Graphic designer Bryana Bongolan testified that Sean “Diddy” Combs once dangled her off a 17th floor apartment balcony, and that she saw him throw a knife at her friend Casandra Ventura.
On Wednesday, prosecutors displayed photos taken by Ms Bongolan and her then-girlfriend of Ms Bongolan’s bruises, which she claimed she sustained during the alleged 2016 incident.
Combs’ attorneys worked to cast doubt on Ms Bongolan’s credibility before the jury under intense cross-examination, during which she responded that she could not recall past statements she gave the government.
Combs faces charges of racketeering, conspiracy and sex trafficking. He has pleaded not guilty.
The federal case, now in its fourth week of testimony, followed dozens of civil lawsuits filed against him by men and women accusing him of abuse, including both Ms Ventura, who is Combs’ ex-girlfriend, and Ms Bongolan.
Ms Bongolan said she met Ms Ventura in 2014 when she worked for the brand, Young and Reckless. Later, as the head women’s designer at Diamond Supply Co., she was assigned to work with Ms Ventura on creating a collection and the two became close.
Ms Bongolan testified they often took drugs like cocaine, ketamine and marijuana together. She later alleged that she procured drugs for Ms Ventura, and that the R&B singer paid her for them. She also acknowledged that she and Ms Ventura had a “problem” with drug use, but that she was currently sober.
Ms Bongolan testified that during the friendship, she saw signs of Combs’ alleged violence. She said once saw Ms Ventura on FaceTime with a black eye, and that the rapper would often pound on Ms Ventura’s apartment door at night.
In September 2016, Ms Bongolan testified that she heard banging on Ms Ventura’s front door when she and her girlfriend were sleeping on the couch. She hid her girlfriend in a bathroom and went to the balcony, then Mr Combs entered the apartment, and allegedly picked her up and lifted her onto the ledge, she told the court.
She said he repeatedly yelled, “You know what the (expletive) you did”, and then threw her into the balcony furniture.
Prosecutors showed the jury photos of a puncture and bruise on Ms Bongolan’s leg, along with accompanying metadata displaying the date they were taken. She also testified she suffered night terrors and paranoia as a result of the evening.
In another incident she described, Combs burst into Ms Ventura’s apartment and allegedly threw a knife at the R&B singer. Ms Bongolan said Ms Ventura picked the knife up and threw it back. Neither of them was injured, she said.
Once during a photoshoot in Malibu with Ms Ventura, Ms Bongolan alleged that Mr Combs got in her face and told her, “I’m the devil and I could kill you”.
“I was terrified,” she told the court.
A relentless cross-examination
During cross examination, Mr Combs’ defence attorney sought to undercut Ms Bongolan, who struggled to answer questions about her statements in previous meetings with prosecutors.
Nicole Westmoreland repeatedly asked Ms Bongolan about what she told government prosecutors when she first met with them in January 2024. Several times, she asked her about the alleged balcony incident, but the witness struggled to recall details she described at the initial meeting.
During her testimony two weeks ago, Ms Ventura, the prosecution’s key witness told the court, “I saw him bring her back over the railing of the balcony and then throw her onto the patio furniture.”
Ms Westmoreland also asked Ms Bongolan about her initial account of the incident in Malibu. The defence attorney said Ms Bongolan originally told government prosecutors that Combs made that threat at a party, and Ms Bongolan testified she could not recall that conversation.
As the afternoon wore on, Ms Bongolan increasingly repeated that she could not recall details of previous conversations with prosecutors. At one point, Ms Westmoreland asked Ms Bongolan to recall her conversations with prosecutors two days prior. Asked about specifics, Ms Bongolan answered that she could not remember.
The court also heard on Wednesday from forensic video editor Frank Piazza, who took the jury through recordings of the “Cassie video”, which shows Mr Combs beating Ms Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016. He explained that the recordings were untampered with and were an accurate depiction.
Ms Bongolan is expected to return to the stand Thursday. She will likely be followed by “Jane”, whose testimony under a pseudonym could take several days.
By BBC News
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