WARNING: This story may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
Sean (Diddy) Combs’s 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.
Testimony from Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, is central to prosecutors’ attempts to portray Combs as someone who used his status as a powerful executive to orchestrate a deviant empire of exploitation, coercing women into abusive sex parties he called “freak-offs” and becoming violent if they refused.
Lawyers for three-time Grammy winner argue that, though he could be violent, Combs never veered into sex trafficking and racketeering, telling jurors the sexual acts were consensual. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty. Testimony in the trial began Monday.
Cassie told the jury Tuesday that her relationship with Combs ran the gamut from good times to arguments and physical altercations.
“If they were violent arguments, it would usually result in some sort of physical abuse and dragging, just different things,” Cassie said. Asked how frequently Combs became violent with her, Cassie softly responded: “Too frequently.”
Cassie was first signed to Bad Boy Records in early 2006. Her interactions with Combs, who owned the label, were platonic at the beginning, she said, until he kissed her during her 21st birthday trip to Las Vegas.
When the prosecutor questioned her about “freak-offs,” she said she was barely 22 when Combs first asked her to do them. She said she was “confused, nervous, but also loved him very much.”
Cassie, noticeably pregnant on the witness stand, was emotional from the start. She would take deep breaths and sometimes paused as she spoke.
She said she didn’t feel like she could say no to Combs because she “didn’t know what ‘no’ could be, or what ‘no’ could turn into,” which she said she learned could include violence and blackmail threats.
“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,” Cassie testified.
Cassie sued Combs in 2023, alleging years of abuse. A surveillance video made public last year showed Combs beating her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. CNN aired the video last year, leading Combs to apologize.
The video, which was played for jurors Monday, shows Combs wearing only a white towel, punching, kicking and dragging Cassie in a hotel hallway. Cassie testified Tuesday that the altercation occurred after she tried to leave a freak-off.
Israel Florez, a former security officer at the hotel, testified Monday that he came across Combs while responding to a call about a woman in distress, and found Combs sitting in a chair with “a devilish stare.” Florez said Combs offered him a stack of money and said: “Don’t tell nobody.”
Florez said he refused the cash and told Combs, “I don’t want your money. Just go back into your room.”
Earlier Tuesday, the trial resumed with Combs’s lawyer questioning Daniel Phillip, a male stripper who says he was paid to have sex with Cassie while Combs watched. Phillip testified on Monday that he stopped seeing the couple after witnessing Combs assault Cassie and then drag her by her hair into a bedroom as she screamed.
Defence lawyer Xavier Donaldson pointed to Phillip’s past statements to federal prosecutors as he attempted to show inconsistencies in his recollection of events. Donaldson finished his cross-examination after suggesting that Phillip had developed a crush on Cassie and wanted to isolate her from Combs so he could be with her romantically. Phillip denied that, but admitted: “I was attracted to her. If she ever gave me the chance to date her, I absolutely would have.”
In opening statements Monday, assistant U.S. attorney Emily Johnson said Combs beat Cassie often and with little provocation, and threatened to ruin her music career by releasing videos of her engaging in sexual acts with male escorts during encounters he arranged.
Prosecution described pattern of abuse
Johnson said Combs sexually exploited and beat other women, including a woman identified only as Jane, who Combs is accused of attacking after she confronted him about the “freak-offs” — which were recorded by Combs and used as blackmail against the women to keep them in line, according to the prosecution.
Cassie’s lawsuit against Combs was settled within hours, but it was followed by dozens of similar legal claims and touched off a criminal investigation.
An attorney for Combs, Teny Geragos, told the jury on Monday that Combs’s accusers were after his money, adding that jurors might think he’s a “jerk” and might not condone his “kinky sex,” but that “he’s not charged with being a jerk.”
The Associated Press doesn’t generally identify people who say they are victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has done.
Judge Arun Subramanian says he’s inclined to grant a request by media organizations to view what a defence lawyer described as pornographic videos that will be shown to the jury as evidence in the case. But he’s giving the parties another day to make submissions on the matter.
Combs has been jailed in Brooklyn since his arrest in September. If convicted, he could get at least 15 years and up to life in prison.
Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
