Latest news with #Freak-Offs'
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cassie Ventura reveals staggering settlement amount from Sean ‘Diddy' Combs during sex-trafficking trial
Cassie Ventura revealed she settled with ex Sean 'Diddy' Combs for $20 million after filing a bombshell lawsuit against him in 2023. 'Who paid you $20 million?' prosecutor Emily Johnson asked Ventura in court Wednesday, per The Post, as the singer took the stand as a witness for her second day of testimony in Combs' sex-trafficking trial. 'Sean and his companies,' Ventura responded. As we previously reported, Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Combs on Nov. 16, 2023, accusing him of raping her, physically abusing her and forcing her to have sex with male prostitutes while he watched and masturbated. At the time, Combs 'vehemently' denied the 'outrageous' allegations. But he settled with Ventura the following day in a then-undisclosed agreement. As she took the stand as a witness against Combs this week, Ventura gave further details into the allegations she initially laid forth in the suit. The 'Me & U' singer — who dated Combs from 2005 to 2018 — testified about shocking alleged details regarding her participation in the disgraced mogul's 'Freak-Offs.' 'The 'Freak-Offs' became a job,' Ventura, 38, told the jury on Tuesday of the wild sex- and drug-fueled parties. 'There was no time to do anything else but do them, then try to recover.' Ventura claimed Combs, 55, introduced her to the 'Freak-Offs' when she was around 22 years old and would 'direct' her and sexual partners on how to perform. 'I was in love and I just wanted to make him happy,' she told jurors, explaining why she participated in the debaucherous events. Ventura also detailed the years of alleged abuse by the rapper in her Tuesday testimony. 'He would bash me on my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me on the head if I was down,' she claimed. The 'Long Way 2 Go' songstress claimed Diddy would become violent with her over minor disagreements and would instruct her to 'fix [her] face or watch [her] mouth.' 'I also felt at certain times when I knew it wasn't even about me … make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face,' she said. In May 2024, CNN released hotel surveillance footage of the Bad Boy Records founder brutally assaulting Ventura as she tried to escape into an elevator. In response to the video being made public, Combs issued an apology, calling the scene one of 'darkest times' in his life. On Monday, an LAPD officer who was at the scene of the 2016 hotel attack testified in court that Combs offered him a stack of money in exchange for his silence about the assault. Combs is currently on trial facing charges of racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. Aside from his federal case, the 'Last Night' rapper is still looking at a long list of lawsuits from both men and women who have accused him of a range of sexual misconduct. He has denied all the allegations.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
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.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pregnant Cassie Ventura reveals in bombshell testimony the degrading demand Sean ‘Diddy' Combs often made
Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura recounted the horrific details of the alleged abuse she experienced at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Sean 'Diddy' Combs during an emotional testimony at his sex-trafficking trial. 'He would bash me on my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me on the head if I was down,' the 'Me & U' singer, who is expecting her third child with husband Alex Fine, testified from the witness stand inside Manhattan federal court Tuesday. She claimed Combs, 55, would often fight with her over minuscule disagreements, telling her to 'fix [her] face or watch [her] mouth' followed by him allegedly 'hitting' her in the face. 'I also felt at certain times … I knew it wasn't even about me … [I would] make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face,' she further testified. Ventura, 38, who appeared in the courtroom wearing a tight brown dress with her baby bump on display, also recalled how the physical assault would be so severe that she would 'get knots' in her forehead. Later in her testimony, the 'Don't Play It Safe' singer broke down in tears further describing how 'violent' Combs would allegedly get and how he would 'just become a different person.' 'His look would just change over,' she recalled. 'The best way to describe it is his eyes just go black. The version that I was in love with is no longer there.' Ventura also claimed she experienced psychological abuse 'every day' because she was always not 'knowing who he was going to be when we woke up.' The singer claimed her famous ex — who is 17 years her senior — introduced her to 'Freak-Offs' around the age of 22. She claimed Combs viewed the acts as 'voyeurism,' when a person gets turned on by seeing others engage in intimate or sexual behaviors. She claimed he would 'direct' her and her sexual partner, which was often an escort or dancer off of Craigslist, on what they should be doing, adding, 'I was in love and I just wanted to make him happy.' 'It basically entails the hiring of an escort and setting up this experience so that I could perform for Sean,' she further explained. Ventura testified that she was very 'sexually inexperienced' when she first met Combs and that he would at times make her 'feel crazy for not reciprocating' oral sex. 'I was also still in a relationship with someone else,' she added of the early days of their romance. The songstress said that if she would not want to participate in sexual acts throughout their relationship, he would become angry, which made her feel 'humiliated' and as if that was all [she] was good for.' Ventura testified that the longest 'Freak-Off' lasted four days — 'maybe even more – on and off with the breaks' — and that, in some ways, it became a 'job' for her. She would often be under the influence of drugs like ecstasy, marijuana, ketamine, GHB — also known as the 'date rape drug' — or mushrooms during these acts, per her testimony. 'I couldn't imagine myself doing any of that without having some sort of buffer or a way to not feel the way it really was, which was emotionless and sex with a stranger who I didn't want to have sex with,' she said. The 'Just One Nite' singer also mentioned the infamous baby oil Combs liked to use, alleging that he once had a inflatable pool of lube and oil inside of a hotel room. 'We poured it all over our bodies and we were glistening,' she further recalled. Ventura also recounted during her testimony a time when an escort and her then-boyfriend urinated in her mouth, which caused her to 'choke.' 