Jurors in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial heard testimony this week about Cassie Ventura’s friend allegedly being dangled off a balcony at the hands of the rapper.
The explosive testimony echoed similarities between Diddy and one of television’s greatest hits, “The Sopranos,” according to Billy Bush.
The “Hot Mics with Billy Bush” podcast host exclusively told Fox News Digital that Diddy’s violent history may have been on display, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to a guilty verdict.
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Cassie Ventura’s friend, Bryana “Bana” Bongolan, testified this week that Diddy held her over the edge of a 17-story balcony in 2016. While on the stand Wednesday, Bongolan confirmed she spoke about the incident during various government meetings.
Bongolan said Diddy was yelling at her loudly, “You know what the f— you did.” She testified that to this day she doesn’t know what the rapper was referring to.
“Her allegations are that he hung her over a balcony, which is like, what are you watching too much ‘Sopranos’ here?” Bush said. “Like, this is such mafia sick s–t. It’s, I can’t believe it, but it reminds me of like when Michael Jackson had “Blanket” over the balcony in some Rome or Paris hotel (sic). And then Suge Knight hung Vanilla Ice over the balcony.”
In a 1999 episode of “Behind the Music,” Vanilla Ice clarified that the balcony allegations against Suge Knight were unfounded.
“He didn’t hang me off from any balcony,” the rapper said. “The story’s been kind of blown out of proportion, and I want to clarify that Suge and I have no bad feelings towards each other.”
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“It’s the ultimate, like, it’s the ultimate gangster move,” Bush added of Bongolan’s allegations against Diddy. “Who makes that up? I mean, he clearly did, and it’s sick. So I think it was helpful as far as painting him as extremely violent.”
Bush continued, “I still don’t know if Diddy is a sealed, done deal. He’s not arguing that he’s a domestic violence perpetrator and general bad dude.”
Allegations about the incident were detailed in a November 2024 lawsuit Bongolan filed against Diddy where she requested $10 million in damages. Bongolan filed the lawsuit to “seek justice for what happened to me,” she told the court. She said her lawyer wrote the complaint and that the words were not the same as what she had testified to.
Her recollection of the events that night were marred, according to Diddy’s lawyers. Nicole Westmoreland, a Diddy defense attorney, asked Bongolan several questions about Cassie’s 29th birthday. Bongolan replied, “I don’t remember” to most of the questions, which included if she was on drugs. She later told Westmoreland that she couldn’t remember telling the government if the incident happened at a party or if they were just hanging out.
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“Drug use is not great for memory, and we’re dealing with a marginalized character here,” Bush said. “At the end of the day, I don’t think the drug use thing is a big shocker to anyone on the jury … and you know, Diddy definitely partied with the drugs.”
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He added, “I don’t think that is going to come into account at all. It’s just the actions of what happened. They don’t excuse his actions. And I don’t think that they discount her claims either. I really don’t.”
In a federal indictment unsealed on Sept. 17, Diddy was charged with racketeering conspiracy (RICO); sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. If found guilty, he faces a minimum of 15 years behind bars or a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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He has maintained his innocence throughout the trial, in which witnesses have testified to alleged rape, sexual assault, severe physical abuse, forced labor and drug trafficking. The trial is expected to wrap by July 4.
During the opening statements of Diddy’s trial, defense attorney Teny Geragos asked the jury to consider the federal charges, not the choices of an at-times violent man.
“Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case,” Geragos told the court. “This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money. This case is about voluntary adult choices made by capable adults and consensual relationships. This case is about those real-life relationships, and the government is trying to turn those relationships into a racketeering case, a prostitution case and a sex trafficking case. It will not work.”
Geragos told the jury that they would hear the “basics” through the lens of various witnesses and evidence. Most importantly, though, jurors would get the opportunity to “finally” hear the facts about the case.
“I say that because this case is not about what you’ve heard on the news, read in the news or have seen on social media for the past year and a half,” Geragos said. “This case is not about what civil attorneys looking for a payday are trying to make my client out to be. There has been a tremendous amount of noise around this case for the past year, and it is time to cancel that noise and hear and see the evidence that will be presented in this courtroom.”
She noted that Diddy “has a bad temper” and at times gets “so angry or so jealous that he is out of control,” but she emphasized that the “Victory” rapper was not charged with “being mean.”
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“He is not charged with being a jerk. He’s charged with running a racketeering enterprise,” Geragos told the jury. “And though there was violence that you are going to hear about, you already have, that violence is not part of any RICO. That violence is not connected to sex trafficking and that violence is not prostitution.”
