Sean Combs: Witness alleges Combs held her over a 17th-floor balcony.

Summary

Dateline NBC: Sean Combs Trial – Witness Alleges Combs Held Her Over a 17th-Floor Balcony

Episode Release Date: June 5, 2025

Overview

In this gripping episode of Dateline NBC, NBC News delves into the high-stakes racketeering trial of Sean Combs, popularly known as Diddy. The episode focuses on the testimony of Brianna Bongolin, a key witness who accuses Combs of severe misconduct, including holding her over a 17th-floor balcony. This summary captures the critical discussions, insights, and developments presented during the episode.

1. Introduction to the Trial

Andrea Canning sets the stage by introducing the ongoing racketeering trial against Sean Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The trial has garnered significant attention, with multiple witnesses bringing forth allegations of violence, drug distribution, and sexual abuse.

2. Brianna Bongolin's Testimony

Brianna Bongolin, a fashion and graphic designer, took the stand under an immunity agreement to testify against Combs and his associates. Her testimony is pivotal, providing firsthand accounts of Combs' alleged violent behavior and involvement in illegal activities.

• Allegation of Violence: Bongolin revealed a chilling incident where Combs allegedly held her over a 17th-floor balcony. She recounted, “[07:34] I was trying not to slip, pushing back on him because I was scared I was going to fall. He was yelling at me, and he kept saying, 'What the f you did?'” This dramatic portrayal underscores the fear and coercion she experienced.

• Threatening Behavior: She also testified, “[05:02] Diddy said to me, 'I am the devil and I can kill you,'” highlighting the psychological terror imposed on her.

3. Allegations of Drug Distribution

Brianna testified about Combs' involvement in illegal drug activities, including procuring drugs for him and Cassie Ventura. She stated, “[03:25] Prosecutors are trying to show that there was this pattern of violence. They're trying to corroborate Cassie and other victims' allegations of physical and sexual abuse.” This connection between violence and drug distribution is central to the racketeering charges.

4. Defense's Cross-Examination Strategies

The defense team employed several tactics to undermine Brianna's credibility:

• Questioning Drug Use: “[11:04] The defense is trying to do in an effort to poke holes in the credibility of these individuals, saying, if you were on drugs, then how do you remember these incidents so clearly then?”

• Challenging Consistency: They compared her current testimony with previous statements taken during meetings with prosecutors, questioning the discrepancies. “[12:04] They're taking the transcripts of the meetings that these witnesses had with prosecutors and comparing them against what they're saying on the stand.”

• Disputing Witness Presence: The defense pointed out that Cassie Ventura did not witness the balcony incident, suggesting potential inaccuracies in Brianna’s account.

5. Surveillance Video Evidence

A significant piece of evidence in the trial is the surveillance video from a hotel hallway in 2016, allegedly showing Combs assaulting Cassie Ventura. The episode discusses the mysterious origins of the video:

• Security Guard Involvement: “[13:10] Israel Flores, who was also a security guard at the hotel, filmed the footage with his cell phone.” However, questions remain about who provided the video to CNN, adding layers of intrigue and uncertainty to the case.

6. Upcoming Testimonies

The episode hints at further developments, including the anticipated testimony of "Victim 2" or "Jane Doe," who will testify under a pseudonym to protect her identity. This upcoming witness is expected to shed more light on the alleged misconduct.

7. Legal Proceedings and Civil Suit

Brianna Bongolin is also pursuing a civil suit against Combs, seeking $10 million in damages. She detailed in her testimony, “[07:34] I was trying not to slip, pushing back on him because I was scared I was going to fall,” further emphasizing the traumatic nature of her allegations.

Conclusion

This episode of Dateline NBC provides an in-depth look into the complex and emotionally charged trial of Sean Combs. Through Brianna Bongolin's harrowing testimony and the strategic maneuvers of the defense team, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of the case's intricacies. The episode underscores the challenges faced by witnesses in high-profile trials and the broader implications of the allegations against a prominent public figure.

