‘Diddy’ trial takeaways: Defense questions ex-employee on why she kept working for Sean Combs despite alleged abuse

By Lauren del Valle, Nicki Brown, Kara Scannell, Eric Levenson, CNN

(CNN) — A former employee of Sean “Diddy” Combs faced sharp questions on cross-examination Friday as the hip-hop mogul’s federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial ended its third week of testimony.

The employee – testifying under the pseudonym “Mia” – testified with a stronger tone under cross examination, in contrast to her guarded manner during questioning by prosecutors when she spoke with her head bowed down and her bangs covering her face, at times responding in nearly a whisper.

She is expected to resume cross-examination on Monday.

Her testimony comes as the prosecution has sought to show Combs and his inner circle formed a criminal enterprise that used threats, violence, forced labor, drugs, bribery, arson, kidnapping and lies in order to coerce his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura into participating in “Freak Offs” and to protect the music mogul’s reputation.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, he could face a sentence of up to life in prison. His defense has acknowledged Combs was violent but has questioned the motives of those testifying, and has said the accusations fall short of a racketeering conspiracy.

Here’s what we learned on Friday.

Ex-employee explains why she stayed so long

Mia testified on Thursday that Combs physically and sexually assaulted her, humiliated her and forced her to work grueling hours during her employment.

On cross-examination Friday, defense attorney Brian Steel challenged her to explain why she still worked there from 2009 until 2017.

“In an abusive relationship there’s a cycle of violence,” she said. “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.”

“Why did you need someone else saying that it was wrong of Mr. Combs to make you feel like he would kill you?” Steel asked.

Mia said there was a difference between her “logic brain” and her “trauma brain,” and the latter often won out.

“Eventually it becomes normalized and you’re just trying to get back to the good. You make excuses for people. I’m a people-pleaser, I’m an empath, I’m a rule-follower,” Mia said. “I just wanted to do my best and make everybody happy all the time.”

Steel suggested three times that Mia made up her sexual assault allegations against Combs, but she stood firm. “What I said in this courtroom is true. I have not lied to anyone at all,” she said.

In addition, Steel asked Mia why she sent distraught messages threatening suicide in December 2016 after she learned her primary work project, Revolt Films, would be shutting down. Mia said she had finally gotten to the point where she was working in film and TV and loved what she did, in spite of alleged abuse from her boss.

“I didn’t want to leave the company that I built where I was actually starting to see my dreams come to fruition,” she testified.

Steel asked why it wouldn’t be a good thing, since then she would be away from her abuser.

“At the time I didn’t realize that,” Mia said. “In hindsight, fantastic, but at the time the worst thing in the world.”

Defense focuses on positive social media posts

The defense confronted Mia with about three dozen warm and friendly social media posts Mia made about Combs over the years following the alleged sexual assaults she described to the jury on Thursday.

Defense attorney Steel highlighted some of the posts, including birthday wishes and photos of them together at Burning Man and at star-studded events. In some captions she called Combs her “mentor,” an “inspiration” and a “legend,” signing several posts with “Love You.”

For example, in June 2014, Combs posted an Instagram photo of them together for her birthday and wrote, “Beside every great man is a great woman” and “Ps sorry I was acting crazy last night.” She reposted it and added, “love you, you’ve shown me the world.” However, Mia testified that Combs had threatened her life the night before.

She also posted a photo collage of him on Instagram for his 45th birthday, adding, “Thank you for being the good kind of crazy and continuing to inspire me every day.”

Steel challenged how Mia could write those words about someone who “ruined” her life.

On the stand, Mia said social media was about showing how great your life is – even if it isn’t true – and said promoting her life around Combs was part of the job.

“The highs were high and the goods were good. You just fought so hard to stay in that,” Mia said.

“I was in fear any time Puff was not happy because I wanted to make sure that he was, because then I was safe,” she also testified.

‘He would have destroyed my reputation’

At the end of her direct testimony earlier on Friday, Mia testified about the end of her work relationship with Combs, her struggles with severe PTSD and her inability to keep a job.

Mia testified that while she was in South Africa with Ventura in 2015, Combs threatened her, cursed at her, and threatened her job if she didn’t return home early. Mia later emailed him about the price of flights and flight changes, asking him to tell her what to do and saying she loved him.

“I’m tiptoeing, that’s the way I would survive so I didn’t make him more mad or make him think that I thought what he was doing was wrong,” Mia testified.

She testified that she tried to “run away” from the job multiple times but felt she would never be able to be hired again.

“He would have destroyed my reputation,” she said. “I was scared of him.”

Their work relationship broke down for good in the fall of 2016, when Mia said she was told by another executive that Combs wanted to end Revolt Films, her primary project. She said she was in “shock” and felt betrayed by the fact that Combs didn’t tell her himself.

Mia testified she hired employment attorneys in 2017 to negotiate her severance and bonuses she still hadn’t been paid – a decision that she learned Combs viewed as a betrayal. After a months-long negotiation, they settled for around $400,000, of which she received about $200,000, she said.

Alleged pressure from Combs’ camp

Beginning two weeks after Cassie Ventura filed her lawsuit against Combs in November 2023, Mia said she received several messages from Combs and his security guard asking for her to call Combs, but she declined, making excuses at times that she didn’t have cell service.

“I just didn’t want anything to do with him at all,” she testified. “He was the person I was traumatized by.”

She testified she understood the outreach to mean, “Puff wanted D-Roc (the aforementioned security guard) to get to me and make sure I wasn’t a threat.”

Mia testified she has severe PTSD and hasn’t been able to work since her time working for Combs. When she tried to work, “I would be triggered by really normal situations with like an overwhelming sense of fear of being in trouble,” she said. For example, someone at work asked her where she was – hoping to get a coffee with her – but she was flooded with fear, she testified.

When asked who caused her to have those feelings, Mia said, “Puff.”

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