Balcony, Bedroom, Boardroom: 4

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Rise and Fall of Diddy – "Balcony, Bedroom, Boardroom" (Episode 4)
Host: Jesse Weber | Courtroom Correspondent: Elizabeth Milner
Date: October 7, 2025

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Overview

This episode of The Rise & Fall of Diddy—hosted by Jesse Weber and featuring in-depth courtroom reports from Elizabeth Milner—dives into harrowing testimony from key witnesses during the federal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs. With Combs facing historic criminal charges, the episode explores explicit personal accounts of alleged abuse, the defense’s challenges to credibility, and expert testimony unpacking the psychology of trauma. The episode is a vivid, unsparing chronicle of a once "untouchable" mogul’s legal reckoning, as experienced in real time inside and outside the courtroom.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Testimony of "Mia": Diddy's Former Assistant

[02:00–13:41]

• Raw and Reluctant Testimony:
  Elizabeth Milner describes Mia as "soft spoken...very apprehensive," her nerves palpable as she testifies under a pseudonym ([02:00]). Mia recounts entering Combs’s inner circle as a young woman "chasing a foothold in music," only to find the "career she imagined was nothing like the reality she lived" ([02:25]).

• Extreme Demands & Exploitation:
  Mia tells the court about “toxic, chaotic” highs and lows, including being forced to stay near Diddy at all times and working five days straight with no sleep ([03:14]).

  “She ended up having a physical breakdown...she was having trouble hearing, she was having trouble keeping her balance, and then...she even just burst into tears...And Diddy told her at that point that she could finally sleep.” —Elizabeth Milner ([03:21])

• Alleged Sexual Assault & Power Imbalance:
  Mia testifies to waking up with Diddy on top of her; she was “crying...froze, couldn't react,” and had “never initiated sex” or consented ([04:12], [05:03]).

  “I couldn't tell him no to a sandwich. I thought I would be a target if she said no to him.” —Elizabeth Milner relaying Mia’s words ([05:15])

• Retaliation, Surveillance, and Aftermath:
  Mia describes being suspended for oversleeping, fear of Diddy’s wrath, and losing out on career opportunities when Diddy retaliated ([05:41–06:23]). When she left, "fear followed...in messages and in silence,” including being monitored by Diddy’s bodyguard ([06:39–07:16]).

• Lingering Trauma:
  Mia attests to living with PTSD, “triple guessing everything,” and being easily triggered in regular daily life ([07:31]).

• Confrontation on the Witness Stand:
  On cross-examination, defense attorney Brian Steele points to Mia’s post-employment texts to Diddy (“Merry Christmas, I love you so, so much”—[09:55]), the lack of explicit reporting to police or third parties, and delayed disclosure, suggesting “Mia kept it secret” for personal gain ([10:28], [11:19]).

• Prosecution’s Redirect:
  The prosecution establishes that positive public posts about Diddy were required parts of Mia’s job and highlights ongoing coercion, policy of punishing dissent, and a culture of silence.

  “When he was happy, I was safe.” —Mia, as relayed by Milner ([13:48])
  “I can’t look at my niece and my goddaughter in the eye.” —Mia explaining why she ultimately testified ([13:48])

2. Brianna Bongalin: The "Balcony Incident"

[14:41–20:31]

• Outsider Drawn In:
  Unlike prior witnesses, Brianna was not Diddy’s employee or girlfriend but “was something else entirely…an outsider who said she got pulled into Sean Combs’ world, then thrown against it” ([14:41]).

• Terrifying Account:
  Brianna testifies that Diddy dangled her over a seventh-story balcony at Cassie's apartment, screaming, “You know what the F you did?” before throwing her onto furniture ([15:09–16:24]).

  “During this incident, Diddy allegedly told Bona, ‘I'm the devil. I can kill you.’”—Elizabeth Milner ([16:58])

• Physical Evidence & Aftermath:
  Her testimony is corroborated in part by graphic photos of bruising, including a “hole within this particular bruise” ([16:33]).

• Pattern of Violence, Drugs, Control:
  She recounts Diddy providing drugs (ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine, GHB), and her role in obtaining drugs for Cassie ([17:22]).

• Defense Cross-Examination:
  The defense challenges Brianna’s timeline, introducing hotel receipts showing Diddy’s alleged presence in New York during the supposed date of the L.A. incident, and highlighting inconsistencies with Cassie Ventura’s settled civil complaint ([18:04–19:11]).

• Unwavering Affirmation:
  On redirect, Brianna is unshaken:

  “Do you have any doubts that Mr. Combs held you up on the balcony?”
  “I have no doubts.” —Brianna ([19:43])

3. Jane: The Romantic Partner and Complex Survivor

[20:31–33:36]

• A Fast-Moving Relationship:
  Testifying under a pseudonym, Jane details a 2021–2024 relationship starting as “genuine affection”—with pet names and lavish courtship, but soon marked by drugs and manipulation ([20:54–22:25]).

• Drugs and Control:
  Jane testifies to Diddy’s ongoing encouragement of drug use, despite her negative reactions, stating it became “part of the rhythm” of the relationship ([22:43–23:49]).

