*Trigger Warning* Cassie Ventura, former partner of Sean ‘P Diddy‘ Combs, has endured two days of gruelling testimony as the prosecutors’ key witness in the case against the disgraced mogul.
Outside the courtroom, Ventura’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, offered a statement to press, highlighting his client’s “powerful testimony,” stating: “Just the whole thing was powerful, and (she) told her truth. I wouldn’t want to be doing that cross-examination, that’s for sure.”
It’s largely acknowledged that without Cassie Ventura – and the lawsuit she filed against Combs in 2023 – the federal investigation, and subsequent trial, would never have happened. As such, details about what occurred during her 11-year, on-and-off relationship with Combs are considered essential to determining the federal prosecutors’ case and charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Taking the stand in her third trimester, Ventura, 38, appeared in court alongside her husband, Alex Fine, with whom she shares two (soon to be three) children.
The court heard how Ventura, then-19, first met Combs, then-37, as an aspiring artist before they entered into a romantic relationship – one that prosecutors will allege, resulted in over a decade of control, coercion and devastating trauma. Her witness account comes after day one of the trial revealed insights into the true extent of Combs’ alleged criminal behaviour.
These are the key moments from Ventura’s testimony at the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial, so far.
Day Two: All The Key Takeaways From Cassie Ventura’s Testimony
Ventura Testifies That Combs Raped Her In 2018
Cassie Tells Court That Combs Threatened Violence Against Her & Kid Cudi
Ventura Reveals Details Of 2023 Settlement
Combs Used “Freak-Off” Videos As Blackmail
Ventura Breaks Down Describing Health Issues
Day One: All The Key TakeawaysVentura Details Extent Of “Freak-Offs”
Combs Controlled Her Every Move
Jump To
All The Key Takeaways From Day Two Of Cassie Ventura’s Testimony
Ventura Testifies That Combs Raped Her In 2018
During her second day of testimony, Cassie Ventura alleged that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs had raped her in 2018 following their breakup.
The court heard how the pair had met for a “closure conversation” in Malibu earlier that day and that Combs and Ventura then returned to her home, where the alleged rape took place. She was seeing her now-husband, Alex Fine, at the time.
After a long pause, Ventura spoke, revealing the details of what occurred on that day: “And then he raped me in my living room.”
“I just remember crying and saying ‘no,’ but it was very fast,” she added, saying that she didn’t know if Combs realised she was in tears.
Ventura testified that she and Combs had consensual sex one other time after the alleged rape, and that there’s been “a few check-ins” since 2018.
“Just checking in, sending love,” she said.
Kid Cudi Is Mentioned In Ventura’s Testimony
Scott Mescudi – also known as rapper Kid Cudi – has become the first celebrity to be named during the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial, so far.
Ventura told the court that she’d dated Mescudi briefly in 2011 at a time when she and Combs “were not in a good place.” When Diddy found out he allegedly told her “he was going to hurt Scott and I.”
Mirroring a statement she’d made in her civil suit against Combs, which was settled in 2023, Ventura stated that Combs “became enraged” and threatened to blow up Kid Cudi’s car.
Around the time of the alleged threat, Kid Cudi’s car was set on fire. Representatives for Mescudi released a statement confirming the accuracy of Ventura’s description in her 2023 lawsuit.
In the original lawsuit, Ventura’s legal team had used the car bombing to provide evidence of “what Mr. Combs was both willing and able to do to those he believed had slighted him.”
Similarly, federal prosecutors in the current case have argued that the incident exemplified the kind of tactics used to operate Combs’ “racketeering enterprise”
A letter filed with the court in September 2024 by federal prosecutors read: “The defendant’s violence – whether spontaneous or premeditated – had the effect of exerting his continued control over these individuals.”
Cassie Ventura Reveals Details Of 2023 Settlement With Combs
Ventura’s 2023 lawsuit against Combs, where she accused the disgraced rapper of physical and sexual abuse, was settled for an “undisclosed sum.”
The lawsuit formed the basis for the federal investigation that led to the mogul’s arrest in September 2024.
During her second day on the stand, Cassie Ventura revealed that the amount she received from the settlement with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was US$20 million.
Combs Used “Freak-Offs” As Blackmail
Going into greater detail about how Combs allegedly used “freak-offs” to exert his control, Ventura testified that he would regularly threaten to publish videos he’d recorded of her.
