On Monday, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant testified that Combs stole Cassie Ventura’s phone and put a tracking device on her car.
The individual referred to as “Mia” expressed her fears regarding Combs’ actions. According to CNN, she claimed that Combs could access private conversations she had with Ventura by stealing both her and Ventura’s phones multiple times.
Mia refrained from informing Ventura about Combs’ location, believing he could track their messages. She further alleged that Combs had placed tracking devices on Ventura’s vehicle.
“I remember covering for him and feeling terrible about it,” she testified, according to NBC. “I was never outside of his grip.”
Employed by Combs from 2009 to 2017, Mia accused him of kissing her shortly after she commenced her job. She alleged that he sexually assaulted her twice thereafter, describing incidents of forced oral sex in his bedroom closet and waking up with Combs penetrating her.
Mia and Ventura are two witnesses who have accused Combs of physical and sexual abuse. A third woman is expected to testify about similar abuse she allegedly suffered at Combs’ hands.
Ventura, who dated Combs from 2007 to 2018, previously testified that Combs “stifled” her music career while forcing her to participate in “freak offs,” which often entailed her having sex with other men in Combs’ presence. Ventura said the drug-fueled ordeals left her sleep-deprived and dehydrated, as they would last for days on end.
Ventura said Combs “often” injured her during these rendezvous.
Combs was arrested on September 16, 2024, outside a Manhattan hotel on federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has been denied bail three times, as Judge Andrew L. Carter determined there was a “serious risk” of witness tampering in this case.
Federal authorities raided Combs’ homes in Holmby Hills, California, and Miami in March 2024. Reports indicated that the raids were connected to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation that resulted in his arrest months later.
The raids also occurred four months after Ventura accused him of sex trafficking and abuse. In a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, she alleged that Combs drugged her and forced her to have sex with other men. The pair settled the lawsuit a day after its filing.
However, in May, the video surfaced showing Combs assaulting Ventura. After the video was released, Combs put out a video expressing remorse for his behavior.
Two more accusers came forward a week after Ventura’s lawsuit. One of the women claimed Combs drugged and raped her at Syracuse University in New York in 1991. Combs denied those allegations before a third accuser, Liza Gardner, levied similar allegations against him.
Days after footage of the Ventura assault was publicized, two more women filed lawsuits against Combs. One of those women was April Lampros, a New York Fashion Institute of Technology student who reportedly met Combs in 1994. Lampros accused Combs of sexually assaulting her on four occasions between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s.
Combs has been accused of committing or facilitating sexual abuse in at least 30 other lawsuits — including one, filed in October, which alleges he and Jay-Z raped a 13-year-old girl in New York in 2000. The accuser in that case had her lawsuit dismissed in February.
Combs turned down a plea deal days before jury selection began. His trial is expected to last two months.
[Feature Photo: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP]
