Sean "Diddy" Combs accused of dangling woman off balcony

Another woman has accused Sean “Diddy” Combs of abusive behavior, according to a report from Rolling Stone. Last week, fashion designer Bryana “Bana” Bongolan filed a new lawsuit for sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and more. Among her claims, she alleges that Combs held her over a 17th story balcony and threatened to kill her. She is seeking $10 million in damages with her suit. 

Bongolan, a friend of Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, began collaborating with Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment in hopes of boosting her career. During that time, she alleges she witnessed numerous outbursts and signs of abuse from Combs towards Ventura; in her suit, she claims to recall a time when Combs “threw a large kitchen knife at Ms. Ventura, who, acting in self-defense, threw one back at him” (via Rolling Stone). Bongolan says Combs began to threaten and intimidate her as well, citing an incident where the music mogul allegedly cornered her and told her, “I’m the motherfucking devil. … You have no idea what I could do to you. I could kill you.” Bongolan says she had reason to believe Combs’ threats, having witnessed his alleged attacks on Ventura and heard rumors of other incidents (including that he “skinned a rival’s dog.”)

Things came to a head in September 2016 when Bongolan was sleeping over Ventura’s apartment with her girlfriend, the lawsuit claims. When they heard Combs “violently” shouting and banging on the door, Bongolan instructed her girlfriend to hide in the bathroom. When Combs entered and found Bongolan on the balcony, he allegedly grabbed her and groped her breasts while she fought him and told him to stop. The suit alleges that Combs “lifted her up on the banister of the 17th floor balcony, while repeatedly yelling, ‘Do you know what the fuck you did? Do you know what the fuck you did?'” As Bongolan struggled to get back on the ground, Combs “lifted her up higher and higher over the 17th floor balcony of Ms. Ventura’s apartment with only Combs’ grip keeping her from falling to her death,” per the legal docs. 

Bongolan claims that Ventura then emerged from her locked bedroom and screamed at Combs to stop, telling him that Bongolan’s girlfriend was also in the apartment. “Recognizing the threat of so many witnesses to his assault, [Combs] pulled Ms. Bongolan back over the balcony,” the lawsuit continues. “But he did not release her. In a last fit of violence, he slammed Ms. Bongolan onto the balcony’s patio furniture, including a table.” 

“The only purpose of dangling someone over a balcony is to actually kill them or to intentionally terrorize them and rob them of any concept of dominion over their own bodily autonomy and safety,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. Bongolan refuses to allow this fear to control the rest of her life and brings this action to demand that Mr. Combs takes responsibility for the trauma he intentionally and maliciously” inflicted (via RS).  

According to Rolling Stone, Combs has denied Bongolan’s allegations (as he has for most of the accusations that have surfaced). “Anyone has the right to file a lawsuit, regardless of the evidence they may or may not have,” a legal representative for Combs said in a statement to the outlet. “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.”

Reference to an incident where Combs lifted a woman “like a child” and dangled her off the 17th floor balcony was made in Ventura’s since-settled sexual abuse lawsuit. Since Ventura came forward, dozens more lawsuits have been filed against Combs. Combs is currently being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. At the end of November, he was denied bail for a third time, with a judge citing the “compelling evidence of Combs’s propensity for violence” as a reason for him to remain behind bars, according to the Associated Press.