The 20th day of Sean Diddy Combs’ sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial was punctuated by a harrowing story of fear and danger, as the longtime friend of his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura testified the rap mogul attacked her for no reason in 2016, dangled her from a 17th-floor balcony and threw her into a coffee table, ABC News reports.
“I was shaking a lot and then I wanted to take a shower because I felt so sick,” Bryana Bongolan told the jury while describing the alleged episode, according to the report by ABC News.
Bongolan testified that the brutal attack left her bruised and in pain, and the alleged incident underscored prosecutors’ consistent theme that, behind the facade of success and talent, Sean Diddy Combs is a violent man who allegedly uses fear and threats of physical harm to operate a criminal enterprise dedicated to fulfilling his sexual appetites.
Diddy Combs is accused of coercing women like Ventura into prolonged, drug-fueled sex parties called “freak-offs.” Combs allegedly used his wealth, status, connections and industry prominence to punish those who would not comply with his whims. Combs has denied those allegations.
“[Combs] came up really close to my face and said something like, ‘I’m the devil and I could kill you,'” Bongolan told the jury Combs said, her voice cracking.
Sean Diddy Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and prostitution. He could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted on all counts.
During their cross-examination of Bongolan on Wednesday, Combs’ lawyers tried to cast doubt on Bongolan’s testimony by highlighting her own drug use, pointing out purported inconsistencies in her testimony, and suggesting she was financially motivated to testify against Combs.
Bongolan sued Combs in 2024 over the alleged balcony episode and testified she was willing to settle her claims for $10 million in damages. Combs has denied the allegations, and the civil suit is ongoing. She acknowledged in court that she struggled with drugs, regularly consumed cocaine and ketamine with Ventura, and sold drugs to both Combs and Ventura.
Bongolan said she was testifying because she was subpoenaed by authorities and that she was granted immunity, so prosecutors would not be able to charge her with any crimes she laid out on the witness stand. She is the third witness to be granted immunity as prosecutors try to secure a guilty verdict against a man who was once one of the leading tastemakers in the worlds of music and fashion. Combs’ former personal assistant, George Kaplan, and hotel security guard Eddy Garcia were similarly granted immunity before they walked into the Manhattan courtroom.
Bongolan recounts Combs allegedly attacking her
Bongolan testified that the violent episode happened in September 2016 when she stayed overnight with her ex-girlfriend at Ventura’s apartment. She told the jury that Combs began knocking on the door loudly and demanded to be let into the apartment, prompting Bongolan to “hide” her girlfriend in the bathroom.
“I didn’t want to expose her to the things that I’d seen,” she testified.
Then, Bongolan testified, she went to the balcony to “act casual,” smoking a blunt, when Combs came from behind and tried to lift her over the railing.
“He lifted me and then had me on top of the rail,” Bongolan said. “For a split second, I was thinking I was going to fall, but for the most part, he was yelling at me, so I was trying to answer him.”
Bongolan said she was held up for about 15 seconds as Combs repeatedly shouted, “You know what the f— you did.”
“Sitting here today, do you have any idea what he was talking about?” prosecutor Madison Smyser asked.
“Still have no idea,” she responded. She testified softly about the incident, occasionally using her hands to demonstrate where Combs grabbed her.
Bongolan told the jury that Combs then threw her into a coffee table on the balcony before Ventura intervened to stop the attack. She said she quickly left the apartment after the alleged attack and later noticed the extent of her injuries.
“I was shaking a lot and then I wanted to take a shower because I felt so sick,” she testified, adding that she noticed a large purple bruise on her leg with a small puncture wound in the middle of it. Jurors saw a photo of the bruise as well as other photos of her bandaged back.
Bongolan testified that she spoke with Combs days after the attack, allegedly telling him, “I don’t want any problems from you,” and she told the court she did not report the incident to authorities because she was “too scared” of Combs.
“I have nightmares. I have a lot of paranoia, and I used to scream a lot in my sleep sometimes,” Bongolan told the jury about the last effects of the alleged attack.
Bongolan describes witnessing other alleged violence between Combs and Ventura
While the focus of Bongolan’s testimony was the 2016 incident when she was allegedly injured by Combs, she also told the jury that she noticed Ventura’s injuries from time to time while they were working together. Bongolan told jurors that Ventura FaceTimed her in December 2016 to show her a black eye she suffered when Combs assaulted her in a Los Angeles Hotel. Prosecutors have said that the incident was the one captured on security video at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles’ Century City.
“I was a little quiet, and I remember saying, ‘I’m sorry,'” she told the jury.
She also testified about a separate incident when she said Combs stormed into Ventura’s apartment in the middle of the night and threw a knife at her. Hearing that testimony, Combs shook his head and threw up his hands at the defense table.
“I just remember seeing a knife get thrown in her direction,” Bongolan testified. She added that Ventura threw the knife right back at Combs, though it missed him.
Prosecutors enter 10 ‘sex videos’ into evidence
Jurors began their morning by rewatching the CCTV video showing Combs assaulting Ventura in the hallway of the Los Angeles hotel in 2016. Defense lawyers have acknowledged the video shows Combs engaging in domestic violence but argued his actions, however abhorrent, do not amount to racketeering conspiracy or sex trafficking.
“I mean, I hit rock bottom — but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable,” Combs said in a video posted to social media after the video was first aired on CNN.
The video has served as a key piece of evidence in the prosecution’s case against Combs and was first shown to the jury in the first week of the trial testimony. It has since been replayed during the testimony of three other witnesses. Garcia testified on Tuesday that Combs paid him $100,000 in cash to purchase what he thought was the only copy of the video in an attempt to prevent it from ever seeing the light of day and ensure his silence.
Prosecutors called forensic analyst Frank Piazza to the stand Wednesday to tell jurors that the video appeared to him to be unaltered from its original form. He walked the jury through specific frames of the video shot, narrating the moments when Combs throws Ventura to the ground and tries to throw a vase at her. He confirmed the videos in evidence were authentic.
“There are no anomalies going on in the file to indicate it had been manually altered,” he testified about the videos, which defense attorneys unsuccessfully fought to keep out of the trial.
Piazza said he reviewed 10 “sex videos” admitted into evidence under seal after they were extracted from one of Ventura’s devices. He said he enhanced the audio on a “sexually explicit video” that was also admitted under seal. Prosecutors offered few details of the videos — which purportedly show freak offs — that are sealed from the public view in part to protect the alleged victims in the case.
Federal prosecutors have argued that Combs recorded the freak-offs that he later used as blackmail to keep Ventura compliant.