Sean “Diddy” Combs’s former assistant “Mia” told jurors that she suffered from “complex PTSD” as she returned to the stand Friday, closing out the third week of testimony in the music mogul’s sex trafficking trial.
Direct examination of Mia, a pseudonym given to protect her identity, began again after proceedings resumed inside Manhattan federal court, but she was later aggressively cross-examined by Combs’ lawyers who sought to discredit her claims using her own social media posts.
Mia, who worked for Combs for eight years, previously alleged that she was was forced to perform a sex act on Combs and, in another incident, was allegedly raped in the spare room of his Los Angeles home.
Combs is facing sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy charges. Combs was arrested in September 2024 as federal authorities alleged he threatened, abused, and coerced victims “to fulfill his sexual desires” between 2004 and 2024. Combs has denied any accusations of wrongdoing.
The high-profile trial in New York has been ongoing for three weeks and attracted significant attention, including from President Donald Trump, who did not dismiss a potential pardon for Combs, should he be convicted, when asked by reporters at a press conference on Friday.
Key points
- Recap: From inside the courtroom
- Trump doesn't rule out pardon for Diddy
- Defense confronts Mia over social media pictures of Combs
- Mia's cross-examination begins
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs' ex-assistant Mia suffers from 'complex PTSD' after working for him
'Mia' takes the stand
Thursday 29 May 2025 15:38 , Katie HawkinsonMia, a former assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs and alleged victim of his abuse, is now testifying.
She is testifying under a pseudonym, but the jury knows her legal name.
Mia testifies Diddy sexually assaulted her
Thursday 29 May 2025 15:51 , Katie HawkinsonMia, a witness who previously worked for Sean “Diddy” Combs, told the jury the music mogul sexually assaulted her multiple times.
Mia described working for Combs as “toxic” and “chaotic.”
Mia worked as Combs’s personal assistant. She also worked as director of development and acquisitions for Revolt Films, a company which Combs founded.
“It was chaotic, it was toxic, It could be exciting,” Mia testified. “The highs were really high and the lows were really, really low.”
Mia says Diddy attacked her several times
Thursday 29 May 2025 15:57 , Katie HawkinsonMia said Sean “Diddy” Combs attacked her several times while she worked for him.
“He’s thrown things at me,” she testified. “He’s thrown me against the wall. He’s thrown me into a pool. He’s thrown an ice bucket on my head.”
Diddy met Mia for interview in his underwear, she testified
Thursday 29 May 2025 16:02 , Katie HawkinsonMia said that she went to Sean “Diddy” Combs’s apartment for an interview while she was applying to work with him.
Combs answered the door in his underwear, she testified, before later putting more clothes on.
Mia was 25 or 26 when she interviewed for the job, she said.
Mia says she worked for five days with no sleep, took Adderall to stay awake
Thursday 29 May 2025 16:04 , Katie HawkinsonMia testified that she once worked as Sean “Diddy” Combs’s assistant for five days straight with no sleep and took Adderall to keep herself awake.
Adderall is a stimulant medication typically used to treat ADHD.
“I had a physical breakdown, my hearing went, it felt like I was under water, my equilibrium was off, blurred vision, out of nowhere I was hysterical and could not stop crying,” she testified. “At that point Puff said she could go to sleep.”
Mia testified she’d often work for 24 hours straight or go multiple days without sleep.
Jury sees list of Mia's job responsibilities
Thursday 29 May 2025 16:27 , Katie HawkinsonThe jury saw a list of Mia’s job responsibilities as Sean “Diddy” Combs’s assistant.
Her duties included “maintaining [Combs’s] daily routine in both professional and private circles from the minute he wakes up in the morning until the moment he falls asleep at night” and “anticipating his needs, whims and moods.”
She was also told to “PROTECT HIM AT ALL TIMES” and with “STAYING WITHIN PDs EYESIGHT (unless he advises otherwise),” according to the list.
Mia further details working conditions under Diddy
Thursday 29 May 2025 17:06 , Katie HawkinsonMia further detailed working as Sean “Diddy” Combs’s personal assistant.
Mia said she wasn’t allowed to leave his home without permission while working, and detailed one time she got in “big trouble” for leaving while he was asleep around 2009 or 2010.
