Diddy’s former personal assistant, David James, returned to the witness stand on Tuesday (May 20).
On the second day of his testimony, James said he did something called “Diddy-bopping” during his employment. He explained that it meant he would take drugs and drink Cîroc vodka, a brand that once partnered with the disgraced hip-hop mogul.
“Yes. I was drinking Ciroc, I took Ecstasy, I was ‘Diddy-bopping,’” James said, per reporting from Inner City Press. He added, “I was vibing.”
The turn of phrase came up when the prosecution asked James if he’d ever taken Ecstasy. He was then asked if Diddy spoke to James about his drug use, revealing that he had been captured on camera.
“We had a videographer who filmed the parties. [Diddy] asked me, ‘Hey Playboy, was that you dancing around at the party? I said, ‘Yes,’ and he said, ‘I’m going to keep the video in case I ever need it.’”
When James was asked what Diddy meant, he said, “That I’d be embarrassed.”
James also shared that one of the Ecstasy pills he took was shaped like Barack Obama. “There were various pills, but one was in the form of a former president’s face. … President Obama,” he said, per the New York Post.
While James “did not” see Diddy assault Cassie Ventura first hand, he testified that the Bad Boy Records founder wanted to know about a blog post that said he attacked Cassie at a nightclub.
Diddy said, “Someone was lying on him, saying he hit Cassie at the club. He went through my browser history,” James recalled.
James said Diddy asked him to bring Cassie food. James remembered one instance where he saw Cassie asleep in Diddy’s hotel room, and there was another person there who “scurried away” after he opened the door.
James regularly set up Diddy’s hotel rooms and supplied them with items he procured, including apple sauce, jello, Fiji water, Ecstasy, Percocet, and Viagra, which is why he had access to the aforementioned room.
James was also subject to a lie detector test at some point during his employment, when Diddy discovered one of his watches had been stolen. “It was very intimidating. They put monitors on my head, my chest, and my hand,” James said.
When the prosecution asked if he could “refuse,” James replied, “Not to keep my job.”
According to Inner City Press, James worked for Diddy from 2007 to 2009. On the first day of his testimony, James revealed that after his first time meeting Cassie, he asked her why she didn’t leave.
“She said, ‘Sean controls my life, my music, he pays for my apartment,” James said. He also overheard Diddy describing the singer as “young and moldable.” Diddy then allegedly said, “I have Cassie right where I want her.”
Diddy is currently on trial for racketeering and sex trafficking charges. He faces life in prison if convicted.
