Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-girlfriend Misa Hylton explained why she attended the opening of the disgraced mogul’s trial in New York City on Monday, May 12.
Diddy, 55, is being tried at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. (The rapper pleaded not guilty to all charges and has denied the allegations against him.)
Some were surprised to see Hylton, 51, joining her and Diddy’s son, Justin Combs, born 1993, at Monday’s hearing. Hylton was using a walker due to a recent leg injury.
On Saturday, May 17, Hylton posted an explanation via Instagram for both her recent injury and her decision to appear in court with son Justin, who has offered public support for his father.
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“God is good all the time! Yes, I’m good everyone I’m on my healing journey,” she wrote via Instagram. “When I suffered my injury I had chosen to heal privately but when my son said ‘Mommy I need you’ I was right there for him, walker and all. I’m a MOTHER FIRST, FOR REAL and I am my son’s strength and thats just what it is. Plain and Simple.”
She went on, “Whoever doesn’t understand that just simply isn’t in alignment with me or anything that I’m about in life. I’m cool with that. I have a purpose filled life that I live daily. I make impact. I’m not concerned with insecure people attempting to project their insecurities on to me. EVER.”
Hylton encouraged anyone who disagrees with her stance not to “let this app [Instagram] rule your life.”
“Every moment isn’t a glamour moment, your best highlight reel, some moments are as down to the bone as you could ever in your life imagine. Layered and complex,” she added. “To all of my temporarily disabled and disabled people, don’t ever be ashamed of your condition or the need to use the medical tools created to assist in your healing or the way you need to move around in this world.”
Her statement concluded, “If you have God in your heart, pray for us all. Be kind, use critical thinking and hold your head high.”
Hylton previously offered public support to Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Cassie in 2024 after CNN aired hotel security footage from 2016 of Diddy assaulting her in the hallway of a hotel— including dragging her by her neck and kicking her repeatedly. Diddy later publicly apologized via an Instagram video.
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“It’s difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, sometimes you gotta do that,” Diddy, 54, told Instagram followers. “I was f**ked up. I mean, I hit rock bottom but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted.”
At the time, Hylton wrote that she was “heartbroken” for Cassie (real name Casandra Ventura), 38, having to relive “the horror of her abuse” with the release of the security footage.
“My heart goes out to her. I know exactly how she feels, and through my empathy, it has triggered my own trauma,” Hylton wrote via Instagram in May 2024. “These young people [Diddy’s children] were raised by women that want the best for them — we put God and education first and have always been united in our mutual effort to support their dreams. Two of the youngest do not have their mother here and it has been our duty to support them.”
She added, “Their father needs help and I am praying that he truly does the personal work and receives it.”
Prior to Diddy’s current New York trial, Cassie filed a lawsuit against him over allegations of sexual and physical abuse throughout their on-off 11-year relationship in November 2023. The mogul, 55, denied her allegations in a statement shared by his attorney and has maintained his innocence in his current court case.
“Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations,” Diddy’s lawyer Ben Brafman said in response to Cassie’s lawsuit.
One day after the suit was filed, Diddy and Cassie settled out of court for $20 million. Cassie said in a statement that she chose to “resolve this matter amicably on terms [where she had] some level of control.”
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Cassie appeared as a star witness for the prosecution in Diddy’s sex trafficking trial over four days in New York City this past week. She testified about allegedly enduring emotional, physical and sexual abuse throughout her 11-year on-off relationship with Diddy.
Following the conclusion of her testimony on Friday, May 16, Cassie’s attorney Douglas Wigdor read a statement on her behalf outside the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse.
“Tise week has been extremely challenging but also remarkably empowering and healing for me,” her statement read. “I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from abuse and fear.”
Her statement continued, “For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember. And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget.”
Since his arrest, Diddy has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. His four requests for bail were denied by Judge Arun Subramanian.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