Mia also wasn’t allowed to lock her bedroom door when she stayed at one of his homes, she testified.
"Puff said, 'This is my house and no one locks the doors,'" she testified.
Combs would often threaten her job, Mia testified. She said there was “a lot of getting cursed out and humiliated and berated.”
Mia also said she became quite close with Cassie Ventura while working for Combs, describing their relationship as “like sisters.”
Mia says Cassie’s relationship with Diddy was abusive
Thursday 29 May 2025 17:10 , Katie HawkinsonMia testified that Cassie Ventura and Sean Diddy Combs’s relationship was abusive.
“It was a cycle of highs and lows,” she said. “He was abusive towards her.”
Mia says Diddy attacked Cassie often
Thursday 29 May 2025 17:15 , Katie HawkinsonMia says she often witnesses Sean “Diddy” Combs attacking his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
She recounted one incident in which Combs allegedly threw Ventura to the ground, cracking her head open.
Mia said Ventura never fought back.
“I’ve just seen her with her arms up, for him to stop,” she testified.
Cassie needed Diddy’s approval for looks, Mia testifies
Thursday 29 May 2025 17:20 , Andrew GeorgesonMia backed up Cassie Ventura and Deonte Nash’s previous testimony claiming Sean “Diddy” Combs controlled her looks.
Mia said Combs had to approve Ventura’s hair, nails and outfits.
“Everyone would be really nervous,” Mia testified. “He would ask a lot of questions and sort of insert himself.”
Mia recounts incident in which she and Deonte Nash tried to protect Cassie
Thursday 29 May 2025 17:28 , Katie HawkinsonMia recounted one incident during which she and stylist Deonte Nash tried to jump on Sean “Diddy” Combs’s back to stop him from attacking Cassie Ventura.
Nash recounted the same incident during his testimony yesterday.
“Me and Deonte immediately jumped in and tried to stop it,” Mia said. “We were both just trying to get him off of her.”
“At some point, he had Deonte in like a position where I was like scared he was going to kill him and I jumped on his back,” she added. “He threw me against the wall so quick and so easily, and I realized we were in real danger.”
Mia recounts 2010 Prince party
Thursday 29 May 2025 18:36 , Katie HawkinsonSean “Diddy” Combs’s ex-assistant Mia recounted a 2010 party hosted by musician Prince. Cassie Ventura recounted the same party in her previous testimony.
Combs had told Mia and Ventura to stay in a hotel, but the two decided to go to the party instead, she testified.
“Cass and I debated like little kids if we should sneak out of the house for probably what felt like forever,” Mia said.
When Combs arrived, he attacked Ventura.
“He caught up to her and had her on the ground,” Mia said. “He started attacking her, but Prince’s security swiftly intervened.”
After the incident, Combs suspended her without pay for being “insubordinate,” Mia said.
From the courtroom: Mia testifies
Thursday 29 May 2025 18:45 , Kelly RissmanA woman going by the pseudonym Mia is testifying today in Sean “Diddy” Combs’s trial.
Mia keeps looking down as she speaks, oscillating her head back and forth. She stutters a bit, especially when talking about tough memories.
The judge has warned those observing the trial not to describe Mia’s physical traits. Courtroom sketches are also banned while she’s testifying.
Mia testified that Combs threw her against the wall, into a pool, threw an ice bucket over her head and hit her arm against a door. She then paused, struggling to get the words out, before saying he sexually assaulted her multiple times.
We just heard for the third time about the 2013 incident at Ventura’s apartment in which Mia and Deonte Nash jumped on Combs’s back when he assaulted Ventura. The incident ended with a gash on Ventura’s eyebrow.
When she saw Ventura’s head hit the corner of the bed frame, Mia testified that she thought Combs was “actually going to kill her.”
She said it “was the first time I realized the severe danger we were actually in.
Throughout her testimony, she has emphasized the power and control Combs had over her and Ventura.
Mia has repeatedly said: “I had to do everything that he told me to do.” If not, there would be consequences that were “something bad, very scary.” The punishment was “unpredictable but typically pretty terrifying,” she added.
Mia believed Diddy's authority was 'above the police'
Thursday 29 May 2025 18:47Mia testified that she didn’t think Sean “Diddy” Combs would face consequences if she ever called the police.