  “Every other day...they would take this ecstasy pill.” —Milner ([23:31])

• Escalating Sexual and Financial Coercion:
  Diddy introduces orchestrated sexual scenarios, pushing Jane into encounters with hired escorts while he watches ([24:06–25:29]). She describes feeling “exhilarated” but “unable to shut the door”—it “was too much of it” ([26:02]).

• Transactional Nature:
  Jane’s financial dependency is underlined by Diddy covering her $10,000/month rent, offering cash allowances, all conditioned on continued compliance ([26:36–28:09]).

  “This love contract...would continue paying her rent if she continued to do these hotel and debauchery nights.” —Milner ([28:09])

• Turning Point: The Cassie Lawsuit
  The filing of Cassie Ventura’s lawsuit triggers Jane’s realization of parallel abuse, prompting confrontation with Diddy.

  "These pages resembled my own experience. I was bewildered. I was in shock. I couldn't sleep. It felt like a nightmare." —Jane via Milner ([28:54], [29:09])

• Explosive Confrontation:
  Jane testifies to a final, violent altercation after Diddy’s arrest:

  “He grabbed her by the throat...put her in a chokehold. And she said, I couldn't breathe. I was on my tippy toes.” —Milner ([33:03])
  “I just remember that I punched him and he punched me.” —Jane ([33:16])

• Aftermath:
  Jane says she stayed post-assault, explaining the pattern of trauma bonding and her gradual reclaiming of autonomy as the case entered the public eye.

4. Expert Perspective: Trauma Bonding and Memory

[34:39–35:26]

• Explaining Victim Behavior:
  An expert describes "trauma bonding," noting how cycles of abuse forge intense emotional ties:

  “In trauma bonding, the victim develops intense emotional ties...forged through a cycle of abuse…they mistake the absence of abuse with the good times...There is still fear and coercion.” —Expert Witness ([34:39])

• On Memory and Inconsistency:
  Contradictions or gaps in trauma survivors’ testimony are reframed as evidence of trauma’s effects, not lies:

  “Fragmented memories is what trauma is.” —Expert Witness ([35:13])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Relentless Fear and Control:

  “I couldn't tell him no to a sandwich. I knew his power. I didn't want to lose everything I worked for.” —Mia via Elizabeth Milner ([05:15])

• On the 'Balcony Incident':

  “Diddy allegedly told Bona, 'I'm the devil. I can kill you.' ” —Elizabeth Milner ([16:58])

• On Trauma’s Lingering Effects:

  "She says she triple guesses everything she does...still has PTSD...feels triggered, even as someone simply asking, hey, where are you?" —Milner on Mia ([07:31])

• On Love and Compliance:

  "When he was happy, I was safe." —Mia ([13:48])

• On Financial Leverage:

  "This love contract...would continue paying her rent if she continued to do these hotel and debauchery nights..." —Milner ([28:09])

• On the Cassie Lawsuit’s Impact:

  "I can't believe I'm reading my own story." —Jane via Milner ([29:09])

• On the Cycle of Abuse:

  “If I don't do this, maybe he's going to physically hurt me. Maybe he's going to financially cut me off. Maybe he's going to damage my career.” —Expert Witness ([34:39])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening/Case Recap: [00:21–01:04]
• Mia’s Testimony: [02:00–13:41]
• Brianna Bongalin/“Balcony Incident”: [14:41–20:31]
• Jane’s Relationship and Testimony: [20:31–33:36]
• Expert Commentary: [34:39–35:26]

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Tone & Style

The episode lives in the tense intersection of trauma, celebrity, and accountability, with Jesse Weber and Elizabeth Milner’s reporting balancing legal precision and empathy for survivor experience. The language is stark, direct, and often chilling, echoing both the restraint of the courtroom and the raw emotion of the witnesses.

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For listeners and observers, this episode offers a gripping, candid window into the unraveling of Diddy’s empire—filtered through the voices of those whose stories challenge legacies and transform headlines into lived truth.

Transcript

[Jesse Weber]

You're listening to a long crime series available exclusively on Wondery. To listen to the remaining episodes, join wondery and enjoy ad free listening to over 50,000 episodes, including more thrilling long crime series like new episodes of Karen, the Retrial and Sidebar with Jesse Weber. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Spotify.

[Narrator]

Or Apple Podcasts this podcast is a law and crime production. The content may include graphic descriptions of alleged sexual acts, violent violence, abuse and drug use. These topics may be disturbing or triggering for some listeners. Listener discretion is strongly advised. The allegations discussed are based on court documents, public testimony and media reporting. While normally we wouldn't spoil the ending of a story, the headlines were nearly impossible to ignore. On July 2, 2025, a jury convicted Sean Combs of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but acquitted him of the racketeering and sex trafficking charges.

