A former assistant to Sean Combs returned to the stand on Monday in the music mogul’s federal trial, and under aggressive questioning by a lawyer for Mr. Combs she denied that her allegation of sexual assault was untrue.
“I have never lied in this courtroom,” the woman said, “and I never will lie in this courtroom.”
Mr. Combs has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have strongly denied that any of his sexual arrangements were nonconsensual.
If convicted of all charges, Mr. Combs, 55, could face life in prison.
In her third day on the stand, the woman, who is testifying under the pseudonym Mia, was cross-examined by Brian Steel, a lawyer for Mr. Combs. He challenged her accusation that Mr. Combs had sexually assaulted her multiple times during the years she worked for him, and asked why she had not disclosed those allegations earlier.
Mia worked for Mr. Combs from 2009 to 2017, as a personal assistant and then in a film division of his company. She testified that during her employment she had been subjected to sleep deprivation and violence, and that she was sexually assaulted by Mr. Combs, including an occasion when she said he entered a bedroom where she was sleeping and penetrated her without her consent.
Mia acknowledged that aside from telling a therapist, she did not disclose her sexual assault allegation until June 2024, months after she began a series of meetings with government prosecutors during their investigation that led to Mr. Combs’s arrest last September. Prosecutors said they met with Mia 28 times over the course of the case.
“I was still deeply ashamed and wanted to die with this,” Mia said.
Mr. Steel also asked Mia whether she made her accusation to join “the #MeToo money grab” — a question Mia did not answer because the judge, Arun Subramanian, sustained an objection from the government.
Mia testified that she was paid a settlement of about $400,000 from Mr. Combs’s company during a mediation when she left his employment in 2017, and never mentioned a sexual assault then.
She has not filed any civil suits against Mr. Combs. When asked whether she wants money from Mr. Combs based on her allegations, she said no, and chuckled.
The government argues that Mr. Combs was a violent and abusive man who controlled, intimidated and sexually violated women, and that he directed employees to commit arson, bribery, forced labor, obstruction of justice and other crimes on his behalf as part of a “criminal enterprise.”
The government has accused Mr. Combs of subjecting Mia to forced labor — including sexual activity — through violence and threats of serious harm. That allegation is part of the government’s charge of racketeering conspiracy.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Steel asked Mia to explain why, given her accusations, she had sent Mr. Combs various warm and affectionate text messages years after she stopped working for him.
“Because I was brainwashed,” she answered.
She said that it took her time to come forward because when she worked for Mr. Combs, “nobody acted like what was happening to me was wrong.” She testified that she had also been dissuaded from speaking publicly by what she described as a threat by Mr. Combs that he would tell his girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, about their sexual encounters, which she said “made me internalize blame and shame.”
Over nearly two full days of cross-examination, Mr. Steel leaned heavily on social media posts and private text messages in which Mia expressed fondness and admiration for Mr. Combs, both during her employment and after it ended. Mr. Steel repeatedly asked how she could say such things about the man she now accuses of violating her.
“The version of Puff that did treat me like the best friend, I did love that dude,” Mia said, using a nickname for Mr. Combs. “He protected me from the other versions of himself. And I didn’t understand what happened to me until recently as he was still being praised by everybody in the world. So how would I have known?”
Out of the presence of the jury, during a break on Monday morning, Maurene Comey, a prosecutor, complained strongly about Mr. Steel’s cross-examination over the text messages, calling it “humiliating” and inappropriate. She added that she was concerned that the tone of his questioning could deter other victims from testifying in other cases.
“Mr. Steel has yelled at this witness, Mr. Steel has been sarcastic with this witness,” Ms. Comey told the judge.
Judge Subramanian disagreed. “I don’t see that this witness has been treated in any improper way at this point,” he said. But he cautioned Mr. Steel not to repeat questions over which he has sustained objections.
Mia was the 21st witness in the case, which has entered the fourth week of what is expected to be an eight-week trial.
For much of her testimony, Mia faced sat in the witness stand looking downward, her blond hair covering much of her face. During a redirect, Madison Smyser, a prosecutor, asked her why she looked down when discussing her sexual assault.
“Because it’s the worst thing I’ve ever had to talk about in my life,” she said.
Anusha Bayya contributed reporting.
Ben Sisario, a reporter covering music and the music industry, has been writing for The Times for more than 20 years.
Julia Jacobs is an arts and culture reporter who often covers legal issues for The Times.
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