“I believed that Puff’s authority was above the police,” Mia testified. “This was a period years and years before social media or ‘Me Too’ or any sort of example where someone had stood up successfully to someone in power, such as him.”
Mia added that she believed she had to keep Combs’s violence a secret as one of his employees.
“I was supposed to protect him from people,” she added.
Diddy was 'heartbroken' when Cassie dated Kid Cudi, Mia says
Thursday 29 May 2025 19:09 , Katie HawkinsonMia described Sean “Diddy” Combs as “heartbroken” when he found out Cassie Ventura was dating Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi in 2011.
“Normally he was just angry and aggressive, and this time felt like almost this dark calm before the storm,” Mia told the jury.
Mia describes cleaning up Diddy's hotel rooms
Thursday 29 May 2025 19:17 , Katie HawkinsonMia, who worked as Sean “Diddy” Combs’s assistant, told the jury she would often have to clean up his hotel rooms.
Mia said the rooms were a “nightmare” and “really nasty.” She often had to clean candle wax, glass, water, blood, oil and wet towels, she said.
Mia says Diddy pressured her to take ketamine
Thursday 29 May 2025 19:25 , Katie HawkinsonMia testified that she once attended Burning Man with Sean “Diddy” Combs. There, he had separated ketamine, molly and cocaine onto three plates.
“People were taking turns going up and playing some guessing game,” Mia said.
Combs then said it was Mia’s turn, she said. When she protested, he got upset and gave her a dose he wanted her to take, Mia testified.
Mia said she then snorted the drug because she felt she had no choice.
Mia says Diddy treated her like a best friend and a 'worthless piece of crap'
Thursday 29 May 2025 19:33 , Katie HawkinsonSean “Diddy” Combs would switch between treating Mia like a best friend and a “worthless piece of crap,” she testified today.
“He would humiliate me, curse at me, go on a rant about how incompetent and stupid I was,” she testified.
Mia said Combs often threw things at her, including spaghetti, turkey meat and a computer.
Mia says Diddy threw spaghetti at her
Thursday 29 May 2025 19:55 , Katie HawkinsonMia told the court that she once had blood dripping down her leg because Sean “Diddy” Combs wouldn’t let her go to the bathroom to change her tampon.
Instead, Combs wanted her to go get iHop for a group of people. He then threw a bowl of spaghetti at her.
Mia said she felt “terrified, so humiliated, so confused” when he threw things at her and thought “something was wrong with me for making him this upset.”
Combs chased her out of the house, so she left barefoot, hid in a bush and eventually escaped to a hotel.
HR told her she would be suspended without pay as a result of the incident.
Mia says Combs sexually assaulted her after 40th birthday celebration
Thursday 29 May 2025 20:29 , Katie HawkinsonSean “Diddy” Combs’s former assistant Mia testified that he sexually assaulted her following his 40th birthday celebration.
Combs kissed her and put his hands up her dress, she testified.
“I was shocked and I froze,” Mia said. I couldn’t even process what was happening.”
In another incident around 2009 or 2010, Mia said she woke up to Combs on top of her.
“It was very quick,” she said.
She testified she didn’t want to have sex with him.
Who is 'Mia'?
Thursday 29 May 2025 20:35 , Katie Hawkinson“Mia” is Sean “Diddy” Combs’s former personal assistant and a close friend of Cassie Ventura.
Mia is testifying under a pseudonym to protect her identity. She’s expected to testify through Friday.
Mia says she 'couldn't' say no to Diddy
Thursday 29 May 2025 20:51Sean “Diddy” Combs’s former assistant Mia said she never wanted to have sex with him, but that she couldn’t say no to him because she was afraid of him.
“I couldn’t tell him no, like, about a sandwich. I couldn’t tell him no about anything. There’s no way I could tell him no,” Mia said.
“He would fire me and ruin my future and somehow twist the story into making me look like a threat,” she added.
Mia has testified that Combs sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions.
Mia says fellow assistant fired after raising alarm about Diddy hurting Cassie
Thursday 29 May 2025 20:57 , Katie HawkinsonMia says a fellow assistant told Sean “Diddy” Combs’s chief of staff that he was hitting Cassie Ventura.
