'I would work to protect him,' Sean 'Diddy' Combs' personal assistant testifies at music mogul's sex trafficking trial

Sean "Diddy" Combs was a demanding boss who threatened to fire his personal assistant once a month if he didn’t get what he wanted, according to testimony in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday at the Bad Boy Records founder's ongoing racketeering and sex trafficking trial.

Robert Kaplan, 34, who worked two years as a gofer for the hip-hop mogul, told the court that his duties included everything from orienting the bathroom toiletries every morning so they were "facing forward and ready for use" to buying drugs and cleaning up hotel rooms after the boss’ stay.

Prosecutors charge that those hotel rooms were the staging areas for "freak-offs," prolonged sexual episodes with his girlfriends and a male prostitute.

Prosecutors say Combs demanded that at least two of his romantic partners take part in these physically demanding, sometimes demeaning episodes while he recorded them with his phone.

Combs would use the resources of his global entertainment, music, liquor and fashion empires to threaten the reputations and careers of these women, threatening to release the videos of the sexual encounters and other times threatening violence, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office said in support of the racketeering conspiracy charges. The freak-offs, also referred to as "wild king nights," took place in hotel rooms in New York, the Hamptons, Miami, Los Angeles, London, France and Spain, among other locations — a basis for the sex trafficking charges.

Combs is also accused of transporting male strippers and escorts across state lines for the purpose of prostitution.

His defense team, led by attorney Marc Agnifilo, has acknowledged that Combs has an unorthodox sex life and could at times be physically abusive to his partners, but they argue his behavior does not amount to federal crimes.

Kaplan, who jumped from the kid-friendly cable channel Nickelodeon to Combs Enterprises in 2013, agreed to testify in exchange for an immunity agreement with prosecutors.

Kaplan said he worked 80 to 100 hours a week, showing up in the morning to set up Combs' bathroom, make sure the chef was cooking breakfast and the studio was ready for the day’s recording.

He recalled failing to bring Combs the correct water bottle that he had requested and the music producer got "very close to my face" and threatened to let him go if he did not improve his performance.

Kaplan said that twice in the two years he worked for Combs, the rap star gave him cash to buy pills.

"I did what he asked me to do," he told the court.

He would also stock hotel rooms ahead of sex parties with baby oil, personal lubricant and condoms, and then clean up afterward.

"I would work to protect him," Kaplan said. He said that hotels would sell pictures to newspapers to embarrass celebrities. "I was trying to avoid that."

On Tuesday, another personal assistant, David James, testified that he also worked long hours for the exacting Combs.

"There was a saying that the security detail would always tell us, and that is, ‘Do you know what rhymes with tired?’ And the answer is ‘fired,’" James said.

He testified that he bought cocaine for Combs on two occasions and would also set up hotel rooms for sex parties.

On Thursday, prosecutors said they expect to call Scott Mescudi, who performs under the name Kid Cudi.

Combs allegedly firebombed Mescudi’s car in 2011 after he found out that the musician had an affair with Casandra Ventura, Combs’ ex-girlfriend and an alleged sex trafficking victim in the case.