Cassie Ventura Reveals Black Eye, Fat Lip & 2016 LAPD Visit In Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial Testimony
'I have a black eye and a fat lip,' Cassie Ventura told the courtroom in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial Wednesday, reading aloud a text she sent to Combs after a beating from the 'All About The Benjamins' performer at an L.A. hotel in 2016.
'You are sick for thinking it is okay what you've done. Just stay away from me,' she added with a broken voice.
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The continued testimony from the very pregnant 'Me & U' singer Wednesday follows a day of sordid revelations on May 13 of the wide-spread cruelty and control Ventura and federal prosecutors claim she suffered at the hands of Diddy during their decade-long relationship.
Combs responded to Ventura's accusations with more texts imploring her to call him and falsely telling her that he was being arrested at that moment for the incident in the hotel.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, a friend of Ventura's called the LAPD to the singer's nearby apartment. When the police arrived, however, Ventura declined to tell them who had given her the fat lip and black eye.
'Just in that moment, I didn't want to hurt him that way,' she explained today. 'At that moment, I wasn't ready'.
Combs later showed up at Ventura's apartment, banging on the door, demanding to be let in. Ventura was not at the apartment at the time, she said, today.
The court was also shown a photograph of a heavily made up Ventura wearing sunglasses just before she attended a movie premiere with Combs days after the hotel incident in March 2016. The singer said she was wearing the sunglasses to hide her black eye. She also said that as much as she tried, she could not cover up all the bruises on her body.
With only a few breaks for the expectant mother, the jury Tuesday heard tales of inflatable swimming pools full of baby oil in hotel suites, and multiple paid partners having sex for days with Ventura as Combs directed the action and pleasured himself in the corner. Over the approximately five hours Ventura was questioned by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson, there were stories of beatings, threats of more beatings, manipulation, degradation, drugs and more drugs from a young woman who admitted she was searching for self-worth at almost any cost from a man she still says she loved and would do anything to please.
Estimated by presiding Judge Arun Subramanian to last eight to 10 weeks, the criminal trial of the much-accused and currently incarcerated Combs follows his arrest last September on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and more. Now seemingly about to have her and husband Alex Fine's third child any day, Diddy's ex Ventura was paid off in the tens of millions in late 2023 to quickly drop her own assault and abuse civil suit against the Bad Boy Records founder. Though withdrawn with that settlement, that short-lived suit by Ventura opened the flood gates of rape and other such accusations against Combs (with a handful now dismissed) and drove a direct path to the criminal trial underway now in Manhattan.
The 55-year-old Combs is looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars in federal prison if found guilty by the jury in this case.
As he has in every single case against him, Combs has entered a not guilty plea. The one-time mini-mogul's defense team have admitted in various court filings and their own opening statement on May 12 that their client is a domestic violence preparator, a drug user, a self-avowed swinger and often out of control. However, with that preemptive swipe at the prosecution and having previously rejected a plea deal, they rightly insist that is not what he is charged with. They also insist that no one was coerced into anything and everyone, including Ventura, was a consenting adult in Combs so-called unconventional lifestyle.
Ventura and Combs self-described 'toxic relationship' was back in the media foreground in the spring 2024 when CNN obtained and broadcast a seemingly irrefutable and now defense disputed 2016 L.A. hotel security footage of a half-naked Combs beating his then-girlfriend in the hall and dragging her back to their room.
For months, the defense alleges the footage, which their client had previously apologized for the violence he is shown committing and then deleted the apology, was doctored and doesn't tell the whole story. Now, after repeated viewing of the footage in the trial's first days, and May 12 testimony from the then InterContinental Hotel security guard who arrived on the scene that March day nine years ago, the Combs' legal team is taking the stance that the footage merely shows a dust-up between lovers over a phone that spiraled out of control but de-escalated rapidly too.
