Live

Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial updates: Combs' ex-assistant 'Mia' to continue testimony next week

The hip-hop mogul is charged with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

Last Updated: May 30, 2025, 4:25 PM EDT

This story may contain accounts and descriptions of actual or alleged events that some readers may find disturbing.

This is week three of testimony in the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Jul 2, 10:50 am

Sean Combs trial reaches an end with mixed verdict

The highly anticipated trial of hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has reached an end.

The jury found Sean Combs not guilty of racketeering conspiracy, the most serious charge.

The jury found Combs guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution (in connection with his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura) and guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution (in connection with his ex-girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym "Jane").

He was found not guilty of both charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion in connection with Ventura and "Jane."

Combs was accused of being the ringleader of an alleged enterprise that "abused, threatened and coerced women" into prolonged, drug-fueled sexual orgies with male prostitutes, which he called "freak-offs," and then threatened them into silence. Combs has said that all of the sex was consensual and that while his relationships sometimes involved domestic violence, he wasn't engaged in trafficking.

Combs' lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said Combs was simply part of the swinger lifestyle and that he "vehemently denies the accusations made by the SDNY."

May 30, 2025, 4:25 PM EDT

Defense cross examination of 'Mia' to continue next week

In December 2016, when "Mia" was informed Sean Combs wanted to dissolve his Revolt Films and that her employment would end, she texted Combs' chief of staff, Kristina "KK" Khorram, saying, "I'm going to kill myself. My life is over."

Frantic messages from Khorram that were read in court followed, including, "You can't make a statement and then not answer your phone."

Eventually, "Mia" responded over text: "I can't sleep and I'm not ok. I don't understand how to make this pain go away. It hurts so f------ bad."

Defense attorney Brian Steel asked, "Isn't this great? You're away from your abuser?"

Mia testified, "In hindsight fantastic, but at the time the worst thing ever."

She told the court working for Combs represented "the only world I knew for 24 hours a day for 8 years. It's like dog years. That's all I knew. So, it was very overwhelmingly horrific."

She testified she felt it "being ripped away without explanation."

Steel's cross-examination will resume Monday.

Three weeks of testimony from 21 witnesses in the trial against Combs has concluded.

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

May 30, 2025, 3:54 PM EDT

Defense focuses on 'Mia's' birthday present for Combs: 'It’s called psychological abuse'

Sean Combs turned 45 on Nov. 4, 2014, and "Mia" made him a scrapbook with a handwritten card, which was shown in court.

"Happy 45th birthday, Puff Daddy" the top of the page said in bold red letters. The text continued in black pen. "Puff! Sometimes life goes by at catastrophic speeds where you never get to live in and enjoy 'now,'" the note read. "I hope on this day you get to sit back and take it all in."

The card came with a collection of magazine articles from 1991 to 1999 "that I hope will stir up nostalgic feelings."

"The man who you say has ruined your life, this is what you write to him?" Steel asked. "It's called psychological abuse," "Mia" testified.

"How did you find any goodness with Mr. Combs after what you described to the ladies and gentlemen of this jury?" Steel asked. "Easily," "Mia" told the court. "The second it went back to good, I was elated. I was searching for that kind of approval. It was an abusive relationship."

"Mia" told to the jury, "I was young and manipulated and eager to survive. I'm unraveling a lot of this now in therapy. Nobody was there to say these things that were happening were wrong. There was nobody around us that ever even flinched at his behavior."

Steel's cross-examination grew louder.

"Isn't it true that Mr. Combs never had unwanted, nonconsensual forcible sexual contact with you, isn't that true? Steel asked. "What I said in this courtroom is the truth," "Mia" testified.

"Then why, if you're being sexually assaulted and your sister is being brutalized physically, are you making a scrapbook for Mr. Combs?" Steel asked, referring to Cassie Ventura, with whom "Mia" said she had a sister-like relationship.

"It's a lot more complicated than the way you framed that," "Mia" testified. "Ask any abuse victim's advocate and they could explain it to you much better than I could."

May 30, 2025, 3:17 PM EDT

Trump on possible pardon for Combs: 'I would certainly look at the facts'

Asked if he would consider pardoning Sean "Diddy" Combs, if convicted, as the hip-hop mogul stands trial in Manhattan federal court, President Donald Trump said, "Nobody's asked, but I know people are thinking about it."

"I don't know. I would certainly look at the facts," Trump said. "If I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don't like me, it wouldn't have any impact on me."

Trump said he believes "some people have been very close to asking" about a pardon.

President Donald Trump was asked if he would consider pardoning hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, who is currently charged with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, which he denies.
1:15
Trump asked if he would consider pardoning Sean 'Diddy' Combs if convictedPresident Donald Trump was asked if he would consider pardoning hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, who is currently charged with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, which he denies.
ABCNews.com

"First of all, I look at what's happening, and I haven't been watching it too closely, although it's certainly getting a lot of coverage," he said.

Trump added that he hasn't spoken to Combs in years.

Combs has been accused of sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

May 30, 2025, 3:05 PM EDT

Defense questions 'Mia' on attitude towards Combs in social media posts

After "Mia" testified that working for Sean Combs caused her "complex, severe PTSD," the defense on cross-examination tried to offer to the jury a different look at her tenure through her social media posts.

The posts, full of emphatic praise and multiple exclamation points, showed "Mia" posing with Combs, calling him a legend and thanking him for being her friend, all in the years after she alleged he repeatedly sexually assaulted her.

"That's the person who has traumatized you?" defense attorney Brian Steel asked. "Yes," Mia testified. "Physically?" he asked. "Yes," she testified. "Sexually?" Steel continued. "Yes," Mia testified. "That's the legend?" Steel concluded his sequence. "Yes," "Mia" told the court.

Prosecutor Madison Smyser (not seen) questions witness "Mia" as she testifies in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, May 30, 2025 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

A post from Nov. 4, 2015, Combs' birthday, Steel called "the anniversary of when he sexually assaulted you."

"Mia" testified, "I didn't recognize that date as a celebration."

"How is that not a significant date in your mind?" Steel asked. "It was Puff's birthday. That was what the date was and I tried to forget that, shoved it down," "Mia" testified.

In the post, "Mia" called Combs "Legend, King, Bad Boy for life" and said, "Thank you for showing me the path to Pluto and beyond."

"You just put aside, you're telling this jury, that you were sexually assaulted?" Steel asked. "Yes, absolutely," "Mia" testified.

"You put aside that Mr. Combs made you go sleepless for five days when you got physically ill?"

"Yes."

"You put aside that Mr. Combs went into your bedroom, gets on top of you and does the unthinkable?"

"Yes."

Related Topics

Sponsored Content by Taboola