NEW YORK ― For years, Sean “Diddy” Combs was the embodiment of untouchable celebrity — a near-billionaire mogul who crisscrossed the globe in private jets and chartered yachts, hosting drug- and sex-fueled parties from Cannes to St. Barts to Las Vegas.
To accomplish that, Combs enlisted an entourage of paid support staff and enablers who lived a life most mortals could only dream of — lavish, nonstop and, like Combs himself, at the white-hot center of fame, money and power atop the entertainment world.
Drinking champagne at the Eiffel Tower at 4 a.m.
Snorting from a potpourri of drugs in a luxe party bus at Burning Man.
Partying at Prince’s house while The Purple One performed atop a table. Sunbathing off Turks and Caicos. Jetting off to Ibiza for a rave.
Now, inside a hushed Manhattan federal courtroom, that fantasy world is crashing down with the testimony of some of the very same people who made it all happen.
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One by one, the people who once orbited Combs − assistants, stylists, gofers and security guards − are pulling back the curtain on his carefully erected empire. They describe a Promethean lifestyle powered by wealth and fame and propelled relentlessly forward by a combination of intimidation, manipulation, violence ― and even rape.
Some are testifying under federal subpoena and against their will, as is the case of former stylist Deonte Nash and Derek Ferguson, former chief financial officer for Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment..
“Absolutely not,” Nash said when asked if he was taking the stand of his own accord.
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Some legal experts say their testimony, and that of more insiders to come, will bolster prosecutors’ allegations that Combs oversaw a movable party operation that crossed the line into becoming a global criminal enterprise designed to “fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
“It seems like each and every day, the testimony gets worse and worse for Sean Combs,” said David Ring, a civil trial lawyer specializing in sexual assault cases who represented one of Harvey Weinstein’s victims in a civil case. “And I think we’re going to see more employees come forward who have to admit on the stand that they enabled these criminal actions because they felt like they were pressured into it.”
Combs is the only one publicly charged in the case, with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations of wrongdoing. His all-star team of lawyers accuses some of those now speaking out against him as joining “the #MeToo money grab against Sean Combs.”
That’s especially the case when it comes to Combs’ treatment of his longtime girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura Fine, who the mercurial rapper is accused of coercing into marathon sex acts known as “Freak Offs” and other degradations to satisfy his whims.
But his prosecution, especially charges of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act or RICO, hinges on the core accusation that Combs “relied on the employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled” in his rise to the top.
If convicted of that RICO charge, Combs could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Exposing Combs’ Inner Sanctum
At least one former executive assistant, George Kaplan, has been granted immunity to testify against Combs – an indication that they too might have been facing charges. Justice Department prosecutors have broadly hinted that there are other unindicted co-conspirators who lived the high life with Combs while doing his bidding, either willingly or under duress.
Several of Combs’ former aides have testified that Combs demanded not only their absolute loyalty but also their silence. Several said they feared losing their jobs, and their employability in the entertainment world, if they spoke out, including about illegal activity.
But they’re talking now.
To make their case, prosecutors have had at least seven people in Combs’ employ walk the jury through how they answered to his every whim, anywhere in the world and at any hour.
One of Combs’ longest-serving aides, identified only as Mia to protect her privacy, testified that she worked for him from 2009 to 2017 even though he physically and emotionally terrorized and even raped her. She did so, in part, because of the professional opportunities he gave her, including founding and running a film production company.
One of several yacht charters off the luxe Caribbean island of St. Barts was marred, Mia testified, by Combs screaming at her when she couldn’t count the cash in his safe fast enough for him.
“You better learn to walk on water like Jesus did, b*tch,” Combs screamed before ordering her out of his sight. Soon after, Mia said, Combs decided to jet off to Las Vegas and demanded she accompany him.
“The highs were really high but the lows were really really low,” Mia said during her three days of often-emotional testimony.
Mia described “magical, hilarious” and “hysterical” experiences, like partying with Leonardo DiCaprio, and drinking champagne in Paris and fending off Mick Jagger’s attempts to take her home.
“Puff! Sometimes life goes by at catastrophic speeds where you never get to live in and enjoy ‘now,'” Mia wrote Combs in a note for his 45th birthday in 2014. “I hope on this day you get to sit back and take it all in.”
Mia also said the ADHD medication she’d been taking since her late teens helped her keep up with the sleepless nights and jet lag.
As the first rapper to combine the riches of a pop mega-star with the thug life ethos of rap and hip-hop music, Combs indeed did live life at “catastrophic speeds” that often crossed the line into illegality, other former staff members have testified in recent weeks.
To support his high-flying lifestyle, Combs had as many as five personal assistants, executive assistants, a large security detail and at least one private chef.
Also on speed dial, a drug dealer nicknamed “One Stop,” because he had everything from cocaine to Plan-B and birth control to the party drug ecstasy, Combs associate and singer Dawn Richard testified.
Richard said she observed Combs using weed, ketamine, cocaine and the party drug Molly, stashing his drugs in a Louis Vuitton toiletry bag.
David James told jurors part of his job was picking up drugs for Combs and his friends, from Percocet prescriptions at the pharmacy to an eighth of an ounce of cocaine from a yacht in St. Tropez.
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He also saw several different types of ecstasy pills in Combs’ medical bag, including “one in the shape” of former President Barack Obama’s face.
Even more damaging to Combs, prosecutors suggest, could be the testimony of male former employees, especially security guards who may have been involved in recruiting and transporting women across state and national lines, key elements of the trafficking case.
A former Combs’ chief of staff Kristina “KK” Khorram, often described as his all-knowing “right hand” could also testify.
“The fact that these employees are testifying is incredibly significant to the RICO charges, because it shows that this was an enterprise that was engaged in criminal activity,” Ring told USA TODAY. “If it’s just Sean Combs by himself, there wouldn’t be any claim of a RICO violation.”
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
Josh Meyer is a veteran correspondent focusing on domestic, national and global security issues, including transnational criminal organizations. Reach him at[email protected]. Follow him on X at @JoshMeyerDC and Bluesky at @joshmeyerdc.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diddy Inc.: Sean Combs’ aides unravel his jet set empire in court
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