Why did George Kaplan leave Diddy's assistant job? Laura Coates explains why she found the rapper's former employee "interesting"

Legal analyst and attorney Laura Coates recently spoke about Diddy's former employee George Kaplan, who testified in the rapper's ongoing trial, as she appeared on the podcast Trial By Jury: Diddy on May 23, 2025. Laura said in the podcast that she found Kaplan "interesting" and addressed the reasons for the same by saying:

“Why I found him so interesting is because he was two things at once, completely professionally enamored with Sean 'Diddy' Combs, called him a god among men, said that he really helped him become the man he is today, and that in some respects, he still relies on and shares and uses the lessons of what he called an opportunity of a lifetime to work for this icon.”

According to The Independent, George Kaplan was employed as Diddy's assistant between 2014 and 2015. During her podcast appearance, Laura referred to the part where Kaplan explained the reasons he stopped working for Diddy, as he stated that he witnessed all the women in the rapper's life dealing with violence over the years.

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Laura said that Kaplan was reportedly a witness to a moment where Diddy's ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura maintained a distance from the rapper inside a private plane. Coates stated that there was a point where the singer and actress allegedly began shouting at the security inside the flight for not doing anything.

Laura continued referring to a similar incident described by George Kaplan in his testimony and said:

“Another instance he describes a woman by the name of Gina. Diddy was apparently throwing decorative green apples at very hard and a commotion later on as well near the gate for that two-star island lavish house in Miami Beach. Now these two moments that were described, this completely professionally enamored and awestruck 23-year-old, now much older, and then the person who, as the defense counsel said had such a moral compass that he was forced to leave.”

Coates also stated towards the end that the jury might be confused about which event they need to believe to be true.

George Kaplan said that he was reportedly told to clean the hotel rooms

According to People magazine, Kaplan testified against Diddy on May 21, 2025. George told the court that he became the rapper's executive assistant more than ten years ago. The former assistant added that he was tasked with taking care of things such as carrying the artist's bags and maintaining the house at the same time.

As per The Independent, George Kaplan alleged that he was the one who booked rooms for Diddy at the hotel and brought a bag with items such as candles, baby oil, speakers, and more. George was also told to clean the hotel rooms after the stay, and when prosecutors questioned him about the reasons for doing it, Kaplan replied:

“It was implied: protect his public image. I was keen on doing that.”

George additionally opened up on certain items that he reportedly discovered while cleaning the rooms. According to The Independent, Kaplan told the court that he allegedly found a brown powder on the bathroom sink and had previously discovered Gatorade bottles and baby oil in the rooms.

Kaplan said in his testimony that he reportedly received drugs such as MDMA from anonymous people on a few occasions. Notably, this happened after Diddy provided George with some cash and a phone number of the other individual, who delivered the drugs, as reported by The Independent.

Apart from these, George Kaplan testified that he received $125,000 per year after working for Diddy 80 to 100 hours a week. Furthermore, he claimed that Diddy's alias Frank Black was reportedly used to book the hotel rooms.

While George Kaplan's testimony has created headlines, unknown details were also revealed by personalities such as Cassie Ventura and Kid Cudi as they appeared at the ongoing trial. Sean "Diddy" Combs is charged with s*x trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution in 2024, and is incarcerated at the Brooklyn-based Metropolitan Detention Center.

About the author

Anupal is a pop culture writer at Sportskeeda with a degree in Political Science. He developed a keen interest in the lives of celebrities, films, TV shows, and box office collections since an early age. After accumulating significant experience as a content writer across varied fields at companies such as The Indian Wire, DigiStatement, and QuirkyByte Media, he eventually settled on writing about his favorite genre - pop culture.

Anupal believes in conducting in-depth research while writing about any topic and relies on varied sources to ensure he produces holistic articles. He also often glances through content that was published in the 80s and 90s to gain a better understanding of the subject he is covering.

Anupal admires Robert Downey Jr., who played one of his favorite Marvel superheroes, Iron Man. He is inspired by the actor's resilience and the determination in overcoming past struggles to building a successful Hollywood career and admires the way he articulates his thoughts while speaking in interviews.

If Anupal could travel back in time, he would love to experience James Cameron's 2009 film 'Avatar' in a theatre full of fans. When he's not busy working, he binges on the latest OTT titles across languages.

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Edited by Riya Peter