Cassie's Husband, Alex Fine, Calls Sean 'Diddy' Combs A 'Demon'
Alex Fine issued a statement in support of his wife, Casandra Ventura, known professionally as Cassie, amid her alarming testimony against Sean 'Diddy' Combs. On the stand, Cassie shared disturbing details about the alleged physical and sexual abuse she suffered during her relationship with Combs, including graphic information about 'freak-offs' and beatings.
'I have felt so many things sitting there,' relayed Fine in a statement, per The Independent. 'I have felt tremendous pride and overwhelming love for Cass. I have felt profound anger that she has been subjected to sitting in front of a person who tried to break her. You did not break her spirit nor her smile.'
'I did not save Cassie, as some have said. To say that is an insult to the years of painful work my wife has done to save herself. Cassie saved Cassie,' explained the personal trainer.
He continued, 'She alone broke free from abuse, coercion, violence, and threats. She did the work of fighting the demons that only a demon himself could have done to her. All I have done is love her as she has loved me.'
The 'Official Girl' singer also shared a statement after her four days of testimony.
'I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors, and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from abuse and fear,' she declared.
Combs's trial for sex trafficking and racketeering continues this week with former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard taking the stand. Last week, Richard described witnessing Combs' abuse of Cassie and detailed a violent 2009 attack.
'He came downstairs, asking where his phone was and he threw her to the ground. He attempted to kick her. She fell to the ground and went into the fetal position, literally trying to hide her head,' Richard claimed, detailing how the Hip-Hop mogul allegedly hit Cassie with a skillet. 'I was scared for her, I was scared to do anything,'
In September 2024, Richard filed a civil suit against Combs for sexual and physical abuse, as well as inhumane treatment.
After her testimony, the 55-year-old requested that the suit be thrown out with his legal team claiming it to be an attempt 'to transform narratives of alleged injuries against others into a headline-grabbing sex trafficking conspiracy as to her.'
If convicted in his criminal trial, Combs could be in prison for life.
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Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
A woman testifies Sean 'Diddy' Combs gave her night terrors by dangling her from a balcony
NEW YORK — A former graphic designer for Sean 'Diddy' Combs testified Wednesday that he dangled her from a 17th-floor balcony while screaming profanities, leaving her so traumatized she still has night terrors nearly a decade later and would wake up screaming. Bryana 'Bana' Bongolan, 33, a friend of Combs' former girlfriend Cassie , told jurors that Combs lifted her over the railing for 10-15 seconds before pulling her back and throwing her onto patio furniture. 'I was scared to fall,' Bongolan told jurors at the hip-hop mogul's federal sex trafficking trial in Manhattan. She said the September 2016 attack at Cassie's Los Angeles apartment caused a bruise on her leg and pain to her back and neck. Jurors saw photos of her wearing a neck brace. Her bruise looked like it was the size of a softball. 'I have nightmares and I have a lot of paranoia and I used to scream a lot in my sleep, but it's dissipated a little bit,' said Bongolan, a creative and marketing director at her own art agency. She said her paranoia includes carefully opening doors and peeking into rooms before going inside. Her last nightmare was just a few days ago, she said. Combs' lawyers said Bongolan was a heavy drug user and suggested she may have been high during the alleged attack, which she denies. Bongolan has a pending lawsuit against Combs. Bongolan took the stand during the fourth week of testimony in Combs' trial, and was a prelude to the next big prosecution witness: a woman using the pseudonym 'Jane' who alleges she was abused by Combs and made to participate in drug-fueled 'freak-off' sex marathons. She's expected to testify Thursday. Bongolan is one of several witnesses to accuse Combs of violence toward them. She testified she also saw him abusing Cassie, the R&B singer whose real name is Casandra Ventura. Cassie testified over the course of four days that Combs beat her and subjected her to hundreds of freak-offs. Other witnesses described seeing similar abuse. Before Bongolan, forensic video expert Frank Piazza testified about security footage of Combs beating Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in March 2016. Jurors have seen the footage more than a dozen times. Piazza also analyzed 10 sexually explicit videos from Cassie's device. Those were not shown. