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The former assistant for Sean “Diddy” Combs described how he set up and cleaned up hotel rooms after “freak offs.”
Brendan Paul, who worked as the rapper’s assistant for 18 months until he was arrested in March 2024 for cocaine possession, testified about his role preparing and tidying up hotel rooms after his boss and his then-girlfriend had “freak offs.” Clad in a blue suit, the former Syracuse basketball player spoke quickly and confidently while on the stand Friday morning.
Paul, who worked 100-hour weeks for the mogul, recalled “advancing” locations for his boss’s hotel stays. This included setting up hotel rooms, bringing baby oil, lubricant, condoms, candles and liquor, as well as calling room service to bring up extra towels, sheets, and water, he testified.
Although Paul said he didn’t know what the “wild king nights” — another term for “freak offs” — entailed, he understood they involved sex and partying.
When cleaning up, Paul recalled putting on gloves “for sanity reasons” while placing towels and sheets “in a nice pile.” He noted the rooms were often “in disarray.” He said he understood he was tasked with tidying up the rooms after “wild king nights” to “avoid getting damage charges.” He then left cash tips for hotel staff.
Later in the day, however, the jury learned that Diddy was charged hundreds, and sometimes thousands, for damages to hotel rooms. Records revealed that the mogul was charged $6,000 for “losses and damages” during his stay at the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort in Miami in December 2021.
The mogul faces five federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He’s pleaded not guilty. The former assistant’s duties were one of several shocking revelations during Friday’s testimony.
- Paul recalled working three days straight without sleeping while the mogul worked on releasing his 2023 album “The Love Album: Off the Grid.”
- Diddy told his team to “move like SEAL Team Six,” which Paul took to mean “be militant” and “get things done without him asking,” he testified.
- Asked about how he feels about Diddy today, Paul replied: “It’s complicated.”
- The mogul shot a “thumbs up” at his defense attorney Brian Steel after he cross-examined Paul.
- The government expects to rest its case as soon as Monday.
- If that’s the case, the defense said it could rest its case on Tuesday or Wednesday, meaning the jury could have the case as early as next week.
At The London West Hollywood in January 2023, records revealed a $3,750 charge for damaged furniture. A damage report read in court Friday stated that hotel staff noticed “bodily fluids stained on the wood floor” as well as “used linens in various sections of the room.”
Months later in April at the same hotel, a damage report revealed a $1,800 charge for towels that “appear to have been soaked in baby oil” and signs of smoking in the room.
While on the stand, Paul clarified he was “absolutely not” a drug mule. Brian Steel, one of Diddy’s defense attorneys, asked if drugs were just a “minor part” of what he did for his boss; Paul agreed.
The witness also clarified that when he was arrested, he had Diddy’s cocaine. “I was sweeping his room earlier that morning” when he grabbed the drugs and put them in his bag and “I forgot to put it elsewhere," he said on the stand.
He had 0.7 grams of cocaine on him at the time of his arrest, he testified. Paul didn’t tell police at the time that they weren't his drugs out of “loyalty” to his boss, he told the court.
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