Diddy trial replay: Cassie says she felt suicidal over Sean Combs' alleged abuse, rape
Editor's note: This page reflects the news from Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial on Wednesday, May 14. For the latest updates from Diddy's trial, read USA TODAY's live coverage for Thursday, May 15.
This story contains graphic descriptions that some readers may find disturbing.
Casandra Ventura Fine testified for the second day in a row about the alleged sexual, physical and psychological abuse she endured at the hands of former partner Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Ventura Fine said Combs repeatedly threatened to release videos of her participating in his alleged drug-fueled "freak offs." She said on the stand: "He said that it would ruin everything that I had worked for, that it would make me look like a slut. That I would be shamed."
Last May, a 2016 hotel surveillance video exclusively shared by CNN showed Combs kicking, hitting and dragging Ventura Fine – better known as Cassie, the hitmaker behind the song "Me & U."
Now, as Combs, 55, faces charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution, Ventura Fine, 38, is confronting him in court as the prosecution's star witness.
Combs has pleaded not guilty.
Ventura Fine in court testified that in early 2023, around the time before she went to rehab for opioid addiction and began trauma therapy, she experienced suicidal ideation. "I was spinning out" at the time, Ventura Fine testified, "I didn't want to be alive anymore at that point."
She recalled a time when she went home to her husband Alex Fine and children, "I remember telling him, 'You can do this without me.'" Ventura Fine said during testimony that it all just felt "too painful" and that "I tried walking out the door into traffic and my husband wouldn't let me."
Diddy on trial newsletter: Step inside the courtroom as music mogul faces sex-crimes and trafficking charges.
Another major revelation came from 2018, after Cassie and Combs were no longer together and she had started dating her now-husband, Alex Fine. She said she and Combs met up for dinner, during which he was friendly and kind.
Afterward, he drove her back to her home and walked her inside. "And then he raped me in my living room" Cassie alleged. She said she cried and told him "no" during the alleged rape.
Prosecutors asked how she felt in that moment: 'It was like someone taking something from you.'
Jurors were shown an email that Ventura Fine sent on Dec. 23, 2011, to her mother and Combs' assistant Capricorn Clark. Ventura Fine said Combs had threatened to "release two explicit tapes of me," sharing one tape two days later on Christmas Day and the other at a later date.
Ventura Fine said he also vowed to hurt both her and rapper Kid Cudi, but not with his hands, and that he would be out of the country when it happened. The court saw photos of the large bruises she had on her lower back and thigh, taken at the time.
Ventura Fine had returned home to Connecticut to visit her mom for Christmas. She told her mom the bruises were from the first time Combs had assaulted her, even though the assaults had been going on for years. "I was terrified (to tell her mom)," Ventura Fine testified to jurors. "It's not normal, constantly being bruised up by the person you love."
Ventura Fine's 2023 lawsuit against Combs accused the hip-hop mogul of threatening to blow up Cudi's car. The lawsuit was settled for $20 million, paid by Combs and his companies.
Mescudi came to visit Ventura Fine in Connecticut, but she broke off their relationship because she said it was too dangerous to continue, given Combs' alleged threat to hurt them.
Cassie testified about her brief relationship with rapper Kid Cudi in 2011, which began after they started working together on music.
Ventura Fine said she didn't initially tell Combs about Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, but Combs went through her phone during a "freak off" and found out about the relationship.
He allegedly became enraged after he saw emails, lunging at Cassie with a wine bottle opener between his fingers, she testified. However, she said she managed to escape and went to another hotel where she contacted Cudi using a burner phone.
As she left Combs' house, Cassie testified that he "kicked me in the back on my way out, and I fell to the floor." When she got back to her hotel room, someone had urinated on the floor, knocked over the furniture and defecated in the toilet without flushing it. "It was disgusting," she said.
Ventura Fine alleged that, during a trip to Cannes during their relationship, Combs kicked her off a boat and accused her of taking drugs from him. Combs subsequently sat next to her at a movie premiere at the famed film festival in the French city and allegedly squeezed her legs in a painful manner.
On the flight back to New York, Ventura Fine said Combs played "freak off" videos, which she thought she had deleted, in front of other people.