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges of running his business empire as a racketeering enterprise, allegedly using employees to enable and conceal the sexual and physical abuse of women over two decades. He faces 15 years to life if convicted. As Bongolan testified, Combs appeared focused and spoke with his defense team. Before his lawyer Nicole Westmoreland began her cross-examination, Combs waved her over and spoke to her briefly. Bongolan, one of at least three witnesses granted immunity, acknowledged that she and Cassie had what Westmoreland characterized as 'a serious drug problem.' Bongolan said they'd sometimes sprinkle cocaine into a marijuana — a 'Coco Puff' — and that she sold drugs to Cassie weekly. She said Cassie sometimes put up the money for drugs, an arrangement Westmoreland described as a 'drug partnership.' Bongolan, who did design work for Combs' companies, said he gave her drugs three or four times, including ecstasy and cocaine, and that she once did ketamine with Cassie and Combs for eight hours during a New Year's Eve party in Miami in 2017. She also testified Combs threatened her at a photo shoot: 'I'm the devil and I could kill you.' Bongolan said the balcony assault happened after he showed up to Cassie's apartment unannounced early one morning, banging angrily on the door. Bongolan, who'd been asleep on the couch with her ex-girlfriend nearby, hid her ex in the bathroom and went to the balcony 'to act casual' and look for marijuana. As she lit the blunt or was about to, Combs grabbed her. Bongolan said Cassie, who was sleeping in the bedroom, then came out and asked Combs: 'Did you just hang her over the balcony?' Told that Bongolan's ex-girlfriend was also in the apartment, Combs swiftly left, Bongolan said. Cassie recounted the episode in her testimony last month, telling jurors: 'I saw him bring her back over the railing of the balcony and then throw her onto the patio furniture.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Takeaways from ‘Diddy' trial: Woman accuses Sean Combs of dangling her over a balcony
A forensic video expert and a woman who said Sean 'Diddy' Combs dangled her over a balcony took the stand Wednesday in the Hip-hop mogul's federal criminal trial. The testimony came as the prosecution has sought to prove Combs and some in his inner circle constituted a criminal enterprise that used threats, violence, kidnapping and other means to coerce women into 'Freak Offs' with male escorts and to protect his image. Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. His defense has acknowledged Combs was violent but has questioned the motives of those testifying and has said the accusations fall short of the charges. Bryana Bongolan is set to return to the stand for more cross-examination on Thursday at 11 a.m. The prosecution has indicated the court will soon hear testimony from a key accuser who has been referred to in court by the pseudonym 'Jane' and in the indictment as 'Victim-2.' Her testimony is expected to last into next week. Here's what we learned in testimony Wednesday. A forensic video expert testified Wednesday that the March 2016 surveillance video showing Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura at a hotel in Los Angeles was not manually altered. Frank Piazza, the expert, said he examined the surveillance video from the InterContinental Hotel, cell phone video and 'sex videos' in preparation for his expert testimony but did not have knowledge of the case. At the government's request, Piazza said he created a video compilation of clips from inside the hotel showing the actions of Combs, Ventura and the security officer who responded to the scene, Israel Florez. He testified that he slowed the InterContinental surveillance footage to real-time because a technical file-converting process had inadvertently sped it up. Surveillance footage of the assault has been the central piece of evidence in the trial so far, and the jury has watched the video at least eight times. CNN first published surveillance video of the assault last year. Piazza also testified that he enhanced 10 'sex videos' originally recorded in 2012 and 2014 that were recovered from a laptop Ventura gave the government under the user profile Frank Black, an alias used by Combs. The videos were entered into evidence Wednesday under seal. On cross-examination, when defense attorney Teny Geragos noted the time codes on the hotel surveillance footage jump rather than advance second-by-second, Piazza explained that the hotel camera system is motion activated so motion triggers a time stamp change and that the hotel's cameras were not synchronized to the same internal clock. He testified he was able to sync the footage based on overlapping events. Bryana Bongolan, the second witness of the day, testified Combs held her over a 17-story balcony and threw her onto the balcony furniture in September 2016. The incident was previously mentioned in a civil suit filed by Bongolan against Combs in November 2024. Attorneys for Combs previously denied Bongolan's allegations in a statement to CNN. On Wednesday, Bongolan testified that the incident occurred after Combs began banging on the door of Ventura's apartment in Los Angeles. Bongolan said she hid her now ex-girlfriend, who was with her and Ventura in the apartment, in the bathroom because she 'didn't want to expose her to things that I see.' She then went to the balcony to appear 'casual,' she testified, and was facing away from the door when Combs came up behind her, grabbed her chest and then held her by her armpits over the balcony railing. Combs repeatedly yelled, 'Do you know what the f**k you did?' according to Bongolan. She recalled responding something like 'I don't know what the f**k I did,' and added that she still doesn't know what Combs was angry about. After about 15 seconds, Combs threw her on the balcony furniture, she testified. Bongolan said as she was falling, she heard Ventura ask something similar to 'Did you just hang her over the balcony?' and it sounded like she was in disbelief. Afterward, she had a bruise on her leg and had back and neck pain, she testified. The jury saw photos of the bruise and bandages on her back and neck. 'I have night terrors and paranoia and scream in my sleep at times,' she added. She said she didn't experience those things before the incident. A day or two afterward, Combs or someone on his team FaceTimed her, Bongolan said. 