Pregnant Cassie Ventura asks for break as Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' ruthless defense exposes her racy texts
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' attorneys hit back at Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura's emotional testimony with a scathing cross-examination Thursday.
Anna Estevao, who is part of a stacked defense counsel for the disgraced rap mogul, began her line of questioning by asking the 'Me & U' singer why she 'kept coming back' during the 11-year relationship.
She then asked Ventura to read aloud a series of texts the singer sent her now-ex, including one that read, 'I'm a very lucky woman' and another that tried to paint the songstress as needy: 'I haven't talked to you AT ALL, I know you can take 3 minutes out of your day to talk to me and you don't even try.'
However, the temperature in the courtroom heated up when Estevao began to press Ventura on another text in which she said, 'I'm always ready to freak off lol' and then shared more racy messages from her.
'I can't wait to stare at some big black d–k,' a text Ventura wrote to Combs on Aug. 7, 2009, read.
However, it was a second explicit text the singer wrote later that day — in which she graphically described what she couldn't 'wait' for her then-boyfriend to do to her — that finally pushed her over the edge.
Ventura immediately asked the judge for a break after the raunchy text was read. The singer — who is eight months pregnant — was seen grabbing her belly with both her hands at the time.
Her husband, Alex Fine — who is the father of her kids — was present inside the courtroom.
The third day of testimony continued with more messages about Ventura and Combs' sex life being read.
In a text, Ventura spoke of the 'trust' she had for the 'I'll Be Missing You' rapper, writing, 'I just think that I have to trust you beyond it just being sexual. Do you know what I mean? In order for me to be more open with the things we do in bed, this aggressive/ sexual side of me.'
The defense also questioned the 'Long Way 2 Go' singer on whether the rape lawsuit she filed against Combs in November 2023 'ruined' his career, to which Ventura replied, 'I could understand that, yeah.'
While further addressing 'Freak-Offs,' which pertained to when Ventura engaged in sexual activity with Combs and an escort, Estevao followed through on the defense's strategy to portray their client as a 'swinger' — not a criminal.
'Did you understand 'Freak-Offs' were consistent with Mr. Combs' description of the swingers lifestyle?' she asked, prompting the mom of three-to-be to reply, 'Related in a sexual way. … They're very different.'
Ventura then detailed witnessing Combs withdraw from opioid use after 'Freak-Offs' and said she would consider him 'an addict.'
She also noted on that stand that he would be 'irritated' and his mood would 'go up and down' following the extended drug use.
Estevao also asked Ventura during the cross-examination about her 'jealous' tendencies, particularly with one of Combs' other girlfriends — whom the singer described as the 'main problem' in their relationship — and the late Kim Porter, the mother of three of the rapper's seven kids.
'I had some jealousy of Ms Porter, yeah,' she confessed. The singer shared, however, that Combs also was envious of her fling with Kid Cudi and agreed with the defense that it partly due to the 'Day 'n' Nite' rapper's 'stature in the industry.'
Leading up to the trial, Reuters reported lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo planned to smear Ventura's reputation during the trial by claiming she and Combs were in a 'mutually violent' relationship.
'I think we're probably going to refer to that as domestic violence,' Agnifilo said during a jury selection hearing in Manhattan federal court last week.
Despite the defense team's attempts to hurt Ventura's credibility, the 'Numb' singer — who is expecting her third child with Fine — firmly took the stand Tuesday for more than five hours.
Throughout her bombshell testimony, Ventura, 38, recounted horrific and graphic details of her decade-long relationship with Combs, 55, which took place from 2007 to 2018.
She testified about his often unpredictable behavior and how he would hit her for simply making 'the wrong face' or talking back to him.
The very pregnant 'Long Way 2 Go' singer broke down in tears recalling how her ex would 'just become a different person.'
'The best way to describe it is his eyes just go black,' she testified. 'The version that I was in love with is no longer there.'
As evidence of the abuse, the feds released the full-length video and never-before-seen photos of a shocking domestic violence incident in which Combs physically assaulted Ventura at a hotel in 2016.
The songstress talked for the first time about what happened earlier that day, sharing that the former couple had just taken part in a 'Freak-Off' with an escort.
Ventura claimed Combs introduced her to his 'Freak-Off' sessions, in which he required her to have sex with an escort or dancer from Craigslist, when she was just 22 years old. He allegedly viewed it as 'voyeurism,' which is when a person gets turned on by watching two other individuals be intimate.
She claimed the 'Freak-Offs' occurred 'weekly' throughout most of their relationship, entailed her calling her then-boyfriend an incestuous nickname, being on multiple drugs and at times bathing herself in an inflatable pool of oil and lube ahead of performing sex acts on Combs and the escort or dancer.
The 'King of Hearts' singer alleged on the stand that the longest romp lasted four days 'or maybe even more.' She also shared that she often suffered 'painful' medical issues as a result of the 'Freak-Offs,' including stomach problems, urinary tract infections and sores on her tongue and mouth.
Despite all of the trauma that Combs put her through, Ventura said there was 'still love' at times. However, when she did want to leave the relationship, the former 'Making the Band' producer would allegedly 'blackmail' her and threaten to release intimate photos and videos of her.
The 'Love a Loser' singer testified that she did eventually break up with the 'Last Night' rapper in 2018, which allegedly led him to rape her, leaving her suicidal.
'I was spinning out,' she said on the stand Wednesday. 'I didn't want to be alive anymore at that point.'
Ventura eventually sued Combs for rape in the aforementioned November 2023 lawsuit. They settled within 24 hours. The Bad Boy Records founder claimed the agreement was not an admission of wrongdoing, though.
The 'Don't Play It Safe' singer revealed for the first time during her testimony Wednesday that Combs 'and his companies' paid her a whopping $20 million as part of their settlement.
His attorney Teny Geragos told the jury in opening statements Tuesday, 'Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case. This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money.'
The 'All About the Benjamins' rapper — who has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution — faces up to life in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.
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Mia, the pseudonym for a former assistant for Combs who he tasked with keeping an eye on Ventura, while taking the stand on May 29, described an instance in which Combs attacked Ventura at Prince's house in 2011 or 2012, according to The New York Times. 'Cass and I debated like little kids if we should sneak out of the house,' Mia reportedly said. But Combs showed up at the party. 'Oh, crap,' Mia recalled thinking when she saw her then-boss. 'Me and Cass just booked it.' When Combs caught them, he beat Cassie until a security guard for Prince interfered, according to USA Today. Mia claimed she was fired the next day for 'being insubordinate.' While on the stand, she also testified that Combs sexually assaulted her on more than one occasion. 'I couldn't tell him no about a sandwich — I couldn't tell him no about anything,' she said, according to the Times. 'There was no way I could tell him no, because then he would know that I thought what he was doing was wrong and then I would be a target.' Need help? Visit RAINN's National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center's website. Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Trump Weighs In On Possible Sean 'Diddy' Combs Pardon: 'He Used To Really Like Me' Cassie's Lawsuit Against Diddy Started A Movement Many Didn't See Coming 'Marvel Supervillain': Kid Cudi Describes Meeting With Diddy After Molotov Cocktail Hit His Porsche