Notable Quotes:

• Brianna Bongolin on being held over the balcony: “[07:34] I was trying not to slip, pushing back on him because I was scared I was going to fall.”

• Brianna on Combs' threatening behavior: “[05:02] Diddy said to me, 'I am the devil and I can kill you.'”

• Discussion on testifying under immunity: “[02:34] You can say whatever your truth is, as long as it's the truth, and you're not going to be held legally accountable for anything.”

Timestamps:

• [03:05] Introduction to Brianna’s testimony and immunity agreement.

• [04:26] Detailed description of the balcony incident.

• [05:02] Brianna recounts Combs calling himself the devil.

• [07:34] Brianna describes the balcony incident in detail.

• [11:04] Defense challenges her credibility based on drug use.

• [13:10] Discussion on the surveillance video origins.

Final Notes

As the trial progresses, Dateline NBC continues to provide crucial updates and analyses, keeping listeners informed about the latest courtroom developments. The forthcoming testimonies and evidence are poised to further shape the narrative of this high-profile case.

Transcript

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[Chloe Melas]

NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. Evenings on NBC.

[Jenna Bush Hager]

Hey everyone, it's Jenna Bush Hager from Today with Jenna and friends, reminding you to check out my podcast, Open Book with Jenna and this week's episode, I sit down with Ellen Hildebrand live at the Read with Jenna Book festival to discuss her book adaptations, writing with her daughter and why Nantucket has always been such a special setting for her stories. You can listen to the full conversation now by searching Open Book with Jenna wherever you get your podcasts.

[Andrea Canning]

This is On Trial, a special series from Dateline True Crime Weekly bringing you daily coverage from the Sean Combs racketeering trial. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. I'm Andrea Canning and it's Wednesday, June 4th. Just a heads up. In this episode, we're going to be talking about some graphic details and harrowing subject matter. Today, federal prosecutors called the eighth witness they've had to subpoena to testify against Sean Combs and some of his personal assistants, a hotel security guard. And now Brianna Bongolin. She had been a close friend of Cassie Ventura's on the stand. Brianna told the jury that Combs once told her he was the devil and that he terrified her. NBC News correspondent Chloe Meloss is in downtown Manhattan to get us up to speed. Hey, Chloe.

[Chloe Melas]

Hey, Andrea.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay, so tell us about Brianna and, and who she is to Sean Combs.

[Chloe Melas]

So she's a fashion and graphic designer and she partied with Diddy. They worked together and there has been a lot of anticipation about her testifying.

[Andrea Canning]

Brianna testified under an immunity agreement. Chloe, what do you know about this agreement?

[Chloe Melas]

Well, she Testified about doing illegal drugs with Diddy and Cassie and about getting those drugs and sometimes getting paid back for them by the couple. So, you know, this is something that we've seen with other witnesses taking the stand, granted immunity by the government. So that, look, you can say whatever your truth is, as long as it's the truth, and you're not going to be held legally accountable for anything.

[Andrea Canning]

Her demeanor was very subdued, very.

[Chloe Melas]

Almost breathless at times. It was almost like a whisper.

[Andrea Canning]

I can only imagine just how hard it is for some of these people, especially the ones you know, who are being subpoenaed, to get up there and take the stand. How does Brianna's testimony help the prosecution's case?

[Chloe Melas]

Prosecutors are trying to show that there was this pattern of violence. They're trying to corroborate Cassie and other victims allegations of physical and sexual abuse. And when it comes to Brianna, she's testifying that she saw Diddy be violent towards Cassie and. And that, you know, also she experienced violence from him. So it goes into that coercion element that you need for the sex trafficking.

[Andrea Canning]

And she, according to the prosecution, provides some evidence of drug distribution allegations which could go toward the charges against him.

[Chloe Melas]

Right. When it comes to racketeering, conspiracy, there are these predicate crimes that we've talked about that have to be proven, at least two of them. And she is not the first person to testify that Diddy allegedly had people procuring drugs for him.