Afterward, high-level employees held a phone call and the assistant was fired, Mia said.
Jury dismissed
Thursday 29 May 2025 21:03 , Katie HawkinsonJudge Arun Subramanian has dismissed the jury for today.
‘Mia’ will continue testifying tomorrow morning.
More from inside...
17:45 , Ariana BaioCross examination is a bit rough to watch.
Brian Steel, a defense attorney who previously represented Yung Thug, is very aggressive. He is trying to back Mia into a corner and constantly questions her motive in posting a photo of Diddy if he was her abuser.
In one particularly bad moment he asked Mia why she would post a photo of her “rapist” pretending to deliver her baby (it was a still she posted as part of a comedy skit she participated in). The wording of the question caught her so off guard she stared at him for a second and shook her head back and forth. “That wording..” she said
People in the overflow room let out a little gasp when Steel asked that.
Mia to return to stand this morning
11:01 , James LiddellWelcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial, as testimony enters its 13th day.
Combs’s former assistant “Mia” is set to return to the stand Friday morning. Direct examination of the witness, who is testifying under a pseudonym, will continue after testimony resumes at about 9 a.m. inside Manhattan federal court.
Day 12 recap: Mia testifies on alleged rape and violent outbursts
11:09 , James Liddell“Mia,” a former employee of Sean “Diddy” Combs, testified Thursday after ex-stylist Deonte Nash in the music mogul’s sex trafficking trial.
The woman, who is testifying under a pseudonym, says Combs sexually abused her and attacked her on multiple occasions.
Mia testified that she was “terrified” to report Combs because she “didn’t want to die or get hurt.”
The witness told the jury that she was forced to perform a sex act on Combs and, in one alleged incident while staying in the spare room at his Los Angeles home in either 2009 or 2010, she said he entered the room, climbed on top of her and penetrated.
Mia testified she never wanted to have sex with him, but was afraid to tell him no.
“I couldn’t tell him no, like, about a sandwich,” Mia testified. “I couldn’t tell him no about anything. There’s no way I could tell him no.”
“He would fire me and ruin my future and somehow twist the story into making me look like a threat,” she added.
Mia also described alleged instances in which he threw a bowl of spaghetti and a computer at her. Both missed, she said.
Stylist says he set Cassie up with Hollywood star
11:36 , James LiddellSean “Diddy” Combs’s former stylist was keen for the court to know that he allegedly played matchmaker for Cassie Ventura and Hollywood A-lister Michael B Jordan.
Deonte Nash did not wait for the defense attorney to finish their question on Thursday before offering up the information unprompted to the court.
The celebrity stylist, who worked for both Combs and Ventura, was being cross-examined about events in 2015, when Ventura was in South Africa shooting a film.
Mike Bedigan has more:
Diddy’s former stylist makes unprompted claim he set Cassie up with Michael B Jordan
In sketches: Day 12 of testimony in Diddy's New York trial
12:00 , James Liddell
Celebrities 'hiring lawyers' to avoid testifying at Diddy’s trial
12:25 , James LiddellSean “Diddy” Combs’ high-profile sex-trafficking trial has some celebrities so nervous they could be called to testify that they’ve hired lawyers, according to a report.
In the nearly four weeks since the mogul’s federal trial began in New York, several notable names have been called before the jury, including musician Cassie Ventura, rapper Kid Cudi, and singer Dawn Richard. Other celebrities have been name-dropped as well, such as record executive Suge Knight, musician Usher, and more.
With the potential for others to be named, or even called to give evidence, Harvey Levin, the founder of TMZ, claims that some have already lawyered up.
“I have heard that there are some celebrities worried about being called to testify and have even lawyered up trying to fight that,” Levin told Fox News Digital.
Ariana Baio has the details:
Celebrities are reportedly hiring lawyers to avoid testifying at Diddy’s trial
Full report: What did 'Mia' testify yesterday?
13:00 , James LiddellA former employee of Sean “Diddy” Combs testified that the disgraced music mogul repeatedly slammed a bathroom door on her arm and sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions, as she tearfully revealed the abusive relationship.
Combs’ former personal assistant, who goes by the pseudonym “Mia” and later went on to co-found Revolt Films studio with him, took the stand Thursday at his sex trafficking trial. She detailed several incidents with the rap mogul including a time he allegedly put his hand up her dress and climbed into her bed to rape her.
