A former personal assistant to Sean "Diddy" Combs said she has such severe PTSD from working for him for a year that a question as simple as "where are you?" was triggering to her.
She's testifying under the pseudonym "Mia" in Combs' ongoing federal criminal trial. He has been charged with sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering — and has pleaded not guilty.
It's the second day Mia has been on the witness stand in Combs' trial, which is closing out its third week. For more of her 2-day testimony, Mia has kept her head down, making it also impossible to view her face.
During her testimony on Thursday, Mia detailed several times in which she alleged Combs sexually assaulted and physically attacked her. She also spoke about violence she witnessed firsthand from Combs towards his then-girlfriend, Casandra Ventura Fine, known as "Cassie."
Cassie testified about the alleged assaults she endured throughout their decade-long relationship during the first week of trial.
But Mia is painting a picture of the abuse she claims she experienced as one of Combs' employees, with the jury seeing a series of texts from Combs during her 8-year employment in which he threatened her. She said she hasn't been able to work since leaving her job with Combs because she suffers from severe PTSD.
Mia said her employment, which involved a "dream" role working for Combs' now-shuttered production company Revolt Films, was a roller coaster of feeling grateful for the opportunities to work with the prominent music mogul while having to "tiptoe" around his appetite for violence and control.
The woman said she grew close with Cassie, with whom she is still in contact, during her time working for Combs, but it ultimately became a catalyst in what she described as an abusive and hectic environment.
Mia said there were times when she was caught in the middle of their relationship, with Combs often threatening her when he couldn't get a hold of Cassie or the two women running and hiding from him during a period of rage.
Mia said she never reported the sexual assaults or other violent incidents to authorities because she feared for her career and her life. She also said she thought that Combs was more powerful than the police at the time.
Mia said, “He would have destroyed my reputation. I was scared of him.”
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After she left the job in 2017, Mia hired employment attorneys to help her negotiate severance and said Combs' chief of staff at the time told her he felt like she had stabbed him in the back.
The next time Mia spoke with Combs after they reached a settlement was when she reached out after the mother of three of his children, Kim Porter, died suddenly in 2018.
However, Mia said Combs tried to get in touch with her on multiple occasions after Cassie filed a civil lawsuit against him in 2023.
She claimed Combs' longtime security guard, known as D-Roc, contacted her for the first — after not speaking for two years — and that he brought up the lawsuit, stating he thought it was "crazy" and that Combs and Cassie "would just fight like a normal couple."
Mia said that when Combs tried to call her, she threw her phone as far away as she could because it was so triggering.
D-Roc would repeatedly call her or text her over the next couple of months, saying Combs wanted to speak with her. Mia said she believed he was trying to make sure she wasn't a threat.
At one point, D-Roc asked for her address, which she said she declined to give him.
The jury was shown messages Combs sent to Mia last year, which she didn't respond to. In the messages, he said he "just needed to talk."
Defense attorneys question Mia's positivity on social media
Combs' defense attorneys began cross-examining Mia on Friday and pointed out multiple photos and comments she posted on her Instagram in which she praised Combs or seemed thankful for him.
Mia claimed Combs’ fans followed her on social media, and she didn’t want her family to know what she was going through, referring to the alleged abuse.
In one post shown by the defense, Combs was wishing her a happy birthday and said "ps sorry I was acting crazy last night" in the caption. Mia said, "He had threatened my life on the phone the night before and I guess this was his apology."
Mia told the defense that there were times when things were going so good with Combs, she would almost forget the abuse.
The defense asked Mia why she didn't reach out to her friends outside of her job to seek help. She said the job was so demanding that she didn't have time and even had to ask permission to attend her grandmother's funeral.
When the defense asked why Mia continued working for Combs and made him a scrapbook for his birthday even though she said he was abusive, she said she 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,” Mia testified. “I was always in trouble and I was always just trying to find a way not to be in trouble."
Defense Attorney Brian Steel accused Mia of lying about the alleged sexual assaults. She said she has not lied to anyone.
President Donald Trump asked about a potential pardon for Combs
During an event in the Oval Office on Friday, President Donald Trump was asked if he was considering a potential pardon for Combs if he is found guilty.
President Trump once said while hosting his show "The Apprentice" that he and Combs were friends.
According to witness testimony during his trial, Combs liked to stay at the Trump International hotel in New York City. But President Trump said he hasn't spoken to Combs in years and that he thinks he separated himself once President Trump got into politics.
"He used to really like me a lot," said President Trump.
"I know people have been thinking about it," President Trump told the press. "I would certainly look at the facts. If I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don't like me, it wouldn't have any impact on me."
PREVIOUS TRIAL COVERAGE:
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs' former assistant says fear of being killed kept her from reporting alleged rapes
- Former stylist says Cassie's outfits needed approval from Sean 'Diddy' Combs
- Ex-assistant tells of cleaning up booze, drugs and baby oil after Sean 'Diddy' Combs’ sex marathons
- Kid Cudi expected to testify in Sean 'Diddy' Combs federal criminal trial
- 'I can't get out:' Witnesses say Sean 'Diddy' Combs controlled every part of Cassie's life
- Cassie's husband Alex Fine releases statement as her testimony in Combs trial concludes
- Cassie's testimony against Sean 'Diddy' Combs ends after days of detailing abuse
- Diddy's lawyers paint his 'freak offs' as a swinger lifestyle fueled by mutual drug use with Cassie
- Cassie claims 'Diddy' told her he wanted to blow up Kid Cudi's car in second day of trial testimony
- Baby oil, Glade candles, prostitutes: Cassie details 'freak offs' in Diddy's sex trafficking trial
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial opens with graphic testimony
