By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sean “Diddy” Combs once took an ecstasy pill shaped like President Barack Obama’s face, the hip-hop mogul’s former personal assistant testified on Tuesday at Combs’ racketeering and sex trafficking trial.
David James, who worked for Combs from 2007 to 2009, told jurors during the second week of the trial in Manhattan federal court that he frequently saw Combs take drugs, including opiates during the day and ecstasy at night. James said he sometimes picked up drugs for Combs and his friends, and often brought narcotics and other personal items like lubricant and condoms to Combs’ hotel rooms.
He said he once saw Combs take an ecstasy pill shaped like a “former president’s face.” When prosecutor Christy Slavik asked him which president, James responded, “President Obama.”
Prosecutors say Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, forced women to take part in days-long, drug-fueled sexual performances known as “Freak Offs” from 2004 to 2024. They say his employees helped by buying drugs, booking and stocking hotel rooms, and giving Combs cash to pay male sex workers to take part in the parties.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers have acknowledged that Combs had substance abuse issues and was an abusive romantic partner, but say the sex acts described by prosecutors were consensual.
Last week, jurors heard testimony from prosecutors’ star witness: Combs’ former longtime girlfriend Casandra Ventura, a rhythm and blues singer known professionally as Cassie. Ventura said she took part in Combs’ Freak Offs for about a decade, first to please him and later because he blackmailed her with videos of the encounters.
James on Tuesday described an incident in 2008 when Combs asked him to bring an iPod to his Miami hotel room. James said he saw a completely naked man wearing a condom, whom he did not recognize, scurry away when he entered the hotel room.
He said he saw Ventura lying on the bed on her back – which he said was unusual because she always slept on her side – and that she did not react to him entering the room.
“She didn’t move at all,” James said.
James was not asked if he knew why Ventura was motionless. Ventura testified that she was heavily dependent on opiates during her relationship with Combs, and that she stopped doing drugs in 2022.
James said he heard the hotel room shower running, and assumed Combs was in the shower. He said he never discussed the incident with his boss.
“I just didn’t really think it was my business,” James testified. “I thought they were doing some personal things.”
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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