When Sean “Diddy” Combs stepped into Manhattan federal court this week, the stakes couldn’t have been higher: he faces serious charges including sex trafficking and racketeering. Yet amid the grave allegations, two former assistants managed to upstage the legal drama with one of the oddest celebrity quirks imaginable, Diddy’s inexplicable love of applesauce on cheeseburgers.
Diddy’s Applesauce Confession Left The Courtroom Reeling
During Thursday’s testimony, ex-assistant George Kaplan walked jurors through the bespoke lunch breaks that made working for Combs as bizarre as it was lavish. Under questioning by defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo, Kaplan explained:
“Mr. Combs loves applesauce and eats it on the side or top of a lot of things,” Kaplan said.
“Cheeseburgers being one of them.”
That simple confirmation of applesauce on cheeseburgers was enough to send ripples through the courtroom. One juror even made a visible gagging motion when the unconventional condiment combo was mentioned again during Tuesday’s testimony by another former assistant, David James, per The New York Post.
Testimony Round Two: International Condiment Snob
James, who handled Diddy’s riders on tour and while traveling overseas, offered his own proof of the mogul’s condiment compulsions. Asked if he knew about the applesauce-on-burgers habit, James replied bluntly:
“I was not aware, but I knew he liked applesauce,” James testified, per the New York Post.
He added that when Diddy visited the UK, he packed his own stash of American ketchup because local “tomato sauce didn’t meet his standards,” alongside his beloved applesauce, ready to turn every burger into a sticky, sweet experiment.
From Applesauce to Apples: A Fiery Flashback
As if the mayo-free, applesauce-soaked burger bombshell wasn’t enough, Kaplan also recounted a flashpoint in Combs’s personal life: a 2015 argument at his Miami mansion when the rapper-turned-producer hurled apples at then-girlfriend Gina.
The throw was “hard,” Kaplan said, noting that Gina “was trying to shield herself with her arms and trying to move away from him.”
Whether real or decorative, those apples, once part of the mansion’s entryway décor, became the unexpected projectiles in a heated dispute, illustrating the darker side of Diddy’s offbeat habits.
Witnesses also touched on an earlier chaotic confrontation with Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura aboard a private jet, though details remain sparse in the public record. Taken together with the applesauce revelations, these anecdotes paint a portrait of a man whose outsized lifestyle extends to his strangest eating habits.
One Juror Even Gagged
The courtroom, typically a place for solemn deliberation, briefly transformed into a scene of collective revulsion. Jurors visibly reacted with discomfort, one even gagged when confronted with the image of burgers drenched in applesauce. In a case packed with serious allegations, this food-focused side note proved to be the week’s most memorable, if stomach-churning, moment.
In celebrity culture, eccentric food preferences are nearly a rite of passage from sushi burritos to charcoal lattes. But applesauce on cheeseburgers? That’s a new level of culinary rebellion. For Diddy, who famously wields a “Black AMEX card” to fund everything from yachts to baby oil, this oddball habit underscores a life lived on his own terms, even if it leaves everyone else wondering just how he got the idea in the first place.
“Applesauce on burgers is its own crime outside of everything else,” one person tweeted.
“Straight criminal,” another agreed.
As the trial continues, jurors will have to sift through weighty accusations and these offbeat revelations alike. And while the ultimate verdict remains to be decided, one thing is certain: Diddy’s applesauce obsession has already secured its place in the annals of iconic celebrity courtroom moments.
Nina Franklin 
Kendra Quinn 
