Cassie testifies against Diddy in federal sex crimes trial

Yahoo

13-05-2025

Editor's Note: This story contains discussions of rape or sexual assault that may be disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can find help and discreet resources on the National Sexual Assault Hotline website or by calling 1-800-656-4673.
(NewsNation) — Sean 'Diddy' Combs' former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, took the witness stand in his sex trafficking trial on Tuesday, a day after prosecutors showed jurors video of the music mogul beating her in a hotel in 2016.
Footage showing Combs allegedly assaulting the singer, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, has been allowed by the judge for jurors to watch. The hotel surveillance video has been called a 'smoking gun' by legal experts.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson asked Ventura about her relationship with Combs, and she stated it went from good to abusive.
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'If they were violent arguments, it would usually result in some sort of physical abuse and dragging, just different things,' Ventura told jurors.
She claimed Combs would drag her, kick her and stomp her in the head. When asked how often this happened, she responded, 'Too frequently.'
Ventura was asked about the sex parties called 'freak offs,' which the prosecution claims were orchestrated by Combs. She said they would hire an escort to set up 'this experience so that I could perform for Sean (Combs).'
She said the 2016 hotel hallway video came after a 'freak off' and she was attempting to leave.
Ventura testified that during the 'freak offs,' she was 22 years old and was 'confused, nervous, but also loved him very much.'
'I just remember my stomach falling to my butt. Just the nervousness and confusion in that moment,' she said.
Ventura claimed she often couldn't say no to Combs, afraid of threats of blackmail and violence. She claimed Combs threatened to post videos on the internet if she didn't follow his instructions.
'Sean controlled a lot of my life, whether it was career, the way I dressed, everything, everything. I just didn't have much say in it at the time,' she said.
'Sean is a really polarizing person, also really charming,' Ventura added. 'It's hard to really be able to decide in that moment what you need when he's telling you what he wants. I just didn't know. I didn't know what would happen.'
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Ventura said the 'freak offs' could last as long as four days.
'The freak offs became a job,' Ventura told the jury in Combs' federal sex crimes trial.
Ventura claimed they were typically 36- to 48-hour affairs, with some lasting longer. They would require frequent breaks due to dehydration and drug and alcohol use.
Ventura testified that her relationship with Combs began as a platonic one, but that changed after he kissed her in a bathroom on her 21st birthday in Las Vegas.
She had signed a deal with Combs' music label, Bad Boy Records, in 2006, and the couple kept their relationship private.
'I was just enamored by him. We were just having a good time. It was really fun, at this point,' she said.
After the Vegas trip, she said Combs invited her to hotels in New York to discuss music. At the time, she thought they were in a monogamous relationship, but in her testimony Tuesday, she said, 'Sean Combs had many girlfriends.'
'I didn't get that he was him. As he would say, 'I'm Puff Daddy. Puff Daddy has many rules. Likes the company of women,'' Ventura said.
Over time, she testified, Combs became over-controlling, and at times, he would involve his security staff to contact her.
She claimed that if Combs didn't like the way she looked or didn't like her attitude, he would get abusive with her.
'You make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face,' she said.
Ventura testified that Combs paid her rent at her apartments in New York and Los Angeles. He had his own set of keys and would often make unannounced visits.
Ventura testified that because so much of her time was spent participating in 'freak offs,' her music career suffered.
She claimed she created hundreds of songs, some of which were released on the internet without 'proper release and some just didn't see the light of day.'
'Freak offs became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again,' Ventura said.
Tamara Holder, a women's rights and sexual abuse attorney, told Nexstar's NewsNation during the court's lunch break that Ventura's testimony so far is helping the jury 'get to see a real person behind the video.'
'She's credible. She presents well to the jury. But it all comes down to how well she holds up on cross-examination,' Holder said.
She added that the testimony is designed to show the jury the prosecution's claim that participation was not consensual.
Holder said it is likely Combs' legal team will 'attempt to crucify her, saying this case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money. So that's what we can expect from cross-examination.'
The judge ruled that Ventura's husband, Alex Fine, could be in court for some of the singer's testimony but would need to leave when she depicted acts of rape.
Fine is expected to testify himself later in the trial, called by the defense team in an effort to dispute Ventura's testimony.
Prosecutors argued that Fine is part of the emotional support system for Cassie, who is pregnant, and should be in the courtroom when she testifies.
Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in 2023, alleging in New York federal court that he brought her into his 'ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle' when she was just 19 and he was 37. In the lawsuit, Ventura detailed a yearslong relationship that included beatings and rapes, saying that a pattern of abuse began as soon as the relationship started.
That lawsuit was settled out of court shortly after it was filed.
This story is developing. Refresh for updates. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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