Former assistant to Sean 'Diddy' Combs testifies about alleged rape: 'I couldn't tell him no about anything'

A former personal assistant to Sean "Diddy" Combs told the jury for his sex-trafficking and racketeering trial that it was impossible to tell the rap mogul "no."

When Combs demanded that she work for days on end without sleep, the assistant -- who testified using the pseudonym "Mia" -- said she complied.

When Combs shouted at her because his Wi-Fi stopped working, she testified that she tried to fix the problem – at the same time narrowly dodging the computer that Combs had allegedly thrown at her in a fit of anger.

And when Combs allegedly forced himself on her sexually, Mia told the jury there was nothing she could do to fend him off.

"I couldn't tell him 'no' about a sandwich — I couldn't tell him 'no' about anything," she told the jury, explaining that she feared he would ruin her reputation or humiliate her.

"Puff's authority was above the police," Mia said. "It was also a time period years and years before social media or #MeToo or any other example where someone had stood up successfully to someone in power like him."

Mia's emotional testimony punctuated the 12th 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 said, "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."

Combs is charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted on all counts.

The celebrity rapper and music mogul has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, even as his lawyers have conceded that Combs is a deeply flawed man who was violent with lovers and engaged in unconventional sexual escapades and insisted his partners join him.

Combs has insisted all his sexual encounters were consensual.

'The most traumatizing, worst thing that has ever happened to me'

Testifying softly, Mia told a rapt courtroom that Sean Combs assaulted her multiple times while she worked as his assistant.

Mia told the court that the first time Combs sexually assaulted her was a few months into her job as his personal assistant while they were at the famed Plaza Hotel in New York City for his 40th birthday. She said that Combs had rented the penthouse and asked to speak with her alone in the kitchen.

"He was saying what a good job I was doing and that I didn't have to be nervous or scared to come to him," Mia said.

After taking two shots, Mia said that she began to feel off and testified that she remembered standing against a wall when Combs assaulted her.

"He put his arm next to my head against the wall and leaned in to kiss me and put his other hand up the side of my dress," she said.

"Did you want him to do that?" prosecutor Madison Smyser asked.

"No," Mia responded.

It was not the only time, she told the court, and then described how Combs allegedly raped her inside his home on Beverly Grove Drive in Los Angeles.

Working intense hours as Combs' assistant, she testified that she often slept at his home, but Combs prohibited her from locking the door to her room.

"'This is my house. No locks, no doors,'" she recalled him saying.

She told the court she was asleep in her room on the bottom bunk and remembered waking to "the weight of a person on top of me." She testified that she remembered Combs "telling me 'shh'" and "using one hand to get his pants off."

Haltingly, Mia said, "He put himself inside me." She broke down in sobs, telling the jury she felt "terrified and confused and ashamed and scared."

Mia testified that Combs came in another time while she was packing things in a bedroom closet.

"I looked up and he was standing right in front of my face," she said. Barely audible, Mia continued, "He had his penis out, grabbed my head and put it in there."

Smyser asked, "Did he put his penis in your mouth?" Mia answered, "Yes."

"How did you feel?"

"Like trash. Scared and ashamed."

Mia took rapid breaths in between words and phrases. She said she "always" worried about being physically hurt or having her reputation tarnished.

"I didn't want to die or get hurt," Mia testified. She told the court she also worried Combs would "fire me and twist the story into making me look like a threat."

Mia testifies about Combs allegedly abusing Ventura

In addition to telling the jury about how Combs allegedly assaulted her on different occasions, Mia testified that she witnessed multiple times when Combs abused his former girlfriend, the singer Cassie Ventura.

Mia described her relationship with Ventura "like sisters" and tried to spend as much time with her as Combs permitted.

Asked to describe the relationship between Combs and Ventura, Mia responded, "It was a cycle of highs and lows. Unequal and equal. Toxic. I'd say abusive. Like it was abusive toward her."

She told the court she saw Combs get violent with Ventura at his houses, at her apartments, at hotels and at events -- as well as on vacation.

"I've seen him attack her. I've seen him throw her on the ground. I've seen him crack her head open. I've seen him chase her," Mia testified.

"Did you ever see her fight back?" Smyser asked.

"No, I've just seen her put her arms up, like to get him to stop," Mia replied.

Mia's testimony was similar to the accounts of other witnesses, each of whom told the jury about witnessing Combs' alleged abuse. She testified how Combs, in a fit of rage, chased Ventura through an Oscars after-party hosted by the late musician Prince, as well as a time Combs "slammed" Ventura's head into the corner of a bed, causing her to bleed profusely and leaving a scar on her forehead. Ventura and celebrity stylist Deonte Nash both described that bloody scene, and jurors saw a photo of the gash left on Ventura's head.

Mia told jurors about helping set up the hotel rooms for the days-long, drug-fueled orgies that Combs hosted called "freak offs." Mia said she packed "all of his lotions and potions, baby oil, Astroglide, condoms" and candles for the events, was on standby if he needed anything and would clean the rooms after the events to prevent bad publicity.

"He wanted to clean up enough stuff that a housekeeper couldn't take and run to TMZ or expose anything about his personal private business," she said, describing the rooms looking like "a nightmare" when Combs left.

Mia describes the highs and lows of working for Combs

As Mia began her testimony on Thursday, she walked the jury through the highs and lows of working for Combs. While the jury has heard from two other assistants employed by Combs, the duration and intensity of Mia's time with Combs offered jurors a window into the Combs business empire that no other witness had provided.

"It was chaotic. It was toxic. It could be exciting. The highs were really high and the lows were really, really low," Mia said, telling jurors that her employer's mood ultimately dictated the trajectory of the day.

She testified that Combs' intense work demands often required that she stay awake for days on end, always keep Combs in her line of sight, and accommodate all of his requests. The jury saw a list of responsibilities she assembled, saying, "Every single day is different."

He might "ask you to do 17,000 things," which included everything from "cracking his knuckles" to "doing his taxes" to standing next to him for 22 hours a day doing nothing, she testified.

She also testified about growing accustomed to Combs' violence, describing at least three different items Combs threw at her: a book, a computer and a bowl of spaghetti. She described one instance when Combs lashed out – allegedly throwing a computer at her head – after the Wi-Fi stopped working in his trailer on the set of a music video shoot in Los Angeles.

"He cut me off and started screaming at me that I shouldn't come back here until I figured out the Wi-Fi myself. Something about 'I don't care if you have to call Bill Gates,'" Mia said, referring to the founder of Microsoft.