Sean Combs: The defense cross-examines "Mia."

Summary

Dateline: True Crime Weekly

Episode: Sean Combs: The Defense Cross-Examines "Mia"
Release Date: May 31, 2025
Host: Andrea Canning
Guest: NBC News Correspondent Chloe Meloss

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Introduction

In this gripping episode of Dateline: True Crime Weekly, host Andrea Canning delves into the intense proceedings of the Sean Combs (Diddy) racketeering trial. Focusing on a pivotal moment in the trial, the episode dissects the defense's cross-examination of the prosecution's key witness, Mia. With insights from NBC News Correspondent Chloe Meloss, listeners gain an in-depth understanding of the courtroom dynamics and the strategies employed by both the prosecution and defense teams.

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Overview of the Racketeering Trial

Sean Combs stands trial on racketeering charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty. The trial has garnered significant attention, drawing parallels with previous allegations against Combs, including those by Cassie Ventura. This episode marks a critical juncture as the defense begins to challenge the credibility of the prosecution's witness, Mia.

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Prosecution’s Presentation of Mia’s Testimony

Mia’s Emotional State and Testimony

Mia took the stand again, displaying a composed yet emotionally charged demeanor. According to her representative, she appeared "pretty strong and stoic," though she "would sometimes seem like her voice was trembling and she was sort of whispering at times" (02:15). During her testimony, Mia recounted her experiences working under Combs, highlighting the abusive work environment and instances of sexual assault.

Text Messages Between Mia and Combs

A significant portion of Mia's testimony involved text messages exchanged between her and Combs. These messages, dating back to the period of the alleged misconduct, included threats and coercion. Mia's representative explained, "Some of the texts are threatening. He's telling her that her job's at stake... He's angry. He's gonna fire her" (02:44). One particularly alarming message read, "if you don't call me now, I'm gonna tell everything," which Mia interprets as a threat to expose their sexual relationship, an assertion she referred to as "sexual assaults."

Attempts to Leave and Subsequent Layoff

Mia detailed her attempts to escape the abusive environment, including a harrowing incident on the island of St. Barts. She described how Combs verbally abused her while she was on a yacht, leading her to seek refuge and ultimately leave the yacht only to realize she had no passport. Despite her efforts, Mia was unable to successfully leave Combs' employ. In 2017, she was laid off and subsequently fought for back pay, ultimately receiving $400,000 after mediation, though she sought $10 million in damages (06:12; 07:03).

Involvement of Other Employees

Mia's testimony also shed light on other key figures within Combs' organization, such as Christina Kharam, Combs' chief of staff, and Drock, Combs' head of security. She recounted interactions where these individuals either supported or attempted to mediate the toxic environment she endured (07:31; 08:14). Notably, Mia declined financial assistance from Drock, perceiving his outreach as an attempt to silence her.

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Defense’s Cross-Examination of Mia

Presentation of Binders with Social Media Posts

During the defense's cross-examination, attorney Brian Steele introduced a series of binders containing Mia's social media posts to the jurors (12:53). The posts showcased positive sentiments towards Combs, such as birthday wishes and professional praise. Steele leveraged these posts to challenge Mia's credibility, questioning how she could simultaneously allege abuse while publicly expressing admiration for her employer.

Questioning Mia’s Credibility

Steele aggressively probed the discrepancies between Mia's public persona and her courtroom testimony. He highlighted instances where Mia posted messages like, "you’re my mentor" and "thank you for all the things you’ve ever done for me" (13:19). In response, Mia maintained that social media does not accurately reflect her personal struggles, stating, "social media is not a true depiction of what was really going on in her life" (13:26). The defense aimed to portray Mia as inconsistent, suggesting that her positive posts undermined her allegations of abuse.

Defense’s Narrative vs. Mia’s Testimony

Steele further challenged Mia by juxtaposing her testimony of severe abuse with her social media activity showing times of enjoyment and professional satisfaction. Mia countered by explaining the complexity of her relationship with Combs, noting that "the highs were high and the lows were low" (14:08). She acknowledged that during better moments, she felt safe, which allowed her to "almost forget about" the abuse temporarily (14:11).

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Jurors’ Reactions

Andrea Canning reported observing varied reactions from the jurors during the intense cross-examination. Some jurors appeared to exhibit subtle signs of support for Combs, such as smirking or laughing during Steele's aggressive questioning of Mia's credibility (16:16). However, it's important to note that these reactions may not definitively indicate their stance, as jurors are expected to maintain impartiality.

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External Reactions and Political Comments

The trial has not gone unnoticed beyond the courtroom. Andrea Canning highlighted a segment where Fox News reporter questioned President Donald Trump about the possibility of pardoning Combs. President Trump responded by stating, "nobody's talked to me about it yet. Nobody's asked," but expressed a willingness to "look at the facts" if presented (17:13).