[Jesse Weber]

Three women, three different chapters, all with the same name at the center of their stories. Sean Combs. Their accounts were raw but sometimes inconsistent. The defense used that to their advantage, leaning into every contradiction. Why didn't they leave? Why did they stay to the government? That was the very nature of the story they were telling about influence, imbalance and repeated behavior over time. And as it all unfolded, Law & Crime's own Elizabeth Milner was inside the courtroom, our eyes and ears to every word, every tear, every emotion. These interviews were recorded in real time as soon as she exited into the crowd outside 500 Pearl Street. I'm Jesse Weber and this is the rise and fall of Diddy, the federal trial. She stepped into court with her identity shielded, using just a pseudonymous first name, Mia.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She was very soft spoken, she was very apprehensive while answering some of the questions where you could just really feel her nerves just through her voice and her tone. While she was testifying, even though she walked to the witness stand, and even while she was on the witness stand, she kept her head down. She didn't even really look at the prosecutor who was asking her questions. And that was Madison Smiser. She really just said, seems just so shaken and nervous.

[Jesse Weber]

She was in her mid-20s when she entered Combs orbit, a young woman chasing a foothold in music, she told the jury, but the career she imagined was nothing like the reality she lived.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She described it as it was toxic, it was chaotic, but it was also exciting. But she said the highs were very high and the lows were very low.

[Jesse Weber]

She quickly found herself not just working for Combs, but following him constantly, always close, always ready, whether needed or not.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She said she always had to be near him. There were times where he would just need everything in the world to be given to him. And then there were other times she would just be standing around him for hours on end, and he wouldn't ask for a thing. But she needed to be within close proximity to him.

[Jesse Weber]

That closeness, she said, came at a cost, pushing her beyond her physical limits.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She said the longest he went without sleep is five days.

[Jesse Weber]

And eventually her body gave out.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She said she ended up having a physical breakdown after her. So much exhaustion to the point where she was having trouble hearing, she was having trouble keeping her balance, and then to the point where she even just burst into tears and hysterically began to cry. And Diddy told her at that point that she could finally sleep.

[Jesse Weber]

And in that moment, she realized just how far things could go.

[Elizabeth Milner]

This was a job that was just around the clock, to the point where people were risking their health, their mental health, their emotional health, their physical health in order to do their job.

[Jesse Weber]

Then came the pivot from labor to violence. She says Mia struggled on the stand as she recounted the first time Combs sexually assaulted her.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Somehow, some way, she woke up in a chair. And last place she remembered being was in the kitchen.

[Jesse Weber]

And when she came to, she wasn't alone.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She woke up to somebody on top of her. When she was asked who was on top of her, she explained that it was Diddy on top of her. And she said, I remember that Diddy was using one hand to get his pants off and the other hand to put his penis inside of her. And Mia was crying at this point and was explaining that she froze, that she couldn't react because she felt so terrified and confused and scared.

[Jesse Weber]

Until now, she hadn't told anyone. It was just too complicated.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She didn't want Diddy to do that. And she essentially was just in shock and fear and essentially just froze up because she didn't know what was happening. And she said that even around this time, she looked at Diddy as an older adult. He's kind of around her father's age, and that he was essentially the boss or the king and a very powerful person.

[Jesse Weber]

That imbalance, she said, she shaped everything that followed.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Mia explained that she never wanted to have sex with Diddy. She never initiated to have sex with Diddy.

[Jesse Weber]

She told the jury it was never consensual. But the question remained, why didn't she say no?

[Elizabeth Milner]

As far as her explanation on why she felt like she couldn't say no, she says, I couldn't tell him no to a sandwich. I thought I Would be a target if she said no to him. I thought he would fire me and mess with my future. He would make me look like a threat. I knew his power. I didn't want to lose everything that I worked for, and I didn't think I could ever work in this industry history again.

[Jesse Weber]

That fear became policy. Even a physical collapse didn't shield her from consequences.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She was suspended for even oversleeping on the job because she was be awake so long.

[Jesse Weber]

And when she was awake, she was afraid. Sometimes, she said she didn't even know what she'd done wrong.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She said that she was worried about feeling his wrath. She was confused. And that she didn't know what she did to essentially deserve this treatment.

[Jesse Weber]

She described that even the moments that were supposed to be her own were subject to erasure.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Mia was super excited about this particular project. It was this scripted pilot show that was supposed to go to abc. It was pretty much about the life of being Diddy's assistant. And this was a project that she was pretty excited about working on. But after an argument between Diddy and Mia, Diddy took away this project from her.

[Jesse Weber]

It wasn't just work opportunities that were hijacked. As time went on, she says her own autonomy was slipping from her grasp, too.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Mia ended up going on a plane with Diddy to Vegas. And she said she felt like she just didn't have a choice. Diddy's staff had her passport, but even.

[Jesse Weber]

Leaving the job didn't free her. According to Mia, the fear followed. It showed up in messages and in silence in what she believed she was being asked to say or not say.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Mia thought that Diddy wanted her to make this public statement. So then there's an objection by the defendant. Offense. That objection is sustained. Mia said that she had acted like she wanted to talk to him, but she said that she was scared to talk to him.

[Jesse Weber]

And it wasn't just him. She said Diddy deployed his own employees to keep tabs, to remind her of the consequences of speaking out. According to Mia, one of them was Drock Combs, longtime bodyguard.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Mia thought that Diddy was using Drock to make sure that Mia wasn't a threat to whatever was going on.

