Arranging trips for Sean “Diddy” Combs was a massive undertaking, as a former assistant testified that the rap mogul had a long list of must-haves for his hotel stays on Wed., May 21.
George Kaplan said he would often be given just a few hours’ notice from Combs or his chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, to ready hotel rooms in cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Miami.
Combs or Khorram would give Kaplan exacting instructions in how to set up the hotel rooms, Kaplan told jurors in Manhattan federal court on the eighth day of Combs’ high-profile trial.
Two of the tycoon’s preferred places to stay were The InterContinental in Los Angeles — where Combs’ beating of Casandra “Cassie” Ventura in an elevator bank was captured on surveillance video — and Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York City, Kaplan told jurors.
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To protect Combs from fans and prying eyes, hotel rooms would often be booked under the name “Frank Black,” Kaplan testified.
The alias was a play on “Frank White,” a nickname for the late rapper Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls — one of the first artists Combs signed to his Bad Boy Records label.
Before Combs arrived at a given hotel room or suite, Kaplan testified he would unpack a bag that contained “clothes, a speaker, candles, liquor, baby oil and Astroglide.”
When asked who purchased those items, he responded, “Often I did,” with a corporate credit card, Kaplan testified.
He said “I think that as he grew to trust me a bit more, he had me around a bit more.”
Combs would frequently call Kaplan from the hotel room asking him to bring food, clothes and “sometimes drugs,” he said.
“I did it,” he testified.
Kaplan said Combs also kept a toiletry bag stocked with Advil and ketamine. “I picked up drugs for him” he testified.
Asked if he cleaned the rooms, Kaplan said on the stand that he had. He recalled seeing “lots of empty bottles,” including of Gatorade, liquor, and often baby oil.
When prosecutors questioned why he, not hotel staff, did the cleaning, Kaplan replied, “It was implied — protecting him and protecting his public image were really important.”
Kaplan was the latest in a string of witnesses in Combs’ trial where he is facing charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Combs could face up to life in prison if he is convicted on all counts. Since his arrest, he has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Source: People Magazine