She recalled one incident where Combs had allegedly threatened to do so after refusing to leave a party to join him in a “freak-of”.
“I feared for my career, my family. It’s horrible, it’s disgusting; no one should do that to anyone,” she said.
“I felt trapped,” she testified, continuing: “Whatever was going to not make him angry or threaten me I was going to do.”
Ventura Breaks Down Describing Health Issues
Ventura described how the frequency and severity of the “freak-offs” resulted in ongoing medical issues such as constant UTIs and gastrointestinal issues, as well as mouth sores from performing oral sex.
She detailed how she came to rely on opiates to “make me feel numb” and that she sought professional help for the opiate use several times during their relationship.
Speaking at length about the mental health issues she suffered as a result of that relationship, she recalled attending rehab and trauma therapy in 2023: “I was spinning out,” she told the court. “I didn’t want to be alive anymore at that point.”
Ventura referred to flashbacks she’d experienced during a shoot for a music video, after which she returned home and told her husband: “You can do this without me. You don’t need me here anymore.” before revealing that she’d tried to walk out into traffic before her husband stopped her.
All The Key Takeaways From Day One Of Cassie Ventura Testimony In Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Trial
Ventura Details Extent Of “Freak Offs”
During day one of Combs’ trial, the courtroom heard how Ventura was subjected to Combs’ infamous “freak-offs” for days on end, but as she addressed the jury, the depths of such traumatic events were revealed.
Ventura alleged that she was first introduced to the “freak-offs” by Combs when she was just 22, around 2008 and claimed that once they started, the frequency was near-weekly, until either 2017 or 2018.
When asked, she described the “freak-offs” as “the hiring of an escort and setting up this experience so that I could perform for Sean”, adding that such an act was insisted upon by Combs “to watch me with the other person and actually direct us on what we were doing.” So much so, that for Ventura: “eventually it became a job for me,”
“I felt pretty horrible about myself,” she told the court as she wiped away tears. “I felt disgusting. I felt humiliated. I didn’t have the words to show how horrible I felt. I couldn’t talk to anyone about it.”
She testified that Combs tasked her with finding escorts who would be paid between $1500 and $6000 (US) to take part in the “freak-offs”, and supplied with drugs and alcohol by Combs.
Ventura stated that the male escorts would be flown in from various locations, and that the “freak-offs” themselves were carried out across multiple cities around the world, including Los Angeles, New York, Ibiza, and Las Vegas. The details of which remain central to proving the prosecutors’ sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution charges.
Cassie Says Combs Controlled Her Every Move
Ventura told the court that Combs “controlled a lot of my life” including her career, what she wore, who her friends were and where she went.
“Control was everything,” she said, outlining how his mood could shift from day to day, and she never knew which volatile side of him she’d encounter. It was this uncertainty, she alleged, that kept Ventura in a constant state of fear.
She was also pressured to appear a certain way during the “freak-offs”, insisting her nails be painted white, she wear high heels and her hair had to styled however he wanted. “I was an object, being heavily objectified by men in that scenario.”
Ventura also testified that Combs would often take away her laptop, phone and other devices as a form of control: “It depended on how long I was being punished for.”
But his control didn’t just extend to her day-to-day life, it impacted her career. The court heard that any decision relating to her professional life had to go through Combs, stating that her manager, James Cruz, had no choice but to manage her “with one hand tied behind his back.”
Ventura Was Subjected To Violence Throughout Her Relationship With Combs
The jury was shown the 2016 video of Cassie Ventura being dragged along the hotel floor by Combs, which prompted the prosecution to ask how many times she’d been subjected to similar violence. “Too many to count,” she responded.
She alleged that he would “bash on my head, knock me over, drag me and kick me,” and that Combs “was a scary person, he would be violent.”
“Make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I would get hit in the face,” she recalled. “He would say: ‘Watch your mouth.'”
Cassie Ventura is expected to continue her testimony for Day Four of the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial, tomorrow, where she will likely face cross-examination.
Updates to come.
For a full timeline of the case and allegations leading up to this trial, see our comprehensive explainer here and explore our wider coverage at this link.
If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14.
Related articles:
- Everything To Know About The Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Trial
- The Biggest Revelations From Day One Of Diddy Trial Testimony
- Which Celebrities Will Take The Stand At P Diddy’s Trial?
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