Throughout Ventura's soft-spoken and often succinct testimony on Tuesday, a sweater-wearing and white-haired Combs sat just a few feet away in the jam-packed courtroom of Judge Subramanian. Unlike the first day of the trial on Monday, the 'I Need A Girl' performer was in near constant motion on May 13 as Ventura testified. Speaking and passing notes to his defense team, and shifting with apparent agitation in his chair, as the day went by, Combs looked less and less like the stuffy old man persona he was trying to pass off.
Unless she goes into labor, Ventura is expected to testify most of this week. To that, the Marc Agnifilo, Teny Geragos and Brian Steel-led defense are widely expected to take turns eviscerating star witness Ventura's testimony as that of an old lover who never got over her jealousy and the fact she was not the so-called 'soulmate' to Combs that the now deceased Kim Porter was. As was raised yesterday, at one point Ventura's husband Fine may be called to testify by the defense over the issues of an alleged 2018 rape of the singer by Combs and a series of harsh and potentially threatening text messages Fine sent Combs in 2023.
Known as Victim-1, Ventura's testimony was supposed to be followed by Victim-2, Victim-3 and Victim-4 and more recently added Victim-5. The majority of that schedule is still in place, but Victim-3 has disappeared, and the government admits they have lost contact with her. Seen as late as this past weekend as a likely roadblock the tight trial schedule going ahead to plan or grounds for a mistrial motion by the defense, the continued absence of Victim-3 was essentially waved through by Judge Subramanian earlier this week on the hopes she turns up or the feds find her soon.
Still, as sources tell me, the no-show of Victim-3 is already being penciled in as a rationale for a later mistrial motion by the defense or grounds for an appeal if the jury verdict is against Combs in early July.
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The letter also alleged that Lively's lawyer demanded that Swift release a statement of support for Lively over the Baldoni situation, suggesting that if the singer refused, 'private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively's possession would be released,' the letter from Baldoni's attorney read. In a statement to People on May 14, Lively's attorney Gottlieb denied the allegations, which he called 'categorically false' and 'cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality.' 'This is what we have come to expect from the Wayfarer parties' lawyers, who appear to love nothing more than shooting first, without any evidence, and with no care for the people they are harming in the process,' he continued. 'We will imminently file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their misconduct here.' On May 18, Lively's team filed a motion in New York's Southern District Court that alleged Baldoni's lawyer made the claim that she extorted Swift as a way "to seed harassing media narratives" against the actress. 'These public attacks, combined with the Rule 11 Plaintiffs filing numerous claims against Ms. Lively without any basis in law or fact, is willfully improper and warrants sanctions,' the legal document read, per the Wrap. Lively's team also filed a second motion to compel Wayfarer Studios to hand over documents and recordings from what they call a "disingenuous charade" of an investigation into her sexual harassment on the It Ends With Us set. The filing accuses Wayfarer of failing to properly investigate her allegations, which include Baldoni allegedly discussing his sex life and staging improvised intimacy scenes without her consent. Her team argues that if a real investigation had taken place in 2023, it would have validated her claims — and that Lively would have been "spared the retaliatory smear campaign" she alleges Baldoni incited in its wake. However, on May 22, the subpoena against Swift was dropped. A spokesperson for Lively confirmed that Baldoni's legal team has withdrawn subpoenas issued to Swift and her legal counsel — a move the spokesperson says they are pleased with. "We supported the efforts of Taylor's team to quash these inappropriate subpoenas directed to her counsel, and we will continue to stand up for any third party who is unjustly harassed or threatened in the process," the spokesperson said in a statement obtained by People. The statement also criticized the Baldoni and Wayfarer team's handling of the case, suggesting they had attempted to use Swift's fame for strategic advantage. "The Baldoni and Wayfarer team have tried to put Taylor Swift, a woman who has been an inspiration for tens of millions across the globe, at the center of this case since day one," the spokesperson said. "Exploiting Taylor Swift's celebrity was the original plan in Melissa Nathan's scenario planning document, and it continues to this day. Faced with having to justify themselves in federal court, they folded. At some point they will run out of distractions from the actual claims of sexual harassment and retaliation they are facing." Baldoni also called out Reynolds's Marvel movie for allegedly attempting to damage his reputation — specifically with the character of Nicepool, portrayed by Reynolds but credited under the name 'Gordon Reynolds.' In the film Deadpool & Wolverine, Nicepool is an alternative version of Reynolds's sarcastic superhero Deadpool who sports long hair and a bun similar to a style worn by Baldoni in the past. Nicepool also calls himself a feminist and remarks on Lively's character Ladypool's postpartum body. 