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Conclusion and Next Steps

As the trial progresses, the defense continues to scrutinize Mia's credibility, while the prosecution maintains their stance on the severity of the allegations against Sean Combs. The episode sets the stage for further developments, anticipating continued high-stakes interactions in the courtroom. Andrea Canning concludes by inviting listeners to stay tuned for more updates and encourages them to subscribe to the NBC Newsletter for the latest courtroom developments.

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Notable Quotes

• Mia’s Representative: "Today she was still looking down, not making eye contact with the jury. With Diddy, her voice still would sometimes seem like it was trembling and she was sort of whispering at times. 02:15"

• Mia’s Representative: "Some of the texts are threatening. He's telling her that her job's at stake. 02:44"

• Mia’s Representative: "He was reaching out to her to try to silence her. 09:44"

• Mia: "I stand by my testimony. These things did happen to me. 15:25"

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Speaker Attribution

• Andrea Canning: Host of Dateline: True Crime Weekly
• Chloe Meloss: NBC News Correspondent
• Adopt Us Kids Representative: Spokesperson for Mia (presumably Mia's representative or attorney)

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Timestamps Reference

• [02:15] – Mia’s emotional demeanor on the stand
• [02:44] – Presentation of threatening text messages
• [06:12] – Mia discusses fear of Combs destroying her reputation
• [07:03] – Mia seeks $10 million in damages
• [07:31] – Involvement of Christina Kharam and Drock
• [08:14] – Drock’s outreach to Mia post-civil lawsuit
• [12:53] – Defense introduces binders with social media posts
• [13:19] – Highlighting positive social media messages
• [13:26] – Mia’s defense of her social media activity
• [14:08] – Explanation of the highs and lows in Mia’s experience
• [14:11] – Mia describes feeling safe during good moments
• [16:16] – Observations of jurors' reactions
• [17:13] – President Trump’s response to pardoning questions
• [15:25] – Mia stands by her testimony despite cross-examination

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For more detailed analysis and updates, listeners are encouraged to subscribe to the NBC Newsletter and visit NBC News for additional resources.

Transcript

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[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 Friday, May 30th. Just a heads up. In this episode, we're going to be talking about some graphic details and harrowing subject matter this morning. The prosecution witness, using the pseudonym Mia, was back on the stand. Then, after a couple of hours, the defense began its cross examination of her. As it was starting, attorney Brian Steele asked the jurors to open binders that had been left on their chairs. NBC News correspondent Chloe Meloss is going to tell us what was in those binders and more. She has just come out of the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Hey, Chloe.

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

Hey, Andrea.

[Andrea Canning]

So yesterday Mia was, as you told us, she was very emotional throughout the day. How was she today?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

Today she was still looking down, not making eye contact with the jury. With Diddy, her voice still would sometimes seem like it was trembling and she was sort of whispering at times. But overall she was pretty strong and stoic. And especially during cross examination, there were times where she was really talking back to Brian Steele and holding her own.

[Andrea Canning]

Today, the prosecutor pulled out texts between Mia and Combs, Mia and Others who worked at Combs company. What was that all about?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

These are text messages that date back to the time of the allegations that she's talking about. And it's both Mia and also Diddy's text messages. Some of the texts are threatening. He's telling her that her job's at stake. Uh, he's angry. He's gonna fire her. He wants nothing to do with her. In one instance, he writes to her, if you don't call me now, I'm gonna tell everything. And don't ever speak to me again. You have two minutes. This is in reference to her being in South Africa with Cassie, and he was trying to get ahold of Cassie. And according to Mia, when he says imma tell everything, he means exposing their sexual relationship. And she says those were sexual assaults.

[Andrea Canning]

There is one text the prosecutor showed the jury, which Mia sent Combs and his chief of staff. You can really see the panic or hear the panic in her words, even though it's in a text message?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

Absolutely. I mean, I think one of the things that we're really seeing now is that he was relentless in terms of the work environment for his employees and especially for Mia, who was his personal assistant for all of these years, that he would call her dozens of times in succession and write the same text over and over again. It would say something like, call me now. Call me now. Call me now, please. In one instance, she wakes up to, I think, like, 48 missed calls while she's in South Africa. And she's like, I just woke up. And you can see her worry about her job. You can see her trying to defend herself. And she writes back, I was exhausted. There's a time change where I am right now. I would never avoid you. I would never not answer your calls. I mean, I think that when you're talking about panic, we definitely see it when she messages Christina Khoram, who was Diddy's chief of staff. She says, I'm having night terrors. About Diddy.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, because this is what she's waking up to. Right?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

I mean, it's totally abnormal. Imagine your boss calling you 48 times. But she also said that she felt like Diddy was under the influence. He was slurring his words, you know? So we don't know Diddy's state of mind at the time of these actions.

