia said the rapper sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions and was prone to fits of rage. Mia testified she did “absolutely not” want to be talking about the sexual assaults she said Combs committed but told the jury, “I have to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and also I have a moral obligation because when you’re scared into silence these things continue to happen to others.”

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DIDDY ON TRIAL RECAP: Former Cassie Ventura stylist testifies about helping her hide from Combs May 28, 2025

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Mike Marza and ABC News' Legal Analyst Channa Lloyd recap testimony from Cassie Ventura's former stylist Deonte Nash.

Former Cassie Ventura stylist Deonte Nash testified that he saw “a lot” of blood during one instance in which he alleged Sean Combs attacked his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

Nash testified that he, along with Ventura and a Combs employee whom the prosecution identified with the pseudonym “Mia” were in Ventura’s apartment helping her pack for a music festival when, Nash alleged, Combs arrived, “pulled her by the hair off the couch and hit her," referring to Ventura.

Court has adjourned for the day, Nash's cross-examination will resume Thursday.

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Diddy On Trial Recap: Combs' fmr assistant says she was kidnapped, forced to take lie-detector tests May 27, 2025

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Mike Marza and ABC News' legal contributor Bernarda Villalona recap the start of the third week of witness testimony in the Sean Combs sex trafficking trial. Trial resumed on Tuesday with emotional testimony from the rap mogul’s former personal assistant, who testified about the violence and threats she said she witnessed on the job. Crying at points on the witness stand, Capricorn Clark told jurors that she was told she would be “thrown into the East River” if she failed a lie detector test about the theft of Combs’ jewelry, that she was forced to accompany Combs to confront rival musician Kid Cudi, and how she witnessed Combs beat Ventura.

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DIDDY ON TRIAL RECAP: Kid Cudi describes alleged car bombing May 22, 2025

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The musician and actor Kid Cudi took the stand on Thursday in Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking and racketeering trial to testify that the rap mogul, in a fit of rage and jealousy, broke into his home and he believed coordinated the firebombing of his high-end sports car.

The testimony in the star-studded trial could play a critical role as prosecutors attempt to build a case that Combs used violence and threats to run a criminal enterprise that he used to hurt his rivals and protect the entertainment and cultural kingdom he had built.

Court is now adjourned until Tuesday.

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DIDDY ON TRIAL RECAP: Jury hears from first immunized and expert witnesses May 21, 2025

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Jurors in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial on Wednesday heard from a former Combs employee who agreed to testify only after he was guaranteed that he would not be prosecuted for any crimes he might have detailed.

Prosecutors used the testimony of former Combs assistant George Kaplan to try to prove how Combs allegedly built a criminal enterprise that would feed his sexual desires while protecting his public persona.

Psychologist Dawn Hughes was called by prosecutors to explain to the jury that many people opt to stay in abusive relationships because they feel trapped or form an “intense psychological bond” that draws them to their abuser. Jurors also saw the trove of drugs allegedly found in Combs’ residence, including a variety of pills, marijuana, powders, and other drugs that prosecutors have alleged were used to make women compliant during freak offs and would allow them to perform long past the point of exhaustion.

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Diddy on Trial: Rap rivalries, sex performances, and assault weapons come into focus May 20, 2025

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Mike Marza and Bernarda Villalona recap Tuesday's testimony in the Sean Combs trial. A run-in with a rival record executive at Mel’s Drive-in , assault weapons with illegally defaced serial numbers, and a sex performance at Trump Tower were some of the topics jurors in Sean Combs’ criminal trial heard about Tuesday, as prosecutors tried to build their racketeering and sex trafficking case against the rap mogul.

Across nearly six hours of testimony, federal prosecutors called to the stand Combs’ former personal assistant, the mother of Cassie Ventura, a sex worker nicknamed “The Punisher,” and a federal agent during the eleventh day of the trial.

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Diddy On Trial: Jury sees photos of Cassie violence, money, drugs, baby oil May 19, 2025

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For the first time, the public can see the stark visual evidence of the violence Cassie Ventura testified that she suffered at the hands of Sean “Diddy” Combs. Federal prosecutors Monday released many of the photos they have shown the jury in their effort to convict Combs in their sex-trafficking and racketeering case.

Court adjourned just after 3 p.m. ET. Prosecutors said Tuesday’s witnesses will include an alleged escort known as “The Punisher,” as well as Cassie Ventura’s mother.

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DIDDY ON TRIAL: First week of witness testimony recap May 16, 2025

Show notes

After four days on the witness stand, Cassie Ventura concluded her testimony Friday at the trial of her ex-boyfriend, Sean "Diddy" Combs.

It came shortly after the defense concluded nearly two days of cross-examination.

Prosecutors allege Combs, 55, used his fame and fortune to orchestrate an empire of exploitation, coercing women into abusive sex parties.

If Combs is convicted on all charges, which include racketeering, kidnapping, arson, bribery and sex trafficking, he would face a mandatory 15 years in prison and could remain behind bars for life.

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