Text Messages, Oil Damage, and a Nightmare with R. Kelly
Day 14 of the Diddy trial may not have had fireworks, but it delivered a quietly brutal blow to the prosecution. Mia, the former assistant who claims she was raped three times by Combs, continued to hold up under cross-examination—until defense attorney Brian Steele introduced text messages that didn’t look great. Not Instagram posts, which Mia had earlier brushed off as public performance, but private, affectionate texts she sent Diddy years after leaving his employ. One in particular stood out: in 2019, she texted him about a nightmare where R. Kelly trapped her in an elevator—and Diddy came to her rescue. That one landed hard with the jury.
Prosecutors objected, calling Steele’s line of questioning harassing and prejudicial, but the judge let it stand. Steele kept pressing, asking why Mia never mentioned any sexual assault during her 2017 arbitration settlement, where she walked away with $200,000. Her explanation—that she didn’t know assault could be brought up during a financial dispute—came off thin and evasive. Then came more warm messages: Mia texting condolences over the deaths of Diddy’s mentor and Chadwick Boseman, even recommending Netflix shows. Steele’s point was simple and damning—if Diddy traumatized you, why all the casual catch-ups?
After that damaging exchange, the prosecution tried to pivot by calling Sylvia Oaken, a sales manager from the Beverly Hills Hotel. She testified that in 2015, Diddy was charged $500 for oil damage in a hotel room. Not violence, not trafficking, just… oil. The implication was supposed to reinforce a pattern of behavior, but it felt like a weird footnote after such damning personal inconsistencies from their star witness.
Tomorrow’s witness promises to be more relevant: Eddie Garcia, the security guard from the Intercontinental Hotel who may have been paid to make surveillance footage of Diddy assaulting Cassie disappear. He’s testifying under immunity, which suggests he has something to say—assuming he’s not the guy who failed at the cover-up. Either way, the prosecution needs a big win. Today was not it. Score another for the defense.
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