"I just felt trapped," Ventura Fine said of being shown the footage.
Prosecutors displayed a text thread in which Ventura Fine attempted to reel in the alleged "freak offs" with Combs. Relaying to Combs that many of the typical escorts they hired were unavailable, she told the music mogul that he was the only person she wanted to have intercourse with during their relationship.
Combs pushed forward by booking a new escort, despite concerns from Ventura Fine. "It's just one more person knowing our secret," she wrote. Some of the texts discussed Valium, which she testified she would take if she had anxiety.
In the same text exchange, she told Combs he was an extraordinary man and that she couldn't wait until they had a baby of their own, while wishing him a happy Father's Day. The message was "completely separate" from the prior "freak off" texts, Ventura Fine said.
She also texted Combs that "nothing good comes out of (freak offs) anymore." She told him "you treat me like Ike Turner," by which she said meant he was abusive and controlling. "As much as I was built up, I was put down quite a bit," Ventura Fine testified.
More: Who's on the Sean Combs' freak-off jury and what did Diddy do? What we know now
Ventura Fine also testified about an August 2017 incident, telling the court that while preparing to go to the OVO Music Festival, two friends, identified as Mia and Deonte, witnessed Combs enter her room and attack her in her sleep.
Deonte and Mia jumped on Combs' back, and he threw her into the bed frame, Ventura Fine said, which caused a gash on her eyebrow. The court then saw a photo of her face with the gash and some blood. Combs had a plastic surgeon whom Ventura Fine went to after the incident, she said, revealing she had a permanent scar on her eyebrow.
In texts shown to the jury, Ventura Fine sent Combs a photo of the gash and wrote: "So you can remember." Combs replied that Ventura Fine didn't know when to stop during arguments, and she wrote back that she didn't know what she'd done to deserve it.
Ventura Fine described the medical issues she would suffer from after a "freak off," including sores on her mouth, stomach problems and frequent, "very painful" urinary tract infections. She said Combs was aware that she would get UTIs, and it got to the point where the antibiotics she used to treat them no longer worked.
Cassie also said that after a "freak off," she and Combs would receive IV fluids, massages and food to recover. She also used opiates after the sessions, and she said she was previously addicted to the drugs.
Asked about going to sex clubs, venues allegedly frequented by Combs where multiple people have sex, Ventura Fine said: "I was always terrified and would drink quite a bit."
At times, she and Combs would go with escorts, including one named Jules. While she said she didn't want to have sex with him, she called the escort "a safe place" for her among the "freak offs."
Ventura Fine said she would drink alcohol and take various drugs for sex clubs, including ecstasy, MDMA and GHB. The venues were confusing for her, she said, revealing she was clouded by the drugs at that point.
Testifying that she "was vocal" about not wanting to go, Ventura Fine said Combs would try to turn the energy around, becoming playful instead of scary, pushing her to go by saying it would be "a fun thing to do," and that they wouldn't go for long periods.
The court on May 13 saw a report from Israel Florez, a former security guard who was working at the hotel at the time of the 2016 assault in Los Angeles. Florez detailed being called up to the sixth floor and finding Combs in just a towel, alongside Ventura Fine.
Surveying the damage, Florez said he recognized Combs and advised him to respect Ventura Fine and return to his room. Combs began yelling at her before allegedly offering him a stack of cash as a bribe, saying: "you take care of this and I take care of you."
Florez said he then helped escort Ventura Fine downstairs, but requested she stand by in case they needed to ask more questions. However, by the time he returned from his manager's office, she had left.
Ventura Fine, who testified for over four hours on May 13, strolled confidently into the courtroom clad in a light gray dress and jacket. After sitting down, she took a sip from a water bottle and touched up her lipstick with a tissue before taking off her jacket and flipping her hair forward over her shoulders.
As she rewatched the video of Combs dragging her down a hotel hallway, footage that has become central to the trial, she spoke quietly and sometimes trailed off at the end of her sentences. Still, she remained calm and composed during her testimony.
Ventura Fine testified that she did not fight back when Combs hit her at the InterContinental Hotel in 2016. She said that she fought back earlier in the relationship but learned that doing so "would make it worse for myself." Fighting back would make Combs "stronger and want to push me harder," Ventura Fine added.