The former employee also told jurors that in 2013, while at the Revolt media productions office, Diddy borrowed her cell phone and ran off with it. Mia testified that she was terrified he would read text messages she sent to a stylist, bad-mouthing him, and chased after him.
Kelly Rissman, who was at the hearing, has the details:
Diddy employee ‘Mia’ says music mogul repeatedly slammed her arm in bathroom door
From court: Here's what to expect to wrap up week 3
13:11 , James LiddellIt’s a cool spring day here in downtown Manhattan as we wrap up week three of testimony in the sex trafficking trial against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
We’re continuing testimony from “Mia,” a former employee of Combs’ who witnessed his abuse toward Cassie Ventura and experienced it firsthand herself. Prosecutors are using “Mia,” a pseudonym to protect her identity, to corroborate Cassie Ventura’s testimony.
“Mia” said Combs was an extremely demanding and controlling boss who subjected her to sleep deprivation and violence.
Defense again ask for more access with Diddy
13:30 , James LiddellSean Combs’s defense team again petitioned the court to have more access to their client after a 7 p.m. cut-off in a Brooklyn jail where the music mogul is being held.
The lawyers said they would like to hold meetings at the courthouse until 10 p.m.
A day earlier, Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo made the same request to the court.
He argued that the current curfew means that the defense has to spend more time debating strategy without Combs, slowing up trial preparations.
“We just need more access to Mr. Combs” Agnifilo said Wednesday.
Suge Knight tells Diddy to take the stand to ‘humanize’ himself
13:40 , James LiddellIncarcerated former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight has urged Sean "Diddy" Combs to stand up and defend himself in court.
Suge, 60, the founder of Death Row Records and a long-time rival of Diddy, 55, said the accused rapper should try to “humanize” himself by taking the stand and try to convince the jury to “give him a shot” amid his ongoing sex trafficking trial.
Speaking to CNN in a recent phone interview, Knight said: “I feel if he does tell his truth, he really would walk.
“If Puffy goes up there and says, ‘Hey … I did all the drugs, I wasn’t in control of my life at the time, or myself’ – he can humanize his old self and the jury might give him a shot.”
Madeline Sherratt has the story:
Suge Knight tells Diddy to take the stand in effort to ‘humanize’ himself
Judge talks to defense about Diddy time constraints
13:56 , James LiddellJudge Arun Subramanian is on the bench and is speaking with lawyers about whether the defense can get more time with Sean Combs, due to a 7 p.m. jailhouse curfew, CNN reports.
On Thursday, Combs’s attorneys said they would like to hold meetings at the courthouse until 10 p.m. A day earlier, defense attorney Marc Agnifilo made the same request to the court.
'Mia' returns to the stand
14:17 , Mike BediganDirect examination of Mia, a pseudonym given to protect her identity, has continued.
Mia, who worked for Combs for eight years, delivered bombshell testimony on Thursday, in which she told the court she was forced to perform a sex act on Combs and, in another incident, was allegedly raped in the spare room of his Los Angeles home.
Cassie was 'devastated' after catching Diddy cheating
14:25 , Mike BediganMia told the court that Cassie Ventura had been “devastated” after catching Diddy cheating on her.
She testified that Ventura had learned the news while shooting a movie in South Africa.
“They were on the phone. He was in Miami. Then she stopped answering the calls,” she said.
Diddy 'threatened to kill' Mia, court hears
14:38 , Mike BediganAlleged threats from Diddy had made Mia feel “terrified” and “desperate,” the court has heard.
Reading out text messages between herself and Kristina Khorram, Diddy’s former chief of staff, she claimed that the mogul had threatened to fire and also kill her.
Asked how the threats had made her feel, Mia replied: “Desperate. Terrified. And really, really sad.”
Asked if she had answered Khorram’s calls, she added: “No. I texted back that I had been asleep. It sucks to wake up to this every morning [thinking] I'm being s*** on from all sides.”
Diddy threatened to tell Cassie about alleged sexual assaults, court hears
14:56 , Mike BediganIn her testimony, Mia said that Combs had threatened to tell Ventura about her alleged sexual assaults but with an alternate spin.
