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Bryana Bongolan has accused Mr. Combs of holding her over a 17th-floor balcony, traumatizing her. Defense lawyers have been questioning her closely.
June 5, 2025Updated 11:46 a.m. ET
A woman who has accused Sean Combs of lifting her up onto the railing of a 17th-floor balcony in a violent act of intimidation came under close questioning again on Thursday by the music mogul’s lawyers at his federal trial.
The woman, Bryana Bongolan, testified on Wednesday about her friendship with Casandra Ventura, a longtime girlfriend of Mr. Combs, and how a night spent at Ms. Ventura’s apartment in a high-rise building ended in terror after Mr. Combs arrived. She testified that Mr. Combs entered the apartment in a rage, lifted her up onto the railing and threw her down onto the balcony furniture, which she said caused bruising, persistent nightmares and paranoia.
Her allegation is part of what prosecutors have described as a pattern of violence perpetrated by Mr. Combs over years — a pattern that they say intimidated Ms. Ventura into following his sexual demands.
One of Mr. Combs’s lawyers, Nicole Westmoreland, resumed her vigorous questioning of Ms. Bongolan on Thursday, pointing to discrepancies between Ms. Bongolan’s testimony at the trial and previous accounts she gave in government interviews, legal letters and a civil suit that she filed against Mr. Combs.
Mr. Combs is facing sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers have acknowledged that Mr. Combs had a problem with violence, but they have denied that he coerced anyone into sex.
On Thursday, a second woman who prosecutors say was sex trafficked by Mr. Combs is expected to take the stand in what prosecutors projected would be several days of testimony about drug-fueled sex marathons with male prostitutes known as “freak-offs.”
