Kristina Khorram, former chief of staff to Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, takes center stage in trial testimony

By Lisa Respers France and Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN

(CNN) — The Sean “Diddy” Combs trial is shedding new light on the people who worked closely with him.

Among them is Kristina Khorram – also known as “KK” – the former chief of staff of Combs Enterprises (now known as Combs Global), who last week, prosecutors referred to in court as “an agent and co-conspirator” of Combs.

Khorram has been a prominent name in his sex-trafficking and racketeering trial. Mentioned in testimony by multiple witnesses for the prosecution, she has emerged as someone who knew Combs well and allegedly assisted in crimes.

In witness testimony, Khorram has been accused of helping Combs transport drugs across state lines; monitoring Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura’s whereabouts for Combs; and helping secure hotel surveillance footage of Combs physically assaulting Ventura.

Khorram has not been called to testify, thus far, in the trial.

Khorram’s attorney has not responded to inquiries as to whether she will testify. CNN has also reached out to Khorram’s attorney for comment regarding the testimony made about her in court, in addition to her being called Combs’ “co-conspirator” by prosecutors.

In March, after being named as a defendant in three civil cases alongside Combs, Khorram spoke out, denying all wrongdoing in a statement. At that time, Khorram’s attorney declined a CNN interview request, stating that Khorram cannot “tell her story until the criminal trial is over and the civil cases are resolved.”

“For months, horrific accusations have been made about me in various lawsuits regarding my former boss,” Khorram said in a statement obtained by CNN. “These false allegations of my involvement are causing irreparable and incalculable damage to my reputation and the emotional well-being of myself and my family.”

“I have never condoned or aided and abetted the sexual assault of anyone. Nor have I ever drugged anyone,” Khorram continued. “The idea that I could be accused of playing a role in – or even being a bystander to – the rape of anyone is beyond upsetting, disturbing, and unthinkable. That is not who I am and my heart goes out to all victims of sexual assault.”

“I am confident that the allegations against me will be proven to be untrue,” Khorram added.

The civil suits against Combs in which Khorram is also named as a defendant are ongoing. She has not been charged with any crimes.

One civil accuser, Rodney Jones, referred to Khorram in his complaint as “the Ghislaine Maxwell to Sean Combs’ Jeffrey Epstein.” Another accuser, Phillip Pines, who said that Khorram was his supervisor at Combs’ company, claimed in his lawsuit that when he told Khorram he had witnessed Combs’ violence, she “instructed Plaintiff to never speak about it and there are repercussions that can happen if he did.”

Combs has denied all civil allegations against him and has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Combs’ ‘right hand’

Combs’ success began as a rapper and producer, but his career evolved beyond music with fashion, media, food and spirit businesses. According to a 2021 Facebook post from Combs, Khorram was an essential part of his professional life.

“Meet Kristina Khorram, Chief of Staff at Combs Enterprises. Kristina aka KK keeps everything in my life and my business running,” Combs wrote in the post. “She’s been my right hand for the last 8 years and has consistently proven to execute and get sh*t done. Don’t know how I’d function without her.”

According to trial testimony from Eddy Garcia, a security officer who worked at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles in 2016, Khorram was instrumental in arranging an alleged $100,000 payment to secure surveillance video of Combs beating Ventura. Garcia testified that Khorram repeatedly called him at the hotel security desk and even showed up in the hotel lobby to persuade him to hand over the footage. When Combs ultimately met with Garcia in-person with a large sum of cash, according to Garcia’s testimony, Khorram was there.

One of Combs’ former assistants at Bad Boy, George Kaplan, testified that Khorram would instruct him to set up Combs’ hotel rooms with items such as candles, liquor, baby oil and AstroGlide. He told the jury that he would regularly buy those supplies with his corporate company credit card.

Last week, Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik reviewed a screenshot of a 2016 text exchange between Khorram and Combs’ former girlfriend Cassie Ventura about an alleged incident involving Combs and a friend and stylist for the former couple, Bryana Bongolan.

Ventura texted Khorram, “I just found out some crazy sh*t.”

Ventura continued, “He [Combs} came into my house while my friends were here and we were all sleeping and they woke me up because he was ringing the bell crazy at 3 a.m. and when he came in, I went to my room and he went at Bona [Bongolan] choked her and then dangled her feet off the balcony. This is crazy.”

Ventura then wrote, “I have to stay away.”

The conversation between the two women was recovered from Khorram’s phone, which was seized by authorities in March 2024.

Ventura referred to Khorram numerous times during her testimony. She said she spoke to Khorram on a near-daily basis about everything from scheduling to what kind of mood to expect from Combs.

“I talked to KK about a lot, she knew a lot about my personal things,” Ventura testified.

The former chief of staff was also referenced in testimony by a witness using the pseudonym “Jane,” who had been romantically involved with Combs.

“Jane” testified that she and Combs had taken ecstasy about ten times during a nine-day trip to Turks and Caicos in 2021. The first time she took the drug, Jane said on the stand, she collapsed.

“His butler and KK tried to help me,” she said, referring to the nickname Combs gave Khorram.

In other testimony, Jane said Khorram told her how to transport drugs for Combs on a flight.

“I just asked her if this was safe and okay,” Jane recalled about a phone conversation she said she had with Khorram about bringing a bag of drugs from LA to Miami.

“It’s fine. I do it all the time, just put it in your checked in luggage,” Jane said Khorram replied.

She also testified that Khorram made arrangements for her to get her teeth cosmetically improved and her nipples pierced – at Combs’ request.

Jane testified that she didn’t think Khorram knew about the “hotel nights” and that Combs specifically didn’t want Khorram to know when he was partying because his former chief of staff disapproved and wanted him to focus more on his business. She said Khorram complicated her relationship with Combs because the employee was so frequently with him.

“I believe that she had very strong opinions about me, which influenced a great deal of how Sean also treated me,” Jane said.

The Combs criminal trial is expected to continue for several more weeks.

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