'I remember saying a couple times, 'I don't want any problems with you,'' she testified. She said she didn't report the balcony incident to police because she was scared. Bongolan said she's seeking $10 million in her lawsuit against Combs but said she's not expecting any money to come from her testimony at this trial. Bongolan said she filed the lawsuit against Combs, 'because I wanted to seek justice for what happened to me.' A hearing on her civil case is set to take place in July, according to court records. Bongolan also testified about other threatening incidents involving Combs and about her frequent drug use with Ventura. Bongolan testified under an immunity order after she invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. She is the third witness to testify under immunity. She testified she frequently stayed at Ventura's apartment, and Combs regularly came over in the middle of the night banging on the door. On one occasion, Combs threw a knife in Ventura's direction, and Ventura threw the knife back but didn't hit him, Bongolan said. She said she didn't call the police about the incident. 'I was just scared of Puff,' she said, referring to Combs' nickname. Bongolan testified she saw Ventura with bruises or injuries on some occasions. She said she saw Ventura had a black eye during a FaceTime call with her around the time of Ventura's premiere of the Perfect Match, which was in March 2016. 'I was a little quiet and I remember saying I'm sorry,' Bongolan said. Bongolan also testified about a time Combs threatened her while she and Ventura were doing a photoshoot on the beach in early 2016. 'He came up really close to my face and said something around the lines of 'I'm the devil and I could kill you,'' Bongolan said. She said she was likely using cocaine at the time, which gave her confidence to brush it off. Bongolan said she and Ventura did drugs together and the drug use 'definitely created like a habit.' She sold drugs to Ventura often, including oxycodone pills, cocaine and ketamine, she testified. She said Combs gave her drugs a few times and said she's seen Combs use drugs. On cross-examination, the defense challenged Bongolan's memory of the balcony incident and noted Ventura described it differently in her lawsuit against Combs. Bongolan confirmed she had conversations with Ventura about the balcony incident before and after Ventura filed her lawsuit, including about the location and who was present. She confirmed that Ventura had said it was at a hotel with a different person present. The defense suggested that Bongolan's testimony did not match what she told prosecutors in meetings prior to trial. Bongolan repeatedly said she didn't remember exactly what she told prosecutors or at what meeting. 'Isn't it true that just two days ago you told the prosecution you just don't recall the details of the balcony allegation?' Westmoreland asked. 'I don't remember,' Bongolan said.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Barack and Michelle Obama have date night at George Clooney's Broadway play amid divorce rumors
Barack and Michelle Obama attended Tuesday night's performance of George Clooney's Broadway show, The Independent can reveal. The couple, in a rare joint public appearance, dined at The Lowell Hotel restaurant in Midtown Manhattan before the show, multiple reports indicated. Michelle was seen in a black lacy midi dress with her hair swept back in a long braid, while Barack was seen in a standard dark suit. Flanked by Secret Service members, the two were then ushered into a Black SUV and whisked away to the Winter Garden Theater to see Clooney as Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck. Their attendance was confirmed by a representative for the production. The stage adaptation of his 2005 film of the same name marked the A-lister's Broadway debut and garnered him a 2025 Tony Award nomination. The Obamas have been the subject of divorce rumors for several months following Michelle's absence from a handful of high-profile events at the start of the year, including former President Jimmy Carter's funeral and President Donald Trump's inauguration. She recently opened up about her decision to skip the events in an April episode of her podcast, IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson. 'My decision to skip the inauguration, what people don't realize, or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me were met with such ridicule and criticism,' she said. 'People couldn't believe that I was saying no for any other reason, that they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart, you know.' She reiterated that she simply didn't go to the inauguration because it was the best decision for her. 'I'm here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me,' she explained. 'And it took everything in my power to not do the thing that was right, or that was perceived as right, but do the thing that was right for me. That was a hard thing for me to do.' The former First Lady also spoke about the divorce rumors during an appearance on Sophia Bush's Work in Progress podcast earlier in April. 'The interesting thing is that, when I say 'no,' for the most part people are like, 'I get it, and I'm OK,'' she said. 'That's the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with disappointing people. I mean, so much so that this year people couldn't even fathom that I was making a choice for myself that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.' 'This couldn't be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right?' she added. 'But that's what society does to us. We start actually, finally going, 'What am I doing? Who am I doing this for?' And if it doesn't fit into the sort of stereotype of what people think we should do, then it gets labeled as something negative and horrible.'