[Jesse Weber]

She described a kind of psychological residue, Fear that lingers in everyday life, not just in memory, but in motion.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She says that she triple guesses everything she does. She was saying that she still has ptsd. She says she's triggered in normal situations. She feels overwhelmed. Someone could say, hey, where are you? And they're just talking about grabbing a coffee but from Nina's perspective, she was explaining something just like that even just kind of makes her heart race and she just feels triggered, even as someone simply asking, hey, where are you? Given everything that she had went through while on the job with Diddy before.

[Jesse Weber]

She stepped down, the prosecution asked one final question. Who was responsible?

[Elizabeth Milner]

She had ended her testimony under direct by saying puppy did this Audible's romance.

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[Jesse Weber]

Cross Diddy's attorney, Brian Steele opened with her credentials.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Some of the first lines of questioning that he was asking her was can you tell the jurors where you went to college?

[Jesse Weber]

Steele then moved to her resume, highlighting the way she once talked about her work.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Then you kind of see just her job experience from January 2006 to September of 2006, where she was working as an executive assistant to somebody else who was not Sean Combs, AKA Diddy. And some of the descriptions that she used when describing her job positions were catered to celebrity clients and all their studio needs.

[Jesse Weber]

The defense team's message was becoming clear. Sure the job was demanding, but maybe not abusive.

[Elizabeth Milner]

So I think what the defense was kind of trying to imply is that everything she had gone through on the job was just kind of under the umbrella of it just being thick skin, working those long hours, working for days on end, getting the clients or whoever you're working for, just everything that they need.

[Jesse Weber]

Then messages were introduced, texts and greetings Mia had sent long after she left Combs orbit.

[Elizabeth Milner]

We see some exhibit photos going back to 2018. So this was after Mia was no longer working with Diddy. And so we see it from December 27th of that year where Mia is telling Diddy, merry Christmas, I love you so, so much. Diddy responds two days later, same to you. Then a week Later, Mia responds, happy New Year. So I think the defense was trying to point out, like they were doing with Cassie, like they were doing with Capric Clark and like they were doing with Deontay Nash, is that there was still love there, even though these horrible things had happened to them.

[Jesse Weber]

And if there had been love or even warmth, where was the evidence of abuse?

[Elizabeth Milner]

Brian still had asked Mia while she was on the stand. You had capability of carrying around a phone with you, and do you have any recordings of Mr. Combs berating you? And Mia responds, no, he wouldn't allow it. Well, do you have any texts with family or friends about what Mr. Combs had put you through? Mia had responded, no, it was all kept a secret. Mia was even asked on the stand, why didn't she go to the police? Why didn't she make a police report? Why didn't she go through a third party to make a police report? They had to attack her credibility. I mean, this was someone who had worked closely with Diddy for a number of years. This was someone who also is best friends with Cassie even to this day. And so I think there were times where, as opposed to Cassie, who had taken photos and there were just other cooperating evidence to kind of support her claims. I felt like with Mia, the defense was kind of trying to paint it as she didn't have any of that.

[Jesse Weber]

And if the facts weren't there, the defense suggested maybe the timing of her meeting with prosecutors told its own story.

[Elizabeth Milner]

It wasn't until June of 2024. And they were kind of trying to paint it as, oh, you didn't disclose this until you got a lawyer because you're hoping to get money out of this or possibly do a lawsuit after this, after testifying.

[Jesse Weber]

But Mia pushed back, describing the silence as survival, not strategy.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She was emphasizing a number of times on why she didn't disclose that she was sexually abused or sexually assaulted. Because she said that she was scared, that she was terrified, that she was in shock, that she tried to forg forget that all of this had happened to her.

[Jesse Weber]

Then they hit play. The jury watched a video. Mia, years after leaving Bad Boy recording a birthday message to Combs.

[Elizabeth Milner]

We saw Mia putting on lip gloss in this video, kind of preparing herself to be on camera. And it was kind of like funny and light and just that type of video. And so you. You see me, and she's talking pretty fast. We're just calling Diddy things, like a big inspiration. She's blowing a kiss at him. She says, happy birthday to him. And so I felt like the defense was saying, okay, this is a the real me. And so maybe we did see the real Mia at times, especially during the end of her direct, especially during her cross while she's reading those text messages. But I think the defense scored a win here by really getting this video in.

[Jesse Weber]

Then came the questions about Cassie Ventura. Given the gravity of Mia's own situation, why hadn't she warned Cassie?

[Elizabeth Milner]

Mia was asked, well, you didn't tell Cassie that Diddy sexually assaulted you or that she should have gotten away. And Mia responded, I wasn't allowed to to by Puffy. And Mia says that Diddy took her phone away, took Cassie's phone away, put trackers on her car, and that she was terrified of Diddy. And so Cassie was kind of a focal point of a lot of Mia's cross examination, even when she was asked about why she didn't report it in light of me too, and just how a bunch of powerful figures were essentially getting me, too, in a way. And Mia was asked, did you tell Cassie after reading her lawsuit that you were sexually abused? And Mia said that Cassie. He had called her afterwards. But Mia didn't tell Cassie what happened to her. She said, I was deeply ashamed and wanted to die with it.