[Andrea Canning]

Yesterday we were talking about how some of Mia's testimony echoes Cassie Ventura's. They both stuck around for years after they alleged Sean Combs began abusing them. How did Mia explain that when the Prosecutor asked her, you know, why she stayed.

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

Well, she actually said that she had tried to quit before, and she talked about an incident on the island of St. Barts, where she was on a yacht off the coast with Kim Porter, who was the mother of some of his children and some of Combs friends, and that Diddy was screaming at her while she was counting some money of his. And he kept telling her that she was counting it wrong and then threatening her and threatening her job. And so she actually went to go hide from him and was begging the captain to get her a tender, which is a little boat to take her to shore. And finally, they get her on that little boat, and it takes her to shore, and she realizes she doesn't have her passport, that she had left it with the head of security back on the yacht. So she said that she's tried to escape, but she was never successful in doing so.

[Andrea Canning]

And there was a Q and A where the prosecutor asks her, you know, could you get other jobs? And, you know, her response was, no. Right?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

Yeah. She says that he would have destroyed my reputation. I was scared of him.

[Andrea Canning]

Mia testified that she was eventually laid off in 2017 from the company and that she had to fight for back pay.

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

Yeah, so she said that she was so upset, actually, that Diddy was not the one to deliver this news to her, that she felt like it was a real betrayal. But at this point, she's out of a job. She doesn't think she can get a job with anybody else. And so she hires an employment attorney who tries to help her get the money that she feels like she's deserved. And so this goes on for nine months, and eventually there's some mediation. She actually asks for $10 million, but in the end, she only got 400,000. And 200,000 went to her attorneys.

[Andrea Canning]

What was with the 10 million then? Is this for sort of damages? Why so much?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

Yeah. So she says that she did bring up the fact that she had been emotionally and physically abused to her employment attorneys, but she did not say that she had been sexually assaulted. She reiterated that that was something that she just planned to take with her to her grave. Um, and so this $10 million number was arbitrary. It was something she said that her attorneys came up with. Ultimately, she was paid for bonuses owed and all of the overtime that she was owed.

[Andrea Canning]

Chloe. Mia also testified about other people who worked for Combs. And. And you mentioned already one of them his chief of staff, a woman named Christina Karam.

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

Right. And so her nickname is KK and she appears to be across a lot of the communication between Mia and Diddy. And Mia at times would forward emails or things that she had written to Diddy for her line of sight. So it could be interesting to see will she testify at some point.

[Andrea Canning]

And Mia brought up another name you've mentioned quite a few times now during this trial. Drock. And that is Combs, head of security. How did he come into play in Mia's testimony today?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

This was fascinating. Mia has this exchange with Drock, who reaches out to her right after Cassie filed her civil lawsuit in November of 2023. And on November 30, Drock reaches out to her and is like, hey, have you been? But they haven't talked in two years. So she says he was trying to tell her that Cassie and Diddy's relationship, although toxic at times, that this was just like a normal couple, that their fights were normal. And he said that other people actually agreed with him in their inner circle. She said that a big red flag went off for her and that she just stayed silent on that call.

[Andrea Canning]

Combs settled the lawsuit with no admission of wrongdoing. And we learned a couple of weeks ago that as a part of the settlement, he paid Cassie $20 million. How does Mia fit into this, if at all?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

I think it was pretty clear to anybody who read Cassie's civil lawsuit that law enforcement was probably going to look into this and do some sort of investigation into her claims, especially once CNN released that really shocking security footage of her being beaten in that hotel hallway in 2016. And so if there was any evidence to back them up or people who'd corroborate that, he'd be in jeopardy. Right.

[Andrea Canning]

So Mia is testifying that her interpretation of that phone call is that Combs wants to make sure she's not a threat. Is that accurate?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

Yeah, I mean, she felt as though Diddy was reaching out to her to try to silence her. And Drock actually offers to send her some money, which she declines. But he doesn't say that the money is for her to not participate in any sort of investigation. He just says he wants to help her out. She's like, it's okay. I do have trouble paying my bills right now, but I don't want your help. It's all good. So she never accepts any money. She never gets on the phone with Diddy. After a couple phone calls and a few text messages, they left her alone, it seems.