[Andrea Canning]

During Brianna's testimony, she describes some unsettling moments with Sean Combs. Tell us about some of them.

[Chloe Melas]

So this was something that I had never heard before, Andrea. She described an incident in her testimony today in which Diddy was upset, and he actually came into Cassie's apartment and threw a knife. Knife at her, and it didn't hit her, but then Cassie throws the knife back, not hitting him, and then Diddy swiftly leaving. But this is just another window into this incredibly violent relationship. And you're just hearing more and more incidents as the case goes on.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah. Tell us about the devil.

[Chloe Melas]

Well, it sounds like a movie. I've said that to you repeatedly. Bringing. Brianna testified that at one point, Diddy said to her, I am the devil and I can kill you. She says that at the time, she was taking cocaine. And she testified that she was terrified. You know, Diddy would allegedly come over late at night. He would just show up unannounced to Cassie's apartment, banging on the door really loudly.

[Andrea Canning]

Brianna also testified that Combs would be watching Cassie in the sense of, like, always knowing where she is that kind of thing.

[Chloe Melas]

Right. So we've heard other witnesses allege that Diddy put a tracking device on Cassie's car and things like that. And although we don't have proof of it, when you're hearing Brianna testify that, I mean, he literally knew where they were on this one particular day. He sent them all of the places where they were that they were out shopping, getting their nails done, and it made them feel, according to her testimony, terrified.

[Andrea Canning]

There's a balcony incident associated with Briana. Can you tell us about that?

[Chloe Melas]

So we first learned all of these details, Andrea, in her civil suit, which she filed in 2024. And in that suit, she talked about Diddy dangling her off of a 17th floor balcony. And that this took place one night while Diddy was in a state of rage. He was banging on Cassie's apartment door, and she actually was sleeping in the living room with her girlfriend. She was crashing at Cassie's, and she actually told her girlfriend to go in the bathroom and motioned for her to be quiet because she knew that Diddy had a propensity for violence. And so she opened the door, she let him in, and she went onto the balcony and Diddy came up behind her. And, you know, to put this into perspective, she testified, I'm five foot one, and he comes up behind her and lifts her up above his chest. And she actually gestured this during her testimony today, saying, look, I weighed about 100 to 115 pounds and my feet were on the rail. And she testified, I was trying not to slip, pushing back on him because I was scared I was going to fall. And for a second I thought I was going to fall. And he was yelling at me, and he kept saying, you know what the f you did? And she said, I had no idea what he was talking about and that he was holding her. She testified, for 10 to 15 seconds. And I mean, look, in the news business, Andrea, you and I know that 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds can feel like an eternity.

[Andrea Canning]

Do we know why Brianna is saying that, that Sean Combs held her over this balcony?

[Chloe Melas]

She still doesn't seem to know what he was so upset about.

[Andrea Canning]

Has Sean Combs responded to this allegation?

[Chloe Melas]

So she filed a civil suit in November of 2024. This is a year after Cassie had filed her explosive suit, and she claimed false impri and emotional distress because of that alleged balcony incident. Diddy had already been arrested at this point, and he put out a statement via his team saying that he was confident that they would ultimately prove that all of these allegations were baseless. She also testified today that she was working with a previous attorney and that person no longer represents her. That they had sent demand letters to Diddy, which is really common when you file a civil suit. And she actually said that around that time, she got a facetime from a really good friend of hers who was a music producer who was also friends with Cassie. He was sitting in Diddy's backyard and calling on behalf of Diddy, trying to talk about settling with her, and she said, no.

[Andrea Canning]

What is the status of her suit?

[Chloe Melas]

So it's still ongoing, and she's seeking $10 million in damages. And you're hearing this refrain over and over during this trial from Diddy's defense team saying that this is all about money when it comes to these victims testifying. It's a money grab.

[Andrea Canning]

All right, some more powerful testimony, Chloe, when we come back, the defense team tries to poke holes in Brianna's testimony. And we've got a little nugget for you about the surveillance video at the heart of the case.