He would have told her “as though it was my fault or that I was, or that I had a part in it,” she told the court.
Jurors were also shown a series of text messages between Mia and the mogul in which he threatened to “tell everything.”
“If you dont call me now f**k it all. And imma tell everything. And dont ever speak me again. You have 2 min... Let’s go to war,” Combs wrote in one message.
Mia: Running away from Combs 'didn't work'
15:09 , Mike BediganMia testified that she had been suspended without pay numerous times while working for Combs, and was told the reason was that she was being “insubordinate.”
Asked if she felt she could leave her job, she replied: “That wasn't a thought. I had tried to run away before and it didn't work.”
She added that Combs would have “made sure” she could not get a job elsewhere.
Mia planned to 'die with' alleged sexual assaults
15:55 , Mike BediganThe court heard how Mia hired employment attorneys in 2017 to help her negotiate a severance and bonuses.
She said her attorneys had originally requested a settlement offer of $10 million to Combs and his companies, but she ultimately received only about $200,000.
Asked if she’d brought up the alleged sexual assaults, she replied: “Oh, no. I was going to die with that.”
She was then asked if she would return the money “to have this never have happened.”
“Oh absolutely,” she replied.
Mia suffers from 'complex PTSD' after working for Combs
16:02 , Mike BediganMia said she is currently not working and suffers from “complex PTSD” after working for Combs.
She told the court the symptoms included misinterpreting emails, triple guessing herself and feeling like she is in trouble when someone calls her name.
Court breaks
16:03 , Mike BediganThe prosecution’s direct-examination of Mia has finished, with court taking a quick break.
Defense attorney Brian Steel will cross examine her when court returns.
Watch: Will Diddy testify?
16:15 , Mike BediganMia's cross-examination begins
16:22 , Mike BediganDefense attorney Brian Steel has begun his cross examine of Combs’ former assistant, who is being referred to as the pseudonym “Mia.”
Defense confronting Mia over social media pictures of Combs
16:55 , Mike BediganDefense attorney Brian Steel is confronting Mia over several posts on her social media accounts which feature pictures of Combs.
Captions of the pictures included: “Thank you for giving me an extended family for life.” She also referred to Combs as her “mentor.”
“You wrote... you are forever one of my great fans - this about the man who traumatized you?” Steel said, to which Mia agreed.
She added that she had made positive posts about Combs because social media was about showing off about a great life even if it wasn’t true in reality.
From the court: Combs watches as 'Mia' testifies
17:05 , Mike Bedigan
Combs' alleged abuse 'ruined' Mia
17:10 , Mike BediganBrian Steel asked Mia if the abuse she claims to have suffered at Combs’ hands had left her “broken.”
“The sexual abuse was part of the way he ruined me, yes,” Mia responded.
Mia had to 'beg' to go to her grandmother's funeral
17:20 , Mike BediganMia told the court that she had to ask “permission” for lots of things, including attending her own grandmother’s funeral.
She said had friends but was not allowed to see or speak to them.
“I did not have an external sounding board,” she said, adding... “and I had to get permission to leave or do things.
“I had to beg to go to my grandma’s funeral.”
Mia says she and Combs were 'best friends'
17:26 , Mike BediganAsked why she played down her treatment by Combs and the allegations against him, Mia said that she was afraid to upset the mogul and that they were “best friends.”
“How are you best friends with a man you say raped you?” defense attorney Brian Steel asked.
“Ask my therapist,” Mia replied.
Jurors dismissed for lunch
17:33 , Mike BediganThe jurors have been dismissed for a lunch break and will return at 1:15 p.m.
Mia’s cross-examination will continue then.
Recap: From inside the courtroom
17:43 , Ariana BaioThe Independent’s Ariana Baio reports from inside the court room:
Diddy is wearing a grey sweater and black pants.
It’s obvious Mia is uncomfortable being even in the same courtroom as him. She hands her head, rarely picking it up even to look at prosecutors or defense attorneys.
She answers questions extremely softly when they have to do with abuse – often she stutters whenever talking about the sexual abuse.
During her testimony this morning, the word of the day was “terrified” – she reiterated it over and over again whenever they asked about her relationship with Diddy.
