Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial revealed the alleged extent of the rapper’s drug habits on Tuesday, with his former assistant testifying that the ex-mogul preferred his ecstasy pills in the shape of President Barack Obama’s face.
Combs is on trial for sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges, and has been behind bars awaiting his days in court since last September.
The testimony of Combs’ ex-assistant David James on Tuesday comes after that of his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, during which she claimed Combs beat her regularly and often in front of others, used coercive control to gain her continuous participation in his orchestrated sex party “freak-offs,” and blackmailed her with the footage. Ventura’s ex-best friend Kerry Morgan as well as former Diddy protégé Dawn Richard each took the stand and corroborated several instances where they witnessed Combs hitting Ventura.
James testified that he didn’t see any violence between Combs and Ventura, but having worked as Combs’ personal assistant for two years, he could speak to the rapper’s extensive drug use. James said he witnessed his former boss take numerous pills “every day,” according to CNN.
He described some of the 25 to 30 pill bottles Combs kept with him as “Advil, Tylenol,” but others were “water pills to help him lose weight. He had Viagra in there. Some pills to help increase his sperm count. He had ecstasy and Percocet in there as well.” One particular pill stood out to him, however, he told the court.
“There were various pills but one was in the form of a former president’s face,” referring to the 44th president. Obama was not named as an attendee to any of Combs’ nefarious gatherings, but they do have a history.
In 2004, when the rapper interviewed the then-Illinois senator for MTV, Obama praised Combs as a “motivating force for young people all across the country. Your music moves people. You’re a trendsetter. But part of what we’re trying to do is to make sure we’re setting a trend in terms of political participation.”
Combs praised Obama’s Senate win as “a big deal,” as only the fifth Black senator in American history. The former mogul later supported Obama’s 2008 and 2012 runs for the White House by publicly endorsing him and later employing his “Vote or Die” campaign, specifically targeting Black voters.
After Obama first won the presidency in 2008, Combs said he “was straight up crying... I just thank God my prayers were answered.” He told Playboy the following year, “If God said I could pick one person to be my father, I’d want to be Sean Combs Obama. That’s how dope [Obama] is. I hope he reads this interview and adopts me.”
Combs’ trial continues Tuesday with the testimony of Ventura’s mother, Regina Ventura, who told jurors she “didn’t understand” the sex tape threats when her daughter first revealed to her what was happening between herself and Combs, per CNN. “I did not understand a lot of it. The sex tapes threw me. I did not know the other person, but knew that he was going to try to hurt my daughter,” she explained. She left the stand without being cross-examined.