[Andrea Canning]

Is the government alleging here, then, that Combs was obstructing justice?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

I don't know if that's what they're saying with these particular messages. Obstruction of justice is one of the RICO crimes that prosecutors explicitly named in their indictment. And witness tampering is one of the allegations that the government leveled trying to get Diddy's bail applications denied. Prosecutors have said multiple times that he was obstructing justice from behind bars at his prison in Brooklyn, that he was trying to get to witnesses. So I don't know if these messages really illustrate obstruction, but it definitely shows that he was trying to reach out to people.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay, Chloe, we have a lot more to come. When we come back, the defense begins its cross examination of Mia and it includes those binders left on the jurors chairs.

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[Andrea Canning]

Chloe, tell us about these binders and what was inside them.

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

So when the jurors came in for Brian Steele's cross examination, there were these binders on each of their chairs and in them were all these different social media posts of Mia's. So this whole afternoon of cross examination, Steele just attacked Mia's credibility by talking about all these things that she had posted on Instagram during her eight years working for him.

[Andrea Canning]

And these posts were she Put them up pretty close in time to some of the incidents she testified.

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

Yeah, I mean, this was really fascinating. Brian Steele spent the entire cross examination showing Mia all of these different things that she had posted on Instagram. Wishing Diddy a happy birthday, telling him that she loved him, saying, you're my mentor. You know, you're such a great guy. I'll always be there for you. Thank you for all the things that you've ever done for me. And so Steel's like, how can you call the person who assaulted you your mentor? So, I mean, things got really heated. But she stood firm and she said that social media is not a true depiction of what was really going on in her life.

[Andrea Canning]

Steele also pointed out that this wasn't all bad for Mia.

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

She.

[Andrea Canning]

There were times where she was enjoying herself, where she liked her job.

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

I mean, it's really complicated, right? She says the highs were high and the lows were low. She keeps saying that exact quote. And she says, yeah, I mean, I was traveling, but this was part of my job. I was drinking wine in this photo. But, you know, Diddy wasn't with us in this moment. And Steele says, well, how do you have a good moment when you're terrified because you're saying this is your abuser who has repeatedly sexually assaulted you, who's ruining your life? And she says, it's easy because the dynamic would shift when things were good. I felt really safe. You almost forget about those things.

[Andrea Canning]

Steele really pushed back on Mia's rape claims.

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

I mean, there were multiple times where Steele's voice was raised and he was like, you weren't sexually assaulted, were you? You weren't raped, really, were you? And she's like, I stand by my testimony. You know, these things did happen to me. And he said, you know, how do you forget about waking up with a man on top of you? She says, it's too horrible to think about. You want it to go away. So when she would post pictures on trips or wish him a happy birthday, she's basically saying that behind the scenes it was awful. But publicly, she's cherry picking the best parts.

[Andrea Canning]

The defense seems to be trying to show the jury this different version of Mia. You know, yesterday she was sobbing on the stand. Today, they're trying to show her as this woman who had a fabulous career. You know, she's posting like crazy all these wonderful things she's doing and seems to be enjoying herself working for Combs.

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

And that is something that the jury is going to have to figure out, right? I mean, she's far more engaged. Today. She's kind of talking back to Brian Steele and she's being confident and she's saying, yep. I mean, literally, she'll say, yep, I posted that. And she's like, I am dealing with this in therapy right now. I'm still unpacking everything that happened to me. I suffer from major ptsd. And at one point she's like, you weren't sexually assaulted. She says that to Brian Steele.

[Andrea Canning]

We obviously cannot read the minds of jurors, but how do you think that they were reacting to the defense's cross examination of Mia?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

So some of these jurors do not have a good poker face. And I was talking to some people who came out of the courtroom this afternoon while I was outside doing some TV segments and they said that some of the jurors were actually kind of laughing and smirking during Brian Steele's. Yep, really aggressive cross examination of her. That there are a few that appear to be Pro Diddy, but again, that could be a facade.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, it's interesting trying to read jurors. You know, you just, you never know. The trial is getting just a ton of attention today. It made it all the way to the White House. Fox News reporter asked President Trump in the Oval Office if he would consider pardoning Combs. What was the president's answer?

[Adopt Us Kids Representative]

I mean, in the wake of the Chrisley's being pardoned? Andrea this was a perfectly expected question for him to be asked. And he said, nobody's talked to me about it yet. Nobody's asked. But he said he would certainly look at the facts. He said that he hasn't seen or spoken to Diddy in years and that he wasn't following the trial closely, but he was open to looking into it.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay, we look forward to your color and analysis next week. We hope everyone has a great weekend. Thank you, Chloe, for everything all week and thanks to everyone for listening. We'll be back with a new episode on Monday. 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 Trial is produced by Franny Kelly with help from the Dateline, True Crime Weekly team. Our senior producers are Alison Orr and Liz Brown Karloff. Original Music by Jesse McGinty Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.

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