A fashion designer who claims Sean “Diddy” Combs held her over the 17th floor balcony of Casandra “Cassie” Ventura’s high-rise apartment during an alleged 2016 assault is moving ahead with an amended lawsuit.
Bryana Bongolan filed her revised complaint on Oct. 14 and had it delivered to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, her lawyer told a judge Thursday. Combs, 55, remained in custody at the facility after he was convicted on two felony counts of transportation to engage in prostitution in July. (On Thursday afternoon, a source confirmed to Rolling Stone that Combs had been transferred to FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey to serve the rest of his 50-month sentence.)
“The documents are there, your honor. The process server has given them to the jail. We just have to get confirmation that he’s gotten it, but we think he has them,” Bongolan’s lawyer, James Nikraftar, said at a Thursday morning hearing. Los Angeles County Judge Mark H. Epstein set a follow-up hearing in the case for Jan. 22. He noted the lawsuit has several corporate defendants as well, including Comb’s Bad Boy Records.
“Let’s see if we can make sure that everyone is served and responded by that time so we can start setting dates,” Judge Epstein said. “My suspicion is that by the time of trial, Mr. Combs will no longer be in jail. It’s just taking that long.”
Combs was sentenced to four years and two months in prison on Oct. 3. His projected release date is May 8, 2028.
Bongolan first filed her lawsuit last year, alleging Combs held her over a balcony twice during a terrifying attack at Ventura’s apartment that started with Combs groping her breasts and ended with him violently throwing her into some patio furniture. She claimed the incident happened “on or about September 26, 2016.”
Bongolan later testified at Combs’ trial, telling jurors that the alleged balcony attack lasted about 15 seconds and left her with bruising, back and neck pain, and deep emotional distress. “I have night terrors and paranoia and scream in my sleep,” she told jurors.
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But in an exchange with Combs’ defense lawyer Nicole Westmoreland that U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian later described as a “Perry Mason moment,” Bongolan admitted that she wasn’t sure about the exact date of the incident. The concession came after Westmoreland presented receipts showing that Combs was in New York, staying at the Trump International Hotel, from Sept. 24 to Sept. 29 in 2016. The lawyer said Combs performed in Newark, New Jersey, on September 25, 2016, as part of the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour.
Bongolan’s amended complaint now dates the alleged balcony incident more generally, saying it occurred “in or about September 2016.” And it adds, for the first time, a potentially pivotal piece of evidence that was revealed by prosecutors at Combs’ trial.
The amended complaint now includes portions of a text thread between Ventura and Combs’ chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, dated Sept. 30, 2016. In the exchange, Ventura told Khorram that she was worried about Combs’ volatility in the immediate aftermath of the alleged attack on Bongolan. “He came into my house while my friends were here, and we were all sleeping. They woke me up. He was ringing the bell crazy at 3 a m. And when he came in, I went to my room, and he went to Bana and choked her, then dangled her feet off of the balcony,” the text exchange shown to jurors and now excerpted in the amended complaint said.
Combs’ legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Combs previously denied Bongolan’s claims in a statement from his reps last November. “Anyone has the right to file a lawsuit, regardless of the evidence they may or may not have,” the statement provided to Rolling Stone said. “Since last year, Ms. Bongolan has expressed an intention to sue Mr. Combs and has sought legal representation to pursue her claims. Mr. Combs firmly denies these serious allegations and remains confident they will ultimately be proven baseless.”
Combs has been sued by scores of plaintiffs since Ventura filed her bombshell lawsuit against him in November 2023 and federal officials started their criminal investigation. The criminal case largely paused the civil matters, but many have started to inch forward again.
In one of the more high-profile cases, filed by former Making The Band 2 contestant Sara Rivers, a federal court judge permanently dismissed 21 of the 22 causes of action in her $60 million lawsuit that alleged Combs sexually harassed Rivers and stroked her breasts during production of the hit MTV reality show, which started filming in 2002. The judge said the permanently dismissed causes of action were too old to pursue. Rivers is appealing the dismissals.
From Rolling Stone US
