David James, a former personal assistant for Sean “Diddy” Combs, said one of his other assistants was hospitalized for dehydration after working with Combs for 24 hours straight.
James talked about the demanding work environment during the second day of his testimony in Combs’s ongoing federal criminal trial on Tuesday.
The 55-year-old music mogul is on trial in New York for charges of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering. He has pleaded not guilty and is facing a life sentence behind bars.
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James worked as one of Combs’s assistants from 2007 to 2009. He testified that his job included everything from making sure Combs’s breakfast was up to his standards to procuring illicit drugs for him and his friends.
He described how he would set up hotel rooms before Combs’s arrival. James claimed this would include organizing Combs’s clothing, his toiletry bag that contained about 40 products, a medicine bag that contained 25 to 30 bottles of drugs like ecstasy and Percocet and personal items — such as lube, baby oil and condoms.
James claimed Combs’ security would reimburse him for the items with cash. He also noted that Combs’ favorite hotel to stay in in New York City was the Trump International.
During his testimony on Monday, James said he didn’t have a lot of interactions with Casandra Ventura Fine, known as “Cassie.”
She was Combs’s longtime girlfriend and one of his accusers, who claimed in her testimony last week that Combs was sexually, physically and psychologically abusive to her over their decade-long relationship.
James testified that he was with Combs when a business associate asked Combs about Cassie and his late ex-partner and mother to some of his children, Kim Porter. James said Combs described Porter as his “queen” but referred to Cassie as “young” and “moldable.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.