Court resumes
18:22 , Mike BediganCourt is back in session and the cross-examination of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant – who is being referred to by the pseudonym “Mia” – is continuing.
Trump doesn't rule out pardon for Diddy
19:35 , Mike BediganDonald Trump did not rule out the possibility of giving a pardon to Sean “Diddy” Combs, as he took questions in the Oval Office on Friday.
“Nobody's asked, but I know people are thinking about it,” he said. “I think some people have been very close to asking.”
The president acknowledged that the trial was getting a “lot of coverage” but said he hadn’t been following “too closely.”
He added that he had not spoken to Combs “for years.”
“He used to really like me a lot,” Trump said. “I think when I ran for politics, sort of that relationship busted up, from what I read.
“I don't know, he didn't tell me that, but I'd read some little bit nasty statements in the paper all of a sudden, you know, it's different. You become a much different person when you run for politics and you do what's right. I could do other things, and I'm sure he'd like me... so I don't know.”
He added: “I would certainly look at the facts if I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don't like me.”
Diddy allies are already angling for a pardon for embattled rap mogul from Trump, report says
19:45 , Mike BediganSpeaking of which...
Diddy allies are already trying to secure Trump pardon for rapper, report says
Watch: Trump speculates about possible Diddy pardon as rap mogul's trial continues in New York
20:00 , Mike BediganMia says she was 'young and manipulated' by Combs
20:07 , Mike BediganIn her testimony Mia said that having undergone therapy, she had realized that while working for Combs she had been: “I was young and manipulated and eager to survive.
“Nobody was there to say these things that were happening were wrong,” she told the court.
“There was nobody around us that ever even flinched at his behavior... I was always in trouble and I was always just trying to find a way not to be in trouble.”
Mia made Combs a scrapbook for his birthday
20:23 , Mike BediganMia told jurors how she made a scrapbook for Combs after a conversation where he told her, “I used to look at the world the way you did.”
She said it was hard to get a birthday present for somebody who has a lot of money, adding that she thought it would make him happy.
The book was later passed around to jurors.
Jury dismissed for the day
20:48 , Mike BediganAnd with that, the jury has been dismissed and week three of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial is finished.
Lawyers are briefly going over some evidence disputes.
Diddy continues to get support from family
20:50 , Erin KellerDiddy’s family members, especially his adult sons and mother, continue to show up in court for the disgraced mogul.
Mia in text messages after learning Revolt Films would be shut down: 'My life is over'
20:55 , Erin KellerIn December 2016, Mia messaged Kristina Khorram, Diddy’s chief of staff, after learning from another executive that Revolt Films would be shutting down.
She expressed distress, writing, “My life is over,” as seen in text messages shown to the jury.
After a brief exchange, Mia stopped responding. Khorram sent multiple follow-up messages urging Mia to answer her phone. Mia later apologized and said she would call soon. Khorram testified that she was concerned about Mia’s well-being.
Recap: From the courtroom
21:05 , Mike BediganBack with Ariana Baio, who watched proceedings from inside the room:
The second half of cross cross-examination was similar to the first half – Brian Steel was pretty aggressive.
At one point he accused Mia of lying about Combs sexually assaulting her. “Mr. Combs never had unwanted nonconsensual forcible sexual contact with you, Isn’t that true?” Steel asked.
It was such a jarring question, not only did Mia whip her head at him but the entire overflow room like gasped or made a noise.
Mia stuttered and took a few seconds to respond to him before saying everything she’s said in the courtroom is true.
More from inside court...
21:18 , Ariana BaioMore from inside the court:
After lunch, Mia appeared more confident than she had been previously.
Sitting up straight and looking at Steel while giving a definitive “yes” or “no.”
That did not last very long.
After Steel began to aggressively question her about a birthday scrapbook she made Diddy and asking how she could do that, her head dropped and she went back to fiddling with her hands.
She was so unsure of herself that when Steel asked “Mia are you weak?” she said “um I’m not sure.”
Mia expected back on the stand on Monday
21:35 , Mike BediganCombs’ former assistant Mia will continue her testimony on Monday.
Coverage has ended for the week
21:53 , Mike BediganThat’s the end of The Independent’s coverage of the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs for this week.
We’ll be back on Monday when proceedings resume, and Mia takes the stand again.
