The image was sharp, cold, and brutal: Sean “Diddy” Combs, one of hip-hop’s elder gods, allegedly hanging a woman off the edge of a high-rise balcony, 17 floors up in the Los Angeles night.
That’s the picture federal prosecutors painted this week as graphic designer Bryana Bongolan took the stand in Combs’ ongoing racketeering and sex trafficking case. Her testimony marked one of the most explosive moments yet in the trial that’s dragging the music mogul’s legacy into the gutter.
Bongolan told the court that in 2016, during a confrontation inside the apartment of R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, Combs lifted her onto a balcony ledge, screaming, “You know what the fuck you did.” She said he then threw her into outdoor furniture. Prosecutors backed her account with photos of bruises and a puncture wound on her leg—metadata attached, timestamped.
This is the fourth week of federal testimony against Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy, racketeering, and sex trafficking. His defense team spent the day hammering Bongolan on cross, aiming to undermine her credibility. Under pressure, she couldn’t recall some prior statements made to investigators.
Still, her story didn’t waver.
Bongolan also claimed she witnessed Combs throw a knife at Ventura during another violent outburst—an alleged fight that ended with Cassie hurling it back. No injuries were reported, but the image stuck: a kitchen drama out of a Scorsese film, except the players were pop royalty.
Her testimony painted a chaotic, drug-fueled scene behind the scenes of Combs’ empire. Bongolan, who worked in streetwear—first for Young & Reckless, then as a lead designer for Diamond Supply Co.—said she met Ventura in 2014 and they became close. She admitted they often used cocaine, ketamine, and marijuana together. Sometimes, she said, she sourced drugs for the singer and was paid for it.
She also testified that she often saw signs of Combs’ alleged violence. She once saw Ventura on FaceTime with a black eye. Other nights, she said, he would bang on her apartment door, long past midnight.
One of the more surreal moments she described took place during a Malibu photoshoot. Bongolan said Combs got in her face and told her, “I’m the devil and I could kill you.”
“I was terrified,” she told the jury.
Combs has long denied the growing stack of allegations against him—many of which began surfacing in civil lawsuits filed over the past year. But now the criminal case is taking shape in federal court, brick by brick, testimony by testimony.
And if even half of what’s being said is true, the house Diddy built is about to come crashing down.
Last modified: June 7, 2025