[Jesse Weber]

The defense then turned to the money. Was this really about justice or something else?

[Elizabeth Milner]

She ended up getting a settlement for $400,000. However, only $200,000 of that went to her.

[Jesse Weber]

The other half went to her legal representation.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She was also asked, you never called law enforcement about this. You didn't think about ever reporting this anonymously or going to a battered women's shelter?

[Jesse Weber]

On redirect, prosecutors shifted the framing. They tried to remind the jury what Mia had said at the very beginning and why she stayed quiet for so long.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Mia was asked, were notes on his birthday a part of your job? Mia said, yes. What happens if you didn't post something on his birthday? And Mia says, I would be in trouble. Why didn't you post about the bad times? Mia said, because that's not what social media is for. And then Mia was asked, well, why did you keep a person who was abusing you all the time happy? And she said, when he was happy, I was safe. And then she was asked, why didn't you remember his birthday as the anniversary of you being sexually assaulted? Mia says, well, there was no time to assess what happened. You just had to keep on working. And then Mia was asked, what happens if you don't follow the rules? Mia says, I would be punished. Why didn't you Tell hr. Well, they fired Kayla, who was another assistant, for discussing Cassie's abuse. So they would fire me too. And. And finally, why are you testifying? And Mia said that I can't look at my niece and my goddaughter in the eye. And they end the line of questioning under the redirect because there was no recross.

[Jesse Weber]

No further questions. The prosecution's next witness, Brianna Bongalin, wasn't a girlfriend of Diddy's. She wasn't an employee either. She was something else entirely. An outsider who said she got pulled into Sean Combs world, then thrown against it. Her story began on a rooftop in Los Angeles, and by the time she took the stand, it had become one of the prosecution's most explosive accounts.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She had explained that, yes, did he did allegedly hold her over the seventh story balcony over at Cassie's apartment in Los Angeles.

[Jesse Weber]

She didn't just describe what happened. She described how it felt in her body, in her memory, and the aftermath.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She said she was able to kind of lean over across this rail, but then all of a sudden, she's lifted up by her armpits, and Bonna's feet were on the rail, and she was kind of trying to push herself to keep herself from falling. And the person who was holding her up was Sean Combs, AKA Puff, AKA Diddy. And so Bonna was explaining that Diddy was yelling at her very loudly, saying something along the lines of, you know what the F you did? And said it multiple times, and she had no idea what he was even talking about. Even today in 2025, she says she has no idea still what he was talking about. And so she explained that she didn't know necessarily how long he was holding her up, but she said, because he said, you know what the F you did so many times, she estimates that it's around 10 to 15 seconds. And then he threw her onto the furniture. And so Bonna said she didn't know she was actually injured around the time. Then Cassie comes out of her room. She seemed in disbelief and said something along the lines of, cassie said this to Diddy. Did you just hang her over the balcony?

[Jesse Weber]

What came next, allegedly, was physical evidence. Graphic photos of bruising introduced into court record, some of it unusual in shape.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She explained that she had bruises and she had back and neck pain. And so we saw exhibits of really just gnarly bruises. Like, it really looked kind of gross. And so you see Bonna's back of her leg, it has a bruise that she took on the same day, but I think Kind of the gross part to me, I should say, is just kind of hole you see within this particular bruise.

[Jesse Weber]

But it wasn't just what she showed. It was what she was told.

[Elizabeth Milner]

During this incident, Diddy allegedly told Bona, I'm the devil. I can kill you. And even while B was even just saying that phrase, she was kind of shaky in her voice, just kind of recalling it.

[Jesse Weber]

The prosecution walked the jury through other parts of Brianna's relationship with the defendant, including nights out, trips taken, and substances she said were routinely involved.

[Elizabeth Milner]

There were times where Diddy gave Bona drugs like ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine, G, or ghb, and that she didn't do G, as she calls it, before being introduced to it by Diddy. As far as the drugs that she got for Cassie, she got oxy pills, ketamine.

[Jesse Weber]

By the time Brianna came back for Cross, the prosecution had laid out a visceral story, one filled with alleged violence, drugs, and fear. But the defense had a different strategy. Discredit the story entirely by dissecting the details. They started with timing, Text messages, hotel records, travel logs, a line of questioning that suggested Diddy might not have been in Los Angeles at the time of the alleged balcony incident.

[Elizabeth Milner]

They did kind of confront Bona with the receipts and the proof. And so Bonna was alleging that this incident happened on September 26th or 25th of 2016. However, we see one exhibit photo. It's from the Trump Hotel. It's kind of a receipt from a hotel stay. And it was for Frank Black, who we now know was an alias that Diddy was using. And the arrival shows on this particular document that the arrival of Sean Combs, aka Frank Black, was on September 24th of 2016, and he stayed all the way until September 29th of 2016. Bono testified that this incident happened on September 26th of 2016, where you can see from this particular document that Diddy wasn't even in Los Angeles around this time period. He was actually here in New York at the Trump Hotel during this particular time frame.

