The unnamed former assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs wrapped up her third and last day testifying in the music mogul’s racketeering and sex trafficking trial on Monday by restating her main accusations regarding her ex-boss’ alleged abuse, while firmly rejecting suggestions that she had financial motivations involving the mogul.
Combs attorney Brian Steel’s cross-examination of the woman, who is going by the name “Mia” during testimony, started on Friday and consumed nearly the entire Monday session before concluding.
Using a strategy similar to Friday, when he dedicated much of the morning to displaying Mia’s social media posts that praised Combs, Steel spent time on Monday presenting the jury with numerous text messages Mia had sent to Diddy after her job ended in early 2017.
The messages included Christmas and New Year’s greetings, expressions of love in the months after the sudden passing of Diddy’s long-term partner Kim Porter in 2018 (and again on her birthday), additional sympathy following the 2020 death of Combs’ mentor Andre Harrell, and other communications.
Just as he had done on Friday, Steel highlighted the contrast between the frequently affectionate tone of these messages and Mia’s accounts of ongoing alleged sexual and physical attacks, emotional mistreatment, and a demanding work routine that could leave her without sleep for multiple days.
He also challenged why Mia lacked any immediate documentation of the supposed assaults — injury photographs, or personal notes she had made.
“Didn’t you have occasions where you could have documented how he sexually assaulted you?” Steel inquired.
“I did not and I could not,” Mia answered.
Steel repeatedly asked throughout the day about when and why Mia hired an attorney. Along those lines, he questioned whether she was considering filing a civil lawsuit against Combs, which she denied.
During one exchange about this topic, Steel became especially intense and straightforward.
“Isn’t it true that you sought a lawyer because you wanted to sue Mr. Combs for money?” to which Mia responded, “No.”
Steel proceeded with a question that prosecutor Madison Smyser immediately objected to: “And that you joined the #MeToo money grab against Sean Combs — is that true?”
While most of Mia’s allegations about Combs’ abuse were presented on Friday, a new accusation involving vehicles surfaced during Monday’s proceedings. Steel was asking about what Mia and Combs’ former partner (and another alleged victim in this case) Cassie Ventura, who were and remain close friends, had discussed (or avoided discussing) privately regarding Combs’ supposed abusive conduct.
Mia explained why she would have been scared to have even a confidential conversation about that subject.
“[Combs] has stolen my phone many times,” she stated. “He’s stolen Cassie’s phone many times. He’s put tracking devices on her car. I’m not sure what he is capable of.”
When responding to Steel’s inquiries, Mia offered a steady explanation for why she hadn’t spoken about Diddy’s alleged ongoing sexual assaults, and his other supposed abuses, until now.
“I was completely entrenched in his world,” she stated. “Now I’m surrounded by the support that I need, and I’ve seen other worlds that were not like that.”
If she had revealed the abuse, she clarified at one moment, “I wouldn’t be believed, I would be wiped out, I would be abused, fired, and somehow made out to look like I was a crazy person, making everything up.”
She consistently mentioned having been “brainwashed” by Combs. At one moment, Steel requested she expand on this.
“Brainwashed meant I was in an environment where the highs were really high and the lows were really low, which created a huge confusion in me trusting my instincts,” she explained. “I was punished whenever Puff would be violent and I would react, therefore, again, confusing me and making me believe I had done something wrong, and then I would try so hard to get back to that good space. And I’d work harder and be nicer, and nobody around batted an eye. He was still praised by everyone around him and the public.”
“I was always constantly seeking his approval,” she finished. “He was my authority figure, the only authority figure.”
Steel at one moment displayed a 2013 video clip Mia created wishing Diddy a happy birthday, part of a longer video she had assembled in which she gathered birthday messages from the Bad Boy founder’s friends and family.
The video, the defense argued, was significant because Mia’s energetic, animated performance in it might lead the jury to believe that her behavior on the stand (where she was frequently hesitant, quiet, and almost continuously looking down) was “an act.”
Mia concluded her time testifying by sharing why she was speaking out, despite discussing the alleged sexual assaults being “the worst thing I’ve ever had to talk about in my life.”
She did it, she explained, because if she didn’t, “I can’t look my niece and my goddaughter in the eyes and ever advise them in the future if they happen to be in this situation.”
