Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty examines the latest lawsuit filed against Diddy with criminal defence attorney Shaun Kent and Cheyenne Roundtree, who is senior investigations reporter at Rolling Stone.This week a new civil lawsuit has been filed, by LA creative Bryana ‘Bana’ Bongolan who alleges that Diddy dangled her from the 17th-floor balcony of an apartment. She says it happened in 2016, while she was at the home of Diddy's then-girlfriend Casandra "Cassie" Ventura. He denies the allegations.Diddy is currently behind bars in a notorious New York jail, awaiting trial on three federal charges, which he also denies.The Diddy on Trial podcast is here to investigate the rumours, confront the theories, and give you the answers that you need.We also want YOU to be part of the conversation. Have you any burning questions about the cases or the upcoming trial? Heard a theory that doesn’t sit right with you? Send us your thoughts!Get in touch now via WhatsApp: 0330 123 555 1Presenter: Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty Producer: Laura Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare FordhamCommissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Assistant Commissioner: Will Drysdale Commissioning Producer: Adam Eland Commissioning Assistant Producer: Rechmial Miller
Chapter 1: What are the allegations against Diddy?
It alleges that in 2016, Diddy dangled a woman over a 17th floor balcony while screaming, Do you know what the F you did? Understandably, it's caught everyone's attention. Helping me unpack this are our friends of the pod, Rolling Stone senior investigative reporter, Cheyenne Roundtree. Hi, Cheyenne. Hi. And criminal defense attorney, Sean Kent. Hi, Sean.
Hey, how are you guys doing?
Cheyenne, first of all, who is Barna Bongolan?
Chapter 2: Who is Bryana 'Bana' Bongolan?
So Bonna describes herself as a fashion designer or just kind of a person within the fashion community. She lives in Los Angeles. She has a jewelry line. She's collaborated on album covers, video, music videos. So she's a very kind of roundabout, kind of full circle creative type person who says that she first met Cassie in 2014 while they're working out of this popular Los Angeles skate
shop store. It's just really notorious for their t-shirts in Los Angeles.
So she was kind of like an LA creative.
An LA creative is the best way to describe her and especially in this 2014 range she describes herself as aspiring and trying to get you know her foot in the door like so many young creatives at that time.
And talk to me a little about a little bit about who Cassie was in 2014 because we know she's a musician but why was she working in the same place as Barna?
Yeah, so Cassie at this point is a music artist. She already had her big song, Me and You, come out. But also Cassie has been a model and she has dabbled in, you know, fashion as well and her own clothing line. Her and Bona actually created their own clothing line out of this store.
And she was already dating Diddy by 2014.
Wait, you date P. Diddy?
Oh, wow. I did not know this.
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Chapter 3: What happened during the incident in 2016?
You know, I normally, I typically don't talk about my private life.
Well, forgive me. They put it on the television.
They put it on the television. Yes. So I didn't know you call him Puff.
Yeah, Puff, Sean. Yeah.
By this time, they are definitely dating. That's how Bonna says that she first met Diddy. So because of her friendship with Cassie, Bona then is kind of brought into the Combs, you know, enterprise, the family system. She starts designing bad boy jackets for the bad boy reunion tour in 2016. She's working on music videos, album covers.
Bona's kind of brought on as part of the creative family under Diddy's, you know, multi, you know, enterprise businesses. So what does she allege happened in 2016? She claims that she and her girlfriend were sleeping over at Cassie's apartment when she woke up in the middle of the night and heard these vicious and furious bangs on the door.
And she alleges that this wasn't unusual for Diddy to show up on an ounce at Cassie's house and bang down the door. However, this instance, her girlfriend was there. She tells her girlfriend to hide. She ends up on the balcony when Diddy storms into the apartment. He makes a beeline for her, and he's upset. And he's yelling, you know, um... Do you know what the F you did?
And then he picks her up. And Vonna's a tiny, tiny woman. She's under five foot. She was under 100 pounds at the time. And he picks her up. Well, first she says that he kind of gropes her breast area. And then as she's trying to fight back, he lifts her up by her armpits and just dangles her over the 17th floor balcony. And she's terrified.
So that is the bulk of her claim of her lawsuit, which is this harrowing incident where she really feels that her life was in jeopardy because of the spit of rage that he was in at her.
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of the $10 million lawsuit?
Outside of saying why did you wait so long, another thing people frequently ask is why did you continue to associate with the person Diddy, in this case, past the event? Did Barna continue to work with him post-2016?
I think there's been a really great quote, I think, from F.K. Twiggs that says, you know, why do you ask the victim why they stayed in a situation versus asking that question of the alleged abuser? But this goes again to she was financially strained.
dependent on this man this was her career and we have heard allegations that he has made threats to people and so that all plays into maybe why someone feels that they have to kind of zip their lip and kind of duck their head down and just carry on the work until it is safe to leave
And aside from the $10 million and aside from the incident on the 26th of September, the other things that really catch your eye is the other examples of Diddy as a threat and the other examples of his alleged abuse towards Cassie. Now, we have seen the footage that was released by CNN of him attacking Cassie in a hotel hallway in 2016, the same year that this allegedly happened.
Shane, what were some of the other things that Barna references that she witnessed Diddy do that... said to her, okay, this man is a real threat.