[Jesse Weber]

Their next line of attack, Cassie's, now settled civil complaint. Brianna Bongalin had been referenced in it, but according to her own words on the stand, not everything Cassie described had happened the way she remembered it.

[Elizabeth Milner]

After Cassie filed her now settled civil lawsuit, Bona told her, girl, you got some of the info wrong, and that some of the allegations weren't necessarily correct.

[Jesse Weber]

The defense leaned into the inconsistencies, but what mattered more in that moment was how Brianna responded when pressed.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Nicole Westmoreland's like, you came in here, and you lied. And Bonnet ends her cross examination by saying, at the end, I can't agree with you.

[Jesse Weber]

As the courtroom settled, the prosecution rose for one last round. A redirect. Brief but pointed. They didn't try to clean up the timeline. They went back to the balcony to what Brianna said she felt and what she never forgot.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Bonna is asked by the prosecution, do you have any doubts that Mr. Combs held you up on the balcony? And Bonna responds, I have no doubts. She has asked, did you tell Cassie that you were going to file a lawsuit? Bona says, no. Are you getting money today to testify? And why are you here today, Bon? No. And she's here today testifying today and even yesterday to get justice. Something that she had said a couple times during her testimony. Then she's asked by the prosecution, do you remember every single detail from the balcony? And Bona says, no. How did you feel when he held you on the balcony? I was terrified, she says. Bonna confirms that the balcony incident did happen, and she spoke about this during every government meeting. And so it seemed that from her perspective, she was really adamant that this. This particular incident did happen, but she just wasn't clear about what date it had actually happened.

[Jesse Weber]

That was the last thing the jury heard before she stepped down. But it wouldn't be the last of the accusations. The next witness testified under a pseudonym. Jane, a former romantic partner of Combs. Their relationship began in 2021. She said she was swept up quickly into the lifestyle, the intimacy, and the man behind the music.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Jane grew up in California, and as far as her relationship with Diddy goes, it lasted for a pretty lengthy period from 2021 all the way up until 2024. And notably, she said the relationship ended when Diddy got arrested.

[Jesse Weber]

To those in the courtroom, it wasn't just the duration that stood out. It was her tone. When Jane spoke about those first months, her voice softened. She painted a picture of intimacy, not intimidation. A relationship that began with inside jokes, pet names, and what sounded, at least at the start, like genuine affection.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She called him just kind of cutesy names in a way. She would call him Sean, which is his real name. She would call him Ernie. It's like Ernie from Sesame street, because she would be going by Bert, and so the two would be Burt and Ernie together. But she also said she called him things like snookums and baby. And so she said that the two first met, like, for real. For real, on a girls trip to Miami, because actually, her friend at the time or the friend that she still has was dating him around this time period. But she says she's met him before at a father's day celebration kind of in passing. And so she explained, even in 2020, that she was drawn to him instantly. She said very nice things about him, that he was really sweet. They went on a yacht, they had drinks. They were flirty together. And then when the two exchanged numbers, that's when the two began calling each other Bert and Ernie. And so even while she's on the stand describing her relationship with Sean Combs, she really seemed kind of like, oh, I was head over heels in love with him. We said, love you very quickly.

[Jesse Weber]

But beneath the sweetness, there were signs of control. The relationship didn't just move fast emotionally. It also began to shape her behavior. Jane testified that even in those early, early idyllic settings, like a trip to the Bahamas, she found herself bending to his influence in ways that would later haunt her.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Jane said that she started to use some types of drugs, including ecstasy. She said she had taken it before, but that Diddy was the one who suggested it at various points during the trip, like 10 times, as she said, and said that he had opened his hand, a pill was there, and said, take this. It'll be more fun.

[Jesse Weber]

But what started as recreational drug use quickly turned dangerous. Jane said her body didn't respond well, and things took a turn.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Her body began convulsing during this trip. She fell to the san and Christina quorum, and the butler had to put her in a lukewarm shower.

[Jesse Weber]

That medical episode didn't end the drug use. If anything, it became part of the rhythm. Jane described a cycle that kept repeating. The highs, the spending, the intimacy, all accelerated, operating at once.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She said every other day that while on this trip that they would take this ecstasy pill. And so it seemed like that was kind of the start of the relationship. One drugs, but also a lot of money kind of being thrown at her just right at the beginning. But according to Jane, she was just head over heels during this.

[Jesse Weber]

From the outside, it may have still looked like romance, but inside the relationship, Jane said, there were already signs that the balance of power had started to shift.

[Elizabeth Milner]

This change in their relationship happened in May of 2021. And that was when Diddy started talking about fantasies.

[Jesse Weber]

He started introducing ideas, sexual scenarios, strangers in hotel rooms, roles for her to play.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She said, okay, because it turned him on, and she thought she was playing into this fantasy.

[Jesse Weber]

She thought it might keep him happy. On the stand, she described the first time she complied.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She came out of this bedroom at this hotel, that she was wearing lingerie, and she was wearing very high heels, or stripper heels, as she calls them.