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[Andrea Canning]

So the defense team started their cross examination of Brianna by coming out hard against her and Cassie's drug use. This isn't the first time Cassie's drug use has come up in court.

[Chloe Melas]

Correct. So, I mean, we heard Brianna testify that she did a bunch of different drugs. You did ecstasy. She did cocaine with Diddy. This is something that the defense is trying to do in an effort to poke holes in the credibility of these individuals, saying, if you were on drugs, then how do you remember these incidents so clearly then? Right? Is this revisionist history?

[Andrea Canning]

How else did the defense try to undermine Brianna's testimony?

[Chloe Melas]

One of the other things that the defense pointed out is that Cassie, according to Brianna's testimony, was in the other room as this alleged incident took place with her being dangled over the balcony by Diddy. And so what they were saying is, Cassie never saw you get hung over the balcony, did she? And she even testified that she did not see this happen. And Brianna, when she was on the stand, simply said, I don't remember.

[Andrea Canning]

The defense also talked about Brianna's meeting with prosecutors leading up to the trial. What were they trying to get at there?

[Chloe Melas]

This is a strategy, Andrea, that is now becoming really clear to me when it comes to the defense. What they're doing is they're taking the transcripts of the meetings that these witnesses had with prosecutors leading up to their testimony, and they're comparing the transcripts against what they're saying on the stand. And they're like, okay, so today you're coming and you're testifying about all these different things, but you never mention it to prosecutors, or it took you months to bring something up to prosecutors. Like in the instance of Mia that we talked about, right, Where Mia didn't tell prosecutors for almost two months that she had been sexually assaulted by Combs. So, you know, we're seeing this again, the defense questioning her. Why is your testimony today different than in the past? And you know it's going to ultimately come down. What does the jury believe?

[Andrea Canning]

Chloe, as promised, before we go, we we've got some more information about that surveillance video most of us have probably seen by now showing Sean Combs beating Cassie up in the hotel hallway. That was back in 2016. What did you learn?

[Chloe Melas]

So we talked yesterday about the security guard, Eddie Garcia, who testified that he handed over that USB drive that had the video to Diddy for money. Right? 100 grand that he got in that brown bag. That raises a question, though. We still don't know who gave the copy to cnn after we did the.

[Andrea Canning]

Podcast yesterday, I was thinking that was the question that we needed to talk about.

[Chloe Melas]

Where did it come from? And a government expert witness testified that prosecutors had given him copies of the surveillance footage to examine along with a cell phone recording of that surveillance video. So that means someone recorded that security video off the TV monitor and we don't know who it was. Was it Eddie who secretly held another copy?

[Andrea Canning]

Chloe, another security guard testified that he actually recorded the video.

[Chloe Melas]

Right. So remember at the beginning of the trial, Israel Flores, who was also a security guard at the hotel, he filmed the footage with his cell phone. So that could be what we're seeing. But we still don't have those answers because it didn't come up in his testimony. We just don't know.

[Andrea Canning]

You can never guarantee that you got the only copy. That is for sure, Chloe. So what is next?

[Chloe Melas]

Tomorrow is going to be a huge day. This is the last key witness that the government is putting on the stand. She is only known as Victim 2 or Jane, aka Jane Doe. She's another individual testifying under a pseudonym, a fake name. It's in an effort to protect her identity. And I'm sure we'll learn more tomorrow as to why she doesn't want her identity out there.

[Andrea Canning]

All right, Chloe, thank you. On this Wednesday, we are inching our way through the week. Appreciate all of your updates from the courtroom.

[Chloe Melas]

Thanks so much. Only a few weeks left.

[Andrea Canning]

Thank you for listening to everyone else. And we'll be back with a new episode tomorrow. If you want to read the latest developments and analysis from inside the courtroom, check out the NBC newsletter. Diddy on trial. Go to nbcnews.com diddy to find that on Trials. Produced by Franny Kelly with help from the Dateline True Crime Weekly team. Our senior producers are Alison Orr and Liz Brown Kurloff. Original Music by Jesse McGinty Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.

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