Diddy Trial: Alleged Drug Mule Takes the Stand, Says Feelings About Mogul Are 'Complicated'

The government's case is winding down in Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial, and one of their last witnesses should be familiar to anyone who has followed the mogul's extensive legal problems — alleged "drug mule" Brendan Paul.

Paul, who took the stand on Friday (June 20), was arrested in March 2024 right around the same time Combs' homes in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by federal authorities. The charges were ultimately dismissed after he completed a pretrial diversion program.

Paul was described as a "mule" for Combs in a 2024 federal lawsuit against the mogul by producer Lil Rod — a characterization he denied on the stand.

"He acquires, and distributes, Mr. Combs Drugs, and Guns," the suit reads.

Earlier in the trial, Paul was named by one of Combs' alleged victims, the pseudonymous "Jane," as one of the Bad Boy head's assistants. She described Paul as someone who, during her sexual encounters with escorts and Diddy (which she called "hotel nights"), would frequently show up with drugs if the supply ran out.

She recalled Paul bringing "Ecstasy, coke, milk, which is like weed," and was clear that this happened "multiple times."

When given the chance to speak for himself on the stand on Friday, Paul explained that he worked for Combs from the end of 2022 until his 2024 arrest. He said he worked between 80 and 100 hours a week while under the larger Diddy framework. He also testified that the cocaine found on his person at the time of his 2024 arrest was left over from his cleaning of Diddy’s room. Per Paul, he simply forgot about the cocaine after placing it in his bag.

In a complaint from Miami-Dade police viewed by Complex at the time of his 2024 arrest, Paul was said have “had the contraband inside of his personal travel bags, which he claimed prior to being searched.” Paul was arrested on coke and weed-related charges at the Miami-Opa Locka Airport that March.

Paul claimed while on the stand on Friday that he personally witnessed Diddy use coke, ketamine, ecstasy, weed, and tuci. The last of these, as previously broken down here, is typically a combination of multiple substances in powder form, often dyed pink. Tuci is alternately known as tusi or, simply, pink cocaine. Paul said that on one occasion, Diddy asked him to test the drug "to see if it was good."

Approximately every two months, Paul said Friday, he would buy weed for Diddy. Paul broke the typical order down as consisting of eight ounces each of the King Louie and Sunset Sherbet strains. Weed aside, Paul said, he procured drugs on Diddy’s behalf “less than 10, [but] more than five” times. Paul also said that Diddy used Cialis , an oral medication intended for erectile dysfunction.

According to Paul, who was working for the mogul during the finalizing and release of his 2023 project The Love Album: Off the Grid, unspecified “hard drugs” had the effect of making Diddy “extremely creative” when he took them.

“It’s complicated,” Paul later said when asked to reveal how he feels about Diddy now.

Recent developments in the weeks-long Diddy trial have included the dismissal of a juror (notably despite objections from Diddy's legal team), the playing of “freak-off” videos for jurors in the courtroom, and the canceling of a would-be day in court due to a sick juror.