Yeah, I think she says, like, from the beginning of when she started hanging out with Cassie, she saw little trickles or the beginnings of something that she described as an abusive relationship.
And she also heard a rumor about him and a dog?
Yeah. explaining why she felt before this balcony incident that he could make good on these alleged threats. She says, you know, I know about his history. I see what he was doing to Cassie. I heard a rumor that he had skinned someone's dog. And so it's just all plays into this idea that Bonham was very scared.
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Chapter 5: Why did it take so long for the lawsuit to be filed?
And Sean, outside of the incident that she alleges takes place, she has listed these things that she alleges happened to Cassie, her being covered in bruises and and him displaying abusive behavior towards her. Well, is there any point kind of corroborating Cassie's narrative at this stage?
Well, yes. And then when that's coupled with when he went online and made this apology... My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. It's hard for him later to sit in a deposition, a sworn statement, and say... this didn't happen. I would never do this to a woman. I'm not the type of person who would hit somebody.
Because remember, his civil lawsuit, a lot more is going to be able to come in than his criminal case. In his civil lawsuit, they're going to be able to bring in all of his past conduct, all of his past actions.
And so if that is proven then in criminal court, Bonna then can use that examples as corroboration for what she also witnessed. So it is kind of pulling in from things that will play out in the criminal proceedings as well.
And that's actually one of the questions we've had sent through on WhatsApp. PJ says, So that's a yes?
Yes. I mean, I don't know the terms of the settlement. Let's make this clear. I have not read the terms of the settlement. There may be a confidentiality requirement on her settlement that prevents her from testifying civilly, but there's nothing to stop her from testifying criminally.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of Diddy's other lawsuits?
So even if she signed an NDA and that was part of the settlement, when it comes to the feds, these are the big boys. They can do what they want. They'll call her in.
Vets don't give a damn about no NDA. They're like, that's wonderful. You signed that. Great. Get on the stand and testify. Now. They don't care. That NDA does nothing for the criminal participation. Nothing.
Okay. Keep your questions coming. You can get us on WhatsApp at 0330-123-5551. That's 0330-123-5551. Okay, so what else is swirling around elsewhere in the Diddyverse? Well, it looks like the hunt for the Diddy List, a list of all the celebrities that might be linked to the alleged crimes, has made its way from social media into the real world.
Last week, basketball star LeBron James was at a Rams NFL game when someone shouted this at him.
LeBron! LeBron! We know you was at them Diddy parties! We know you was there! We know you was at them Diddy parties!
He doesn't react in the video. LeBron James hasn't made a public comment about going to the parties since allegations emerged, but in the past, he has mentioned them. Everybody know ain't no party like a Diddy party, so. Yeah, that's what's up. Yeah. But we do have to say he hasn't been mentioned in any lawsuits, no one's trying to sue him, and he's not mentioned in the federal indictment.
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Chapter 7: How does the public perceive these allegations?
So we've heard Barna's allegations and we know Cassie made allegations in the lawsuit. Our colleague Katie Razzell over at Newsnight has been talking to Lisa Bloom, who represents Dawn Richard.
I'm very proud to represent Dawn Richard. She was on the TV show with Sean Combs making the band back in 2004. Then she was in two bands that he produced, Danny Decane and Diddy Dirty Money. And we filed her lawsuit a few months ago alleging
that Sean Combs used a lot of offensive gendered comments in the workplace, calling women fat, ugly, the B word and other terms, that he groped and grabbed her body parts, sexually assaulted her, that he not only failed to pay her money that was promised to her, but actually prevented her from eating and sleeping during those years, just treated her...
She also, unfortunately, she alleges, witnessed some severe acts of violence against Cassie Ventura and other women. And when she spoke out, she says she was threatened with more physical violence. She said Sean Combs had a vicious temper and she was absolutely terrified of him. My client knew Cassie Ventura.
She says witnessed a lot of acts of violence, like Cassie was making some eggs in a kitchen. They weren't to Sean Combs' liking. He threw the pan across the room and physically assaulted her on numerous occasions. And Dawn Richard, my client, says that when she spoke out about it, tried to get Cassie to speak out. When she complained about it, she was also threatened with physical violence.
And I just want to quote to you Mr. Combs' response. He still professes his wider innocence when it comes to Cassie Ventura. And when it comes to your client, his lawyer said, Mr. Combs is shocked and disappointed by this lawsuit. It's an attempt to rewrite history.
Dawn Rashad has now manufactured a series of false claims, all in the hopes of trying to get a payday, conveniently timed to coincide with her album release and press tour. If Ms. Rashad had such a negative experience with Mr. Combs, as she said over the period, She would not have chosen to continue directly working with him, nor returned for an album reboot in 2020. That's his perspective.
Just to explain, from your perspective, she did continue to work with him. She worked with him from 2004 to 2020. In the indictment, you've described an atmosphere of fear. What did you mean by that?
So a woman does not have to choose between her dignity and her job. A woman doesn't have to go from job to job fleeing from billionaire bullies like Sean Combs, fleeing from sexual harassers or people who engage in violence. It is 100% on Sean Combs and other men who are accused of workplace misconduct to stop it, to knock it off. She didn't have to give up her career in order to have her dignity.
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