'Mr. Combs' kingdom': Former personal assistant testifies Diddy controlled his ex Cassie Ventura

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Federal prosecutors pressed forward in Diddy’s sex trafficking trial today by calling three witnesses who testified about how the music mogul appeared to control his longtime girlfriend, R&B singer and model Casandra Ventura.

As the government’s key witness, Ventura testified in unsparing detail last week about sexual encounters with paid male escorts that she said Diddy forced her to endure under physical and psychological abuse.

With today’s witnesses, the government tried to bolster its allegations. The last witness of the day, David James, a personal assistant who worked for Diddy from 2007 to 2009, sobbed on the stand as he recounted interviewing for his job: There was a picture of Diddy on the wall, James said, and he was told, “This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom, and we are all here to serve in it.” 

Diddy’s team brought the heat in today’s line of questioning of Richard, appearing to poke holes in her testimony. It was the first time we’ve seen a very aggressive cross-examination from the defense.