Cassie Ventura and Combs’ former stylist resumes testimony

“Mia” recalled an incident in 2012 when she and Cassie Ventura went out to a party without Combs’ permission. 

They were all in a suite at the Beverly Hills hotel and Combs had directed Mia to stay with Ventura there as he was going to be with his kids. 

Mia said a friend called and said Prince was having a party and she and Ventura “like little kids snuck out of the house.” They went to Prince’s party and were having fun, when Combs showed up. 

“I saw his bucket hat coming through the entrance. We locked eyes and crap, Cass and I started running through the house to get out across the yard, trying to run and hide there,” Mia explained. “Puff caught Cass, he caught up to her and had her and threw her to the ground and started to attack her.”

Mia said Prince’s security intervened. The next day, Mia was notified she was being suspended without pay and Combs said she was being insubordinate. 

Ventura suffered a nasty cut on her forehead after Combs attacked her at the victim’s Los Angeles apartment, the witness said.

“Mia” testified she tried to stop the beating by jumping on Combs’ back, before the music mogul threw her against the wall.

“It was so fast, but I felt like I was in slow motion,” Mia said. “I saw him grab Cass and I couldn’t get there fast enough, the bed platform was the sharpest I had ever seen and he threw her and she hit her head on the corner of the bed.”

The witness continued: “She had a pretty big scar on her forehead, which was split open and blood was coming out.”

Ventura never fought back against Combs during multiple violent attacks, “Mia” said.

In one particularly disturbing incident, Mia said she found Ventura hiding from Combs outside in bushes “with a terrified look in her eyes.”

When “Mia” was asked what would happen when she did something without Combs’ permission, she said, “It would be bad, serious, [she and Cassie Ventura] would get in trouble.”

“The punishment was unpredictable and terrifying,” she continued. 

If Ventura didn’t pick up Combs’ phone call, multiple people would call and text her, and security would show up if they couldn’t find her. 

Mia said she saw “a lot of the aftermath” of Combs and Ventura’s relationship.

She said she saw Ventura with injuries. She also saw Combs attack Ventura and throw her on the ground, she said. “I’ve seen him crack her head open,” Mia said. She did not recall ever seeing Ventura fight back. 

Combs fancied himself as a pseudo-director while Ventura was shooting “The Perfect Match,” which hit screens in 2016.

Combs was often on set and would “insert himself” into production, asking all sorts of questions and making suggestions about Ventura’s hairstyle, wardrobe and even nails, “Mia” recalled.

“Mia” said she and Ventura grew close and “became like sisters, best friends” during their time working with Combs.

Ventura and Combs had a rocky relationship, Mia said, with “highs and lows” that often included abuse by the defendant.

She still keeps in close contact today, Mia said.

“Mia” said as an assistant she managed Combs’ social media presence, served as the main liaison between Combs and Hollywood, managed his daily routine, kept him on a schedule, and protected him and his privacy. 

She said she had to stay attached to her Blackberry and stay within Combs’ eyesight, as well as anticipate his needs and his “whims and moods.”

“Every single day is different. Can be 17,000 things at one time, range from cracking knuckles, doing taxes or writing his next movie. He can also have you stand next to him for 24 hours and not ask you to do one thing,” she said.

“Mia” testified that when she traveled with Combs and stayed at his properties, locking her own bedroom door wasn’t allowed.

“Puff said, ‘This is my house and no one locks the doors,'” the witness said.

That rule didn’t seem to apply to the predominantly male security team that stayed in rooms with deadbolt and keypad locks, Mia recalled.

“Mia” said she worked for Combs from 2009 to 2017, and had applied when she was 25 or 26. Combs said the job would be 24/7, for the promised compensation of $55,000, that she said ended up being paid $50,000.

Mia testified that she once worked five days straight without sleeping. “We were traveling, Las Vegas, there was always things going on,” she explained.

She noted she had an Adderall prescription since she was 17 and it helped her function without sleep. 

“I had a physical breakdown, my hearing went, it felt like I was under water, my equilibrium was off, blurred vision, out of nowhere I was hysterical and could not stop crying, at that point Puff said she could go to sleep,” she recalled. 

“Mia” described working for Combs as “chaotic,” and “toxic,” but said that it could be exciting. 

“The highs were really high and the lows really low. Puff’s mood determined the environment,” she said. “He threw things at me, threw me against the wall, threw me in the pool, he’s threw something against my head. Sexually assaulted me.”

She said he sexually assaulted her on more than one occasion. 

