George Kaplan, who worked for Sean “Diddy” Combs from 2013 to 2015, testified Wednesday that he was often tasked with setting up the hotel stays where the rap mogul’s “Freak-Offs” took place.
The former assistant said he was initially hired to grab Combs, 55, food, toiletries or other household items he may need, but his role changed over time because his boss “trusted [him] a bit more.”
Kaplan testified in Manhattan federal court that one day he was given a bag with Combs’ personal belongings inside of it, including clothes, a speaker, liquor, baby oil and Astroglide.
He then had to restock the same supplies using a Combs Enterprises corporate credit card.
Kaplan testified that he would call up hotels just hours in advance to book a room for Combs under the pseudonym “Frank Black” in cities like New York, Los Angeles or Miami.
He noted that some of the Bad Boy Records founder’s favorite spots to stay were the Trump Hotel in Columbus Circle, the SLS in South Beach and the InterContinental in Los Angeles. (Combs was infamously caught on camera beating up his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016 at the now-closed InterContinental hotel in Century City, Calif.)
Ventura, 37, testified last week that the “Last Night” rapper introduced her to “Freak-Offs” at age 22 and that Combs viewed the acts as “voyeurism,” or when person gets turned on by watching others have sex.
She also claimed the “Freak-Offs” would happen weekly and the longest one lasted up to about four days.
The drug-fueled romps consisted of Ventura and an escort engaging in sexual behavior with their bodies all “glistening” with baby oil, while Combs watched in a nearby corner and masturbated.
Ventura claimed she suffered medical issues as a result of the acts, including stomach problems, “frequent” urinary tract infections and sores on her tongue and mouth.
After the “Freak-Offs” ended, Kaplan testified that he had to help clean up the hotel rooms, removing a lot Gatorade bottles, liquor bottles and baby oil bottles, so that hotel staff’s eyebrows would not be raised.
Kaplan testified he had become aware that hotels would often sell images or videos to “embarrass” public figures and that was something he “wanted to avoid.”
“There was a single occasion where I came across some brown crystalized powder and I didn’t know what it was and I got rid of it,” he claimed.
Later in his testimony, Kaplan also claimed he would have to pick up drugs for Combs. The government has provided him with immunity so that he could fully testify without fear of criminal retribution.
“I did what he asked me to do,” the former executive assistant said on the stand.
Kaplan testified that he would often work 80 to 100 hours a week and shifts could end as late as 7 in the morning. He was paid $125,000 for the first year of his services.
The ex-assistant claimed that despite becoming a trusted worker for the “I Need a Girl” rapper over time, Combs would make “monthly threats” that he could lose his job.
Kaplan claimed his then-boss told him he only wanted to “be surrounded by the best and [that] those around him at the time were not performing at that level.”
The feds have charged Combs with racketeering, claiming he used Combs Enterprise to carry out illegal activities. He has also been charged with sex-trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The “Bad Boy for Life” rapper has denied all wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.