'Reynolds portrayed Nicepool as a vicious caricature of a 'woke' feminist before concluding the character's arc with his violent shooting death at the hands of 'Ladypool,' a character voiced by Blake Lively,' the suit states. It calls the character a 'transparent and mocking portrayal of Reynolds' warped perception of Baldoni.' The It Ends With Us credits also thank 'Gordon Reynolds.' Lively and Reynolds kept a relatively low profile in the immediate wake of the lawsuit. However, the two have recently hinted at the drama at public events, one of which includes Lively and Reynolds's February appearance at the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary on Feb. 16 — their first public appearance together since the lawsuit broke. When asked how things were going by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Reynolds jokingly responded with 'Why? What have you heard?' Baldoni's lawyer Freedman addressed the moment on Billy Bush's podcast, calling it 'surprising' that they would joke about such serious matters. At the 2025 Time100 Gala on April 24, where Lively was an honored guest after making its list of most influential people, she spoke about using her voice for good, saying, 'Who and what we stand up for, and what we stay silent about, what we monetize versus what we actually live, matters.' She also hinted at her legal battle, stating, 'I have so much to say about the last two years of my life, but tonight is not the forum.' In a May appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers to promote Another Simple Favor, Lively also spoke about using her voice for change. 'What I can say without getting too much into it is that this year has been full of the highest highs and the lowest lows of my life,' Lively told Meyers. 'And I see so many women around, afraid to speak — especially right now — afraid to share their experiences. And fear is by design. It's what keeps us silent. But I also acknowledge that many people don't have the opportunity to speak. So I do feel fortunate that I've been able to. It's the women who have had the ability to use their voice that's kept me strong and helped me in my belief and my fight for the world to be safer for women and girls.' According to court documents, on June 2, Lively chose to withdraw her emotional distress claims against Baldoni, which came after the director's legal team requested access to Lively's medical records. They argued the records were central to her allegations of emotional distress. Baldoni's team stated that rather than hand over her records, Lively is withdrawing her emotional distress claim, court papers cited by Variety stated. However, Lively wants to withdraw the claims without prejudice, meaning she could refile them later should she change her mind — something that Baldoni's team has pushed back against. Baldoni's team argued that Lively is both refusing to disclose the documents needed to disprove that she suffered emotional distress, and/or that Baldoni and his production company were the cause. However, at the same time, she is maintaining the right to refile the claim "at an unknown time in this or some other court after the discovery window has closed.' As of now, they have reached an impasse. Lively's lawyers refuted that, stating that Baldoni's lawyers are not accurate in Lively refusing to hand over these documents. Instead, they said the team is "intentionally misleading to the Court" and that their "intended audience" for this "false record" was the public, alleging that Baldoni's lawyers are using this as a way to spin negative press about the actress. They stated that they are dropping the emotional distress claim to focus on other charges in court. 'Once again, this is a routine part of the litigation process that is being used as a press stunt. We are doing what trial lawyers do: preparing our case for trial by streamlining and focusing it; they are doing what they do: desperately seeking another tired round of tabloid coverage,' they said, according to TMZ. Lively's team stated that Lively still 'alleged emotional distress, as part of numerous other claims in her lawsuit, such as sexual harassment and retaliation, and massive additional compensatory damages on all of her claims.'
