Sean “Diddy” Combs once rescued his ex-assistant from convicted sex trafficker R. Kelly in a dream she had, according to text messages read in court.
Combs’ defense presented those text messages in court during his federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial, during the testimony of his former live-in assistant “Mia.”
Testifying under a pseudonym, “Mia” told the court that Combs sexually assaulted her multiple times during her time working for him from 2009 to 2017—but the defense attempted to poke holes in her story with old text messages in which she wrote to Combs, “I had a nightmare I was trapped in an elevator with R. Kelly and you came and saved me,” according to The New York Post.
She also wrote at the time, “Just thinking of you today and everyday.” “Mia” has been describing a complicated relationship with her former boss since she began testifying on Wednesday—one where even though she commonly told Combs she “loved” him and admittedly had some good times in his company during her tenure, he had also terrorized her.
Combs is facing life in prison if convicted on federal sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges, to which he pleaded not guilty.
The former mogul did not allow “Mia” to lock any doors while living in his properties, she testified last week, including her bedroom door. She alleges that in 2010, he used that rule to rape her in her own bed. She also alleges Combs assaulted her in 2009, at his 40th birthday party, of which she only recalls him touching her inappropriately and offering her a drink before waking up disoriented in another room.
In addition to the alleged assaults, “Mia” said she was also physically and verbally abused by Combs, who she says frequently threatened her life and career, especially when he was trying to locate or contact Cassie Ventura—the ex-girlfriend he allegedly abused for eleven years—and with whom “Mia” had become “like sisters.”
“He’s thrown things at me. He’s thrown me against the wall. He’s thrown me into a pool. He’s thrown an ice bucket on my head,” she told the court per CNN. But Combs’ defense has relied on her correspondence with Combs as well as her social media posts about him during her cross examination, as it tries to discredit her accounts.
Pointing to an Instagram post from 2009, just before her first alleged assault, the defense harped on her photo caption to Combs, “Thank you for constantly inspiring me… you are one of my greatest friends. I love you.” Combs’ lawyer asked pointedly, “That’s the man who terrorized you?” to which “Mia” responded, “Instagram was a place to show how great your life was, even if it was not.”
“Mia” sent Combs the text about her “nightmare” of him rescuing her from R. Kelly in 2019, two years after she’d quit working for him. The disgraced R&B singer was convicted of racketeering involving the sexual exploitation of children, and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
“The person who sexually assaulted you, came and rescued you?” Combs’ lawyer asked “Mia” during cross examination on Monday, to which she replied simply, “Yes.”
The government complained to the judge that the defense’s tone with “Mia” amounted to “harassment” and could “deter other victims in other cases from testifying and telling the truth,” according to the New York Post, but Judge Arun Subramanian disagreed. “I have not heard any yelling or heard anything sarcastic.”
Combs’ trial is expected to last into July.
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