Diddy trial: Witness testifies to being dangled off balcony and enduring brutal threats
Sean "Diddy" Combs watches an exhibit as forensic video expert Frank Piazza testifies about the time stamps on surveillance footage of a 2016 InterContinental Hotel altercation during Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., June 4, 2025 in this courtroom sketch.
What you need to know:
- Bryana Bongolan, a friend of Cassie Ventura, testified at Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial that Combs had dangled her off a 17th-floor balcony in 2016.
- He accused her of an unknown transgression, causing her to fear for her life.
- Bongolan also described other alleged incidents of abuse, including finding Ventura with bruises and a black eye and witnessing Combs throw a knife at her.
- She also described a separate incident in which Combs allegedly told her, "I'm the devil and I could kill you."
Hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs dangled a friend of his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura off the balcony of a 17th-floor apartment in September 2016, the friend testified on Wednesday at Combs' sex trafficking trial.
Bryana Bongolan, Ventura's friend, told jurors in Manhattan federal court that Combs then came up to her from behind on the balcony of Ventura's Los Angeles apartment, lifted her up, and placed her on top of the balcony's rail.
Balcony horror
Cassie Ventura's friend Bryana Bongolan demonstrates how she said Sean "Diddy" Combs lifted her over the balcony of a 17th floor apartment, during Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, US, June 4, 2025 in this courtroom sketch.
Combs then told her several times, "You know what the fuck you did," Bongolan testified.
"For a split second I was thinking about if I was going to fall, but for the most part he was yelling at me, so I was trying to answer him," Bongolan, 33, told the jury.
Bongolan testified that she told Combs she did not know what she had done. To this day, she does not know what Combs believed she did, Bongolan said.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to five counts including racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
"Freak Offs" on trial
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan say Combs over two decades coerced women, including Ventura, to take part in drug-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers known as "Freak Offs."
The trial is in its fourth week.
Ventura, a rhythm and blues singer known as Cassie, told jurors last month she took part in Combs' Freak Offs for about a decade, at first to please him and later because he blackmailed her with videos of the encounters.
She said Combs frequently beat her.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan US attorney's office say Combs and his associates used force and the threat of force to coerce women to take part in the Freak Offs and to make sure witnesses to his abuse remained quiet.
Volatile relationship
Combs' lawyers have acknowledged he was at times abusive in domestic relationships, but argue that women who took part in Freak Offs did so consensually.
Bongolan said Combs and Ventura often had a volatile relationship. Bongolan said she saw Ventura with a black eye or bruises on multiple occasions. Once, Bongolan said she saw Combs throw a knife in Ventura's direction in Ventura's apartment.
Another time, on the beach in Malibu, California, Combs approached Bongolan and said, "I'm the devil and I could kill you," Bongolan testified. She said she did not know why Combs told her that.
Bongolan said the 2016 balcony incident took place early one morning after she had spent the night at Ventura's apartment. She said she was about 5 feet 1 inch (155 cm) tall and weighed between 100 and 115 pounds (45 to 52 kg) at the time. Combs, Bongolan said, was "bigger."
Physical and mental toll
After holding her on top of the balcony's rail for between 10 and 15 seconds, Combs threw her onto the balcony furniture, Bongolan said. Jurors saw photographs Bongolan took of bruises she said she suffered as a result of the incident. Bongolan says she still has night terrors and paranoia.
Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Prosecutors have said they may finish presenting their case next week, allowing the defense to put on its cas