Ex-assistant ‘Mia’ testifies she developed PTSD after working for Combs

The defense will now begin to question “Mia.”

When asked under direct examination if she works now, “Mia” said she hasn’t been able to because “I suffer from severe complex PTSD” following her employment with Combs.

She explained that normal situations are “overwhelming” and she feels triggered when someone asks “Where are you?” or if someone says her name across the room.

After Ventura filed her lawsuit against Combs, “Mia” testified the defendant reached out to her, but she said she steered clear of him.

The government showed a Feb. 7, 2024, email from Combs to Mia in which he used kind words in asking for a phone call to have “my memory jogged on a few things.”

But Mia said she didn’t respond.

“I was terrified,” she said. “I know this was a front.”

Mia said she’s believed Combs was fearful of her telling anyone what she’d seen the defendant do over the years.

“Puff wanted (Combs security guard) D-Roc to get to me and make sure I wasn’t a threat,” Mia told jurors.

In the fall of 2016, Combs no longer wanted to be involved in Revolt Films and wanted to end it, “Mia” testified. Revolt Films is a media company founded by Combs that Mia worked for as director of development and acquisition.

She said she felt betrayed, confused and rejected by the decision. She continued to work on a documentary project until spring of 2017. She testified she was “heartbroken” by the decision to close Revolt Films, meaning she’d lose her position, and avoided calls from Combs and staff. 

She eventually hired an employment attorney to work out severance, which hurt Combs. After nine months of back-and-forth, she ended up with a sum of $400,000, and took home $200,000 with attorneys taking the rest as compensation for bonuses owed, severance and overtime, she said.

“Mia” testified about her recollection of a 2011 incident when she says Combs reacted violently after he asked her to bring him some workout clothes — and the defendant allegedly lost it when he disliked all options presented to him.

“He was just screaming and cursing at me and wouldn’t stop, and then something violent happened,” Mia said, though she couldn’t remember the exact details of this alleged violent act.

When James Cruz, a Bad Boy manager, emailed Mia that day asking who in the company was handling Kids’ Choice Awards ticket requests, the witness responded: “I’d totally help but I’m he is currently firing me at the moment.”

The jury got a look at Combs’ alleged insatiable need for employees to respond immediately.

The government showed an odd text conversation between “Mia” and Combs with the defendant spouting off with seven consecutive lines of: “Call me now.”

Mia testified all day yesterday. At first, she answered questions calmly but later became emotional and struggled to catch her breath as she described Combs’ relationship with Cassie Ventura.

She cried when recounting Combs allegedly forcing himself on her sexually, and wept as she recalled feeling “terrified and trapped.”

Yesterday, a former personal assistant to Sean Combs, identified by the pseudonym “Mia,” testified about working for him from 2009 to 2017. 

She testified that Combs sexually assaulted her multiple times, and he had her work grueling hours, including once going as many as five days without sleep. She also said she saw Combs be violent toward his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. 

“I’ve seen him crack her head open,” Mia said, noting she never saw Ventura fight back. During one vacation in the Turks and Caicos, Mia and Ventura barricaded themselves in a room as Combs banged on the door. “Puff is going to kill me,” Ventura purportedly said. 

U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian rarely passes up a chance to remind lawyers of his goal of wrapping up the case around the 4th of July.

And by all accounts, in the early days of this trial, both sides are reasonably hopeful they can have jurors deliberating by around July 4.

But defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo wanted to remind Subramanian on Thursday that even if the prosecution rests ahead of schedule, the defense’s case could still stretch toward the Fourth of July.

“It is fair for you to raise, so I am not raising expectations,” Subramanian said.

Victim-4, who is being identified in court only as “Mia,’ is set to return to the stand today after an exhausting day of testimony recounting numerous alleged incidents of violence and sexual assault.

Mia said she feared Combs’ power and wanted to take these traumatic experiences to the grave.

“I was going to die with this,” she said yesterday. “I didn’t want anyone to know ever.”