Combs has gone by several names in the past, including Puff Daddy, hence the nickname Puff.

The prosecution entered Mia’s passport into court records under seal, with her true name and date of birth shown only to jurors.

Witnesses normally take the witness stand and state their name in open court for the record.

But this witness is only being referred to by a pseudonym, “Mia.” She previously worked for Combs as a personal assistant.

A former personal assistant to Combs who will be referred to only by the pseudonym “Mia” has taken the stand.

She’s expected to testify to the forced labor and racketeering charges in the indictment.

Nash recalled a time when he spotted a random man joining Ventura in her Las Vegas hotel room, without Combs’ presence.

The testimony could feed the defense’s narrative that Ventura had sex with strangers as a normal part of her life, and not as a forced act at Combs’ direction.

The “freak offs” allegedly ordered by Combs are central to prosecution allegations that he used his business to engage in sex trafficking and other crimes.

Deonte Nash testified that he saw “Mia” on a video call with Ventura and she had a black eye visible. 

“I saw it in person, when her make-up wears off you can see it,” Nash said. 

Nash admitted under cross-examination that, from 2008 to 2013, Ventura never mentioned to him about the “freak offs” she performed for Combs.

The defense’s implication would be that the “freak offs” weren’t as troubling as Ventura has described — if she failed to mention them to a friend like Nash.

After breaking up with Combs, Ventura began communicating with “Black Panther” actor Michael B. Jordan, according to Nash.

“Dating, talking, getting to know each other,” the witness said during cross-examination.

The witness admitted he didn’t initially tell prosecutors that Ventura had been allegedly kicked by Combs in one particular attack he witnessed.

Nash said he just wanted to answer questions in the most narrow way possible.

“They didn’t ask,” he told Combs’ attorney Xavier Donaldson. “I gave as little as possible. I only answered what I was asked.”

Judge Arun Subramanian denied the government’s bid to cut all video of key prosecution witness “Mia,” but he did order a ban against courtroom sketches of “Victim-4.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Madison Smyser had asked for Mia’s testimony to not be shown in a courthouse overflow room.

Subramanian said it’d be improper to totally keep footage of Mia’s testimony from getting out of his courtroom, though he did agree to ban sketches of her — in a similar fashion to the standing prohibition against jurors being drawn.

Court is now in session for day 12 of Combs’ trial.

Cassie Ventura gave birth Tuesday, roughly two weeks after she took the stand as a witness in Sean Combs’ federal sex trafficking trial, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.

The baby is her third with her husband, Alex Fine. 

U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian has made it abundantly clear he wants this trial to keep rolling fast so jurors can start deliberations around July 4.

But defense lawyers say they’ve not been able to move as quickly due to jailhouse rules that prevent them from meeting with their client, Combs, after 7 p.m.

Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said in court yesterday that Combs’ inability to confer late slows trial prep, meaning the defense has to spend more time debating strategy without direct contact with their client.

“We just need more access to Mr. Combs,” Agnifilo told the court yesterday, asking for court permission to meet with Combs until 10 p.m. 

Subramanian promised to call the jail and see what arrangements could be made.

Meanwhile, the prosecution said it’s running ahead of schedule and could rest by the second week of June or a few days later. The government had earlier said its case could last until June 20.

In court yesterday, Los Angeles police officer Christopher Ignacio testified about responding to a break-in at Kid Cudi’s home in 2011.

A Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator, Lance Jimenez, also testified that he found a Molotov cocktail inside Kid Cudi’s burned Porsche in early 2012, describing the car fire as a “targeted crime.”

Deonte Nash, a celebrity stylist, also testified about the relationship between Combs and Cassie Ventura. Nash testified that he once jumped on Combs’ back to keep him from beating Ventura. He also told the court that Combs threatened to send sex tapes of Ventura to her parents’ workplaces to get them fired. 

A woman who is only being referred to by a pseudonym, “Mia,” is expected to testify today.

The government previously referred to the woman as “Victim-4” and said she used to work for Combs as a personal assistant. Mia has been mentioned in prior testimony, notably by Cassie Ventura.

Her testimony is expected to take up most of today and tomorrow.

Deonte Nash, a celebrity stylist and good friend of Cassie Ventura, is expected to continue his testimony today.

Nash was supposed to finish testifying yesterday, but Combs’ defense couldn’t finish cross-examination by 4 p.m. ET. The government had to reschedule Nash’s travel arrangements, as the stylist was going to fly out of New York City last night.