Ventura Fine also told the jury that the first instance of physical violence in her relationship with Combs occurred around 2007 or 2008.
She recalled that they were eating at a restaurant with a group of people, and she saw Combs briefly flirting with someone else. Afterwards, in their vehicle, 'he just shook me up and scared me quite a bit,' she alleged. 'I was just shocked,' she added, noting that security was there.
In a later incident, Ventura Fine said that she punched Combs in the face after he called her a slut, which was the first time she recalls hitting him. Combs allegedly responded by attacking her and stomping on her face.
Ventura Fine claimed Combs tried to break into her apartment after the violent 2016 incident, saying she heard "chaos outside the door," with kicking, banging and Combs' voice yelling. He was unable to get inside. She later went to Combs' security guard D-Roc's house, who, along with his wife, she said, always made her "feel safe."
The same night, Ventura Fine claimed she went to Diddy's house to get fitted for the premiere of her movie "The Perfect Match." The jury was shown a photo taken in Combs' bedroom of her wearing her premiere gown and large sunglasses "to cover up my eye," she said, explaining "I got hit in the face."
The jury was then shown a red carpet photo where a bruise was visible on Ventura Fine's shoulder and another of her at the afterparty where, now in a shorter dress, a bruise on her right shin was visible.
Cassie returned to the witness stand and testified about Combs kicking, hitting and dragging her across a hallway floor in a violent 2016 incident at the now-closed luxury InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles.
After Ventura Fine left the hotel, Combs sent a series of texts to her including "call me," "yo pls call me," "call me for my kids" and "help."
The court was also shown a selfie that Cassie took in an Uber on her way back to her apartment from the hotel. Federal prosecutors asked her to describe the photo, and she said it was "a selfie of my fat lip." In the selfie, Cassie had large sunglasses on and she said, "I had a black eye underneath. I was trying to cover it."
Cassie said she wasn't sure if police ever showed up to the hotel, but she didn't care – she just wanted to be home. In more texts with Combs, she wrote "I have a premiere on Monday for the biggest thing of my life" in reference to a movie premiere she had. Cassie starred alongside friend Terrence J in "The Perfect Match" around the time the footage was taken.
Several members of the embattled rap mogul's family, including his adult children, have turned out to in New York this week as his criminal trial gets underway.
From stepson Quincy Brown to Combs' biological sons and daughters and former partners, here's a look at his loved ones who have been spotted at the courthouse.
Barbs flew in a tense exchange between defense attorneys and prosecutors before testimony began May 14. Prosecutors said the defense had not finished submitting all their marked evidence, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey arguing, "Our goal is for this not to be a trial by ambush."
"I want all of the exhibits, and I want them now," she said, clarifying that she meant that not just for Ventura Fine, but for all of the witnesses.
The judge called for a "ceasefire," but he also scolded Comey. "This is being raised while the jury is literally sitting in the box," Subramanian said, adding the matter should have been handled three weeks ago.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs could lose his freedom – and his vast empire of mansions, art and cars
Before the jury entered the courtroom May 13, Combs' defense team attempted to prevent Cassie's husband, Alex Fine, from being present for witness testimony. One of the embattled mogul's lawyers, Teny Geragos, said they may call him as a witness.
Ultimately, he was let inside the courtroom for support.
Racketeering is the participation in an illegal scheme under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute, or RICO, as a way for the U.S. government to prosecute organizations that contribute to criminal activity.
Using RICO law, which is typically aimed at targeting multi-person criminal organizations, prosecutors allege that Combs coerced victims, some of whom they say were sex workers, through intimidation and narcotics to participate in "freak offs" — sometimes dayslong sex performances that federal prosecutors claim they have video of.
The trial will not be televised, as cameras are typically not allowed in federal criminal trial proceedings.
USA TODAY will be reporting live from the courtroom.
This article discusses suicide and suicidal ideation. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental and/or substance use disorders, you can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's free and confidential treatment referral and information service at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). It's available 24/7 in English and Spanish (TTY: 1-800-487-4889).
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINNoffers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diddy trial: Cassie says Sean Combs attacked her over Kid Cudi
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