[Jesse Weber]

The scene felt orchestrated, not spontaneous, not private. Jane said she sensed early on that this night had a script, even if she hadn't been given it.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She says that the entertainer or escort was a man named Don, and she could tell that Don and Diddy kind of knew each other. She said she got a sense that they knew each other, but she said that he was from. She calls it Cowboys and Angels. But you can't help but think, is it possible that she meant Cowboys for Angels, something that. A service that even Cassie herself said she used while she was testifying? And so she said that Diddy was telling her to relax. She was nervous. She began dancing. Then she took off her robe, and dawn got turned on. And next thing you know, dawn is coming closer to her, and it's starting to make her try to feel comfortable. And while all of this was going on, Diddy was watching this, and he was pleasuring himself or masturbating. And Don suggested that she perform oral sex on him. And Diddy was washing throughout all of this.

[Jesse Weber]

She told the jury she was overwhelmed, disoriented from drugs, unsure of what was expected of her, but aware enough that saying no didn't feel like an option. She said the lines between performance and coercion were already blurring.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She asked Don to wear a condom.

[Jesse Weber]

And when she tried to assert even that small measure of autonomy, Diddy didn't want that. Afterward, she didn't walk away. Instead, she said, it became a pattern. One night had opened the door to more nights, and soon, she said, there was no closing it behind her.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She explained, as far as the first night goes, where she said, I felt exhilarated from that experience. It was taboo. It was fun. She said, I didn't think we'd be doing it again. I thought maybe one time or maybe another time that's on a random night. But she said, I felt that night open Pandora's box. It was a door I was unable to shut. It was just too much of it.

[Jesse Weber]

And it didn't feel optional.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Jane was explaining that these went on from May of 2021 to October of 2023, and they happened every single time she saw Diddy.

[Jesse Weber]

And layered on top of that, Jane said, was money.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Diddy, again, was just giving her money. It would be either $5,000, it would be $10,000 in cash or wire transfers, and the most money that he ever gave her in One period was $20,000.

[Jesse Weber]

Enough to keep her close, but not enough, she said, to ever feel free. Even in the moments when Jane tried to carve out a sense of independence, to take control of her image, her body, and her finances, she still needed his permission.

[Elizabeth Milner]

In 2021, and around this time, she said she wanted to make her own money and she wanted to do only fans. And Diddy was hesitant about it. But Jane said that she would just be wearing lingerie and implant applied and nudity. And she explained that My girlfriend made $4 million that year, and I knew that it would be lucrative for me. So she said she got permission to start this particular only fans page from Diddy because she wanted to make sure that he had approved of this. But I think also what's interesting is during this time period, Diddy's paying for her rent. And we do know that the rent was $10,000 a month. She said she couldn't afford this rent amount on her own. And Jane proposed even a $15,000 a month allowance, an allowance I myself would love just without all that extra stuff that did. He only gave her $10,000 a month, which, for the most part, if you just think about it, is just enough for her to cover just her rent alone. It doesn't go to the other necessities or extras that she may need to pay and kind of carry on with her life.

[Jesse Weber]

But financial support, Jane said, wasn't about generosity. It came with strings. And as the relationship deepened, those strings started to look a whole lot more like leverage.

[Elizabeth Milner]

This love contract, in its essence, as Jane described it, would continue paying her rent if she continued to do these hotel and debauchery nights, if she threatened to not do these, that Diddy could possibly threaten to take her rent or her money away.

[Jesse Weber]

It wasn't just money. It was power. And for Jane, it felt like the relationship had stopped being about connection and become something more transactional, more inescapable. In November 2023, everything shifted again. Jane said she was online when she saw the headline. Cassie Ventura had filed a lawsuit against Sean Combs, accusing him of abuse, coercion, and control. Jane didn't just read it. She said she saw herself in it.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She said, these pages resembled my own experience. I was bewildered. I was in shock. I couldn't sleep. It felt like a nightmare.

[Jesse Weber]

The details mirrored what Jane said she had been living. She said the lawsuit dredged up memories she hadn't let herself process, at least not fully.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Jane was explaining that she read the entire complaint. He said, these pages resembled my own experience. I was bewildered. I was in shock. I couldn't sleep. It felt like a nightmare. And so the jury was able to see an exhibit of Cassie's lawsuit that was filed on November 16th of 2023. Jane said previously she did meet Cassie a couple times, but in passing, she said it was around the 2015ish time frame. So that's not when Cassie was still with Diddy, and the two had met at a fashion show and at a Father's Day celebration. But the two never spoke outside of just meeting each other in passing. Years before, she had even filed her lawsuit, that being Cassie. But Jane was saying that she had a lot of sympathy. She says, I can't believe I'm reading my own story.

[Jesse Weber]

Reading Cassie's complaint, Jane said, was like staring into a mirror. The patterns, the language, even the settings felt hauntingly familiar. And even though their encounters had been brief years earlier, Jane now saw a painful connection between her and Cassie behind the scenes. Cassie's lawsuit was triggering a cascade of events. A federal investigation, a media firestorm, and for Jane, a reckoning. The day after Cassie's lawsuit was filed, Diddy reached out.