'It's just as humiliating [as] if anyone was there to see it. It was disgusting, it was too much,' she said on the stand. The 'Love a Loser' singer noted that Combs once asked her what she calls her grandfather and, from then on, she referred to him as 'pop pop.' The singer said she thought the request 'was weird at the time' and now sees it as 'just disrespectful.' Ventura said she would need time to recuperate from the 'Freak-Offs,' which she participated in even while on her period, particularly because of the dehydration and drug use. She claimed the escorts were usually 'paid in the thousands' in cash. Aside from the sex, Combs allegedly 'controlled' all aspects of Ventura's life, including pressuring her to get breast implants and deterring her from certain hairstyles which he claimed made her look 'too Mexican.' He also encouraged her to get her private parts, including her clitoris and nipples, pierced. Ventura claimed he made her feel unable to leave the relationship — despite her wanting to do so. 'He's a bit of an incessant caller or he would have staff, security continue to call until you answered or called you,' she added of his alleged obsessive habits and need to assert his control. However, Ventura did note during her testimony that there was 'still love' in the relationship at times. Ventura claimed Combs would 'blackmail' her, threatening to put her videos and photos of her sexual encounters 'on the internet.' The 'Long Way 2 Go' singer — whom prosecutors dubbed 'Victim 1' — is a key witness in this case. Ahead of her court appearance, Reuters reported last week that Combs' defense team planned to accuse Ventura of domestic violence once she took the stand in attempt to take a stab at the singer's credibility. In November 2023, Ventura filed a bombshell civil lawsuit, accusing Combs of rape and abuse throughout their decade-long relationship, which took place from 2007 to 2018. Her attorneys claimed in the complaint that the 'Bad Boy for Life' rapper 'was prone to uncontrollable rage, and frequently beat Ms. Ventura savagely.' Combs quickly settled the suit for an undisclosed amount of money within 24 hours, but claimed at the time that the agreement was not an admission of wrongdoing. However, six months later, CNN released shocking surveillance video taken in 2016 of the Bad Boy Records founder dragging Ventura, his then-girlfriend, across a hotel hallway and physically beating her. The damning footage corroborated at least the abuse portion of the 'King of Hearts' singer's claims, and forced Combs to issue a public apology. Ventura's lawsuit opened the floodgates for dozens of alleged victims to come forward to accuse the 'All About the Benjamins' rapper of sexual assault and other crimes. The mom of three's claims have also proven useful for the feds' ongoing case. In September 2023, the authorities charged Combs with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. Investigators conducted a months-long probe — which included raids on the disgraced music mogul's homes in Los Angeles and Miami — and allegedly found evidence of nefarious 'Freak-Off' parties, in which illegal sexual activity allegedly occurred. Combs has pleaded not guilty and has been waiting for his trial to begin while behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, NY. Per eyewitnesses, the jail time has rapidly aged him. Meanwhile, Ventura has slowly been stepping back into the spotlight again. In March, she and Fine attended a red carpet event in London — their first since Combs' legal battle commenced.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pregnant Cassie Ventura heads to court for Sean ‘Diddy' Combs trial ahead of testimony against ex
Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura stepped out Tuesday morning looking somber ahead of her long-awaited court appearance in her ex Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex-trafficking trial. The 'Me & U' singer, who is pregnant with her and husband Alex Fine's third child, made her way to the Manhattan federal court dressed in a camel-toned trench coat, brown turtleneck and matching boots. She paired her ensemble with black sunglasses and styled her hair straight. Ventura, 38, is expected to testify Tuesday after a bombshell day of opening statements, in which prosecutors alleged Combs, 55, once forced a male escort to urinate in his then-girlfriend's mouth. Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson told the 12-person jury, which consists of eight men and four women, that the disgusting act allegedly made the 'Long Way to Go' singer feel like she was 'choking.' However, when the male escort, identified as Daniel Phillip, took the witness stand later in the day, he claimed Ventura 'told me to do it.' He added, 'And, apparently, I was doing it wrong because they both stopped me and told me I was supposed to let a little out at a time and not go full like — take a leak on her.' Ventura's testimony is expected to be very emotional, as she recounts some of the horrific details from her decade-long relationship with Combs, which took place from 2007 to 2018. She has made some of her alleged experiences known already in a scathing rape lawsuit she filed against the 'Bad Boy for Life' rapper in November 2023. Ventura claimed in that suit that Combs abused her 'physically and sexually' repeatedly as she 'tried to escape his tight hold over her life.' 'Every time she hid, Mr. Combs's vast network of corporations and affiliated entities found her, and those who worked for Mr. Combs's companies implored her to return to him,' the suit further claimed. Ventura and Combs settled their lawsuit within 24 hours, although the latter claimed the agreement was not an admission of wrongdoing. In May 2024, CNN then released shocking surveillance video of the 'Making the Band' producer dragging and beating the songstress in a hotel hallway in 2016. That damning video was played for the jury on Monday and is considered a key piece of evidence in Combs' sex-trafficking case. A security guard who was present also testified about the incident. The disgraced music mogul's legal team has reminded jurors, though, that while their client has a 'bad temper,' 'domestic violence is not sex trafficking' and he is being tried for the latter. Combs — who is accused of hosting nefarious 'Freak-Offs' — has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he is facing, including sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. It has been reported that his defense team plans to accuse Ventura of domestic violence on the stand in an attempt to take a stab at the 'King of Hearts' singer's credibility.