[Elizabeth Milner]

The text from Diddy said, smh, I'm stressed and sad. We're supposed to be on the same page. Jane said, well, how can we both be on the same page? And then she was saying that she had to go to the doctor. And then a couple days later, on November 19, she said, I've been crying for three days. I feel like I'm reading my own sexual trauma. You recently threw me up in a hotel for days. God woke me up from this sick trauma.

[Jesse Weber]

Jane's tone toward Diddy shifted. What started as distress turned into confrontation. She began saying out loud what she'd endured and questioning what it had meant all along. Her text to him grew more explicit, more poor, pointed. She was no longer tiptoeing around it. She was drawing a line. And that's when Combs reached out again, this time in a different format.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Then there was an exhibit that we heard about. It's from November 19th of 2023. It was a recording of a phone call. And so you hear Diddy saying, I'm sorry you feel this way. I know we can't talk on these phones. I called and reached out to you. Sorry you feel this way. It was some kinky S H I t. I thought we both enjoyed what.

[Jesse Weber]

She read in Cassie Ventura's lawsuit, she said felt like confirmation that she wasn't alone, that what happened to her wasn't a secret anymore, and that Maybe she wasn't crazy for calling it what it was. She told the jury it wasn't simple. She still had feelings for him. In fact, Jane testified that after seeing him publicly vow to become a better man in a May 2024 Instagram post, his response to the release of the infamous Intercontinental Hotel video, the two met again about a month later. She said they were in a house, one of Combs properties. But this wasn't necessarily a planned trip between partners. She was there to confront Diddy about another woman he was reportedly traveling with. And that's when the situation took a turn.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Jane explained that she pushed Diddy's head onto a counter when he was bending over as he looked like he was about to tie his shoes. And as far as how hard she pushed his head down, she said, well, I gave it a good shot. Shot.

[Jesse Weber]

She said he followed her room to room, breaking down doors to get to her.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Then Jane is saying that she threw candles and glass everywhere and telling Diddy, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. And that wax got onto Diddy and while she was throwing those candles at him and that Diddy got angry, he was calling her crazy. And then Jane said she tried to leave the kitchen to go to the primary bedroom, or the master bedroom, as she calls it, and that she was telling Diddy to just to leave. Jane ended up locking the bedroom door. He kicked that open. She locked herself in the primary bathroom. He kicked that open off the hinges. Jane said she went into her walk in closet. He kicked that door down too. So Jane went into the hallway about to leave out of the front door.

[Jesse Weber]

At one point, she said he grabbed her by the throat.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She said that while she was back in the hallway trying to leave out of the front door, that Diddy ended up kicking her and then put her in a chokehold. And she said, I couldn't breathe. I was on my tippy toes.

[Jesse Weber]

She fought back and he hit her.

[Elizabeth Milner]

She says, I just remember that I punched him and he punched me.

[Jesse Weber]

She said he kept going, kicking, punching, yelling about how she'd ruined everything.

[Elizabeth Milner]

Did he said something along the lines to Jane? He said, you're trying to take me away from my family.

[Jesse Weber]

Jane described this as the turning point. What had once been about control and fantasy, she said, had crossed into raw violence. And yet even after that, she stayed. Through the public lawsuits, through the headlines, through the months leading up to Combs arrest, the defense might have seen contradiction, but Jane called it survival, a way to reclaim something that had been stripped away. Her messages painted the picture equal parts heartbreak, defiance and pain. And by the end, it was clear whatever hold he had on her, it was broken. Jane didn't look at him in court. She didn't perform. She simply testified. Messy, emotional and unresolved. Honest and final. Next on the Rise and fall of Diddy, the federal trial. The jury gets an expert's take on abuse, not just about trauma, but how it rewires the brain, shaping behavior and shattering memory.

[Expert Witness]

In trauma bonding, the victim develops intense emotional ties to their abuser forged through a cycle of abuse. And very often they mistake the absence of abuse with the good times, quote, unquote. Well, it's not so bad. But at the end of the day, there is still fear and coercion. If I don't do this, maybe he's going to physically hurt me. Maybe he's going to financially cut me off. Maybe he's going to damage my career.

[Jesse Weber]

And when it comes to memory, what seems like contradiction might actually be the most honest sign of all.

[Narrator]

I've never met somebody who has been through trauma who can actually recount the experience or have memories come back from the beginning to the end. Fragmented memories is what trauma is.

[Jesse Weber]

This has been a long crime. Production. I'm your host, Jesse Weber. Our executive producer is Jessica Lowther. Our writer and producer is Cooper Mahl. Our associate producer is Tess Jagger Wells. Edit and sound design by Anna Mclean. Guest booking by Diane Kay and Alyssa Fisher. Additional production support from Giuliana Battaglia and Stephanie Doucet. Legal review by Elizabeth Voulai. Key art design by Sean Panzera. And special thanks to Elizabeth Elizabeth Milner for her in depth reporting on this case. Follow law on crimes, the rise and fall of Diddy, the federal trial on the Wondery app. You can listen to more episodes exclusively and ad free right now on Wondery. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Spotify or Apple podcasts and get ad free access to more thrilling law and crime series like new episodes of the retrial and sidebar with Jesse Weber. Start your free trial today.