Cassie tells court ‘freak offs’ became like a job as she alleges years of abuse by Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Sean “Diddy” Combs’s former girlfriend Cassie has told his sex-trafficking trial that “freak offs” with male escorts became like a job, as the music mogul allegedly abused and sexually exploited her for years.
The musician and model, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, did not look at Combs as she took to the witness stand in court in Manhattan, New York.
Over about six hours, the 38-year-old, who is eight months pregnant with her third child with husband Alex Fine, at times became emotional as she alleged she was degraded by her former partner during their 10-year on-off relationship.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Day 2 – As it happened
Combs made a heart gesture to family members in court. Pic: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
Ms Ventura became emotional at times. Pic: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty and strenuously denied allegations of sexual abuse. His lawyers argue that although he could be violent, he never veered into sex trafficking and racketeering, and that all sexual encounters were consensual.
Ms Ventura, who is the central witness in the prosecutors’ case, began by telling the jury how Combs was violent to her over the course of their relationship, giving her black eyes and bruises.
The hip-hop star became increasingly controlling, she said, and was allegedly abusive over the smallest perceived slights. “You make the wrong face, and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face,” she said.
Ms Ventura was 19 when she signed to his label, Bad Boy, she said, and 22 when, during the first year of their relationship, Combs first proposed a “freak off” – a sexual encounter with a third party. Her “stomach churned”, she said, and she was “confused, nervous, but also loved him very much” and wanted to please him. She described him as “charming” but “polarising”.
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Combs’s family arrive for Day 2
‘There was no space to do anything else’
Throughout her time on the stand, she gave graphic details of these drug and drink-fuelled encounters with male escorts, saying Combs would watch and masturbate, and often record the encounters and watch the videos back.
They could last for hours or even days, she said – telling the court the longest went on for four days. They ended up becoming weekly events and took priority over her music career, jurors heard. While she had hits with singles Me & U and Long Way 2 Go in 2006, and signed a 10-album deal with Bad Boy, jurors heard she only released one album.
“Freak-offs became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again,” Ms Ventura said. Each time, she added, she had to recuperate from lack of sleep, alcohol, drugs “and other substances”, and “having sex with a stranger for days”.
Read more:
The rise and fall of Sean Combs
Diddy – a timeline of allegations
Everything you need to know about the trial
Combs and Cassie pictured in 2017. Pic: zz/XPX/STAR MAX/IPx 2017/AP
Alleged violence detailed in court
Ms Ventura told the court she began feeling as if she could not say no to Combs’s demands because “there were blackmail materials to make me feel like if I didn’t do it, it would be held over my head in that way or these things would become public”.
She was also worried about potential violence, she told the court. When asked in court how frequently Combs became violent with her, Ms Ventura responded: “Too frequently.”
The rapper “would mash me in the head, knock me over, drag me, kick me”, she said. “Stomp me in the head if I was down”.
Ms Ventura also told the court that Combs kept cash, jewellery, guns and “sometimes tapes from cameras” in safes at several properties in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Alpine, New Jersey.
“The guns came out here and there. I always felt it was a little bit of a scare tactic,” she told the court.
This footage from 2016 was made public in 2024. Pic: CNN via AP
Towards the end of her first day of evidence, a surveillance video made public last year, which showed Combs allegedly beating Ms Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, was played to jurors in court for a second time.
“How many times has he thrown you like that before?” prosecutor Emily Johnson asked her.
“Too many to count,” Ms Ventura replied.
On Monday, prosecutors in their opening statement told the court that while Combs’s public persona was that of a “charismatic” hip-hop mogul, behind the scenes he was violent and abusive.
His defence lawyers argued that the case is really about nothing more than the rapper’s sexual preferences, which they said should remain private, and do not make him a sex trafficker.
The trial is to last about eight weeks.
Ms Ventura is set to continue giving evidence on Wednesday.
Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalised following a car crash in New Hampshire, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said.
Mr Giuliani suffered “a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg” when his vehicle was struck from behind while driving on a highway near Manchester on Saturday evening, according to Michael Ragusa, Mr Giuliani’s head of security.
“He sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously,” Mr Ragusa said in a statement on X, adding: “This was not a targeted attack.”
Mr Giuliani was in a rental car and “no one knew it was him”, according to Mr Ragusa.
His head of security said the 81-year-old had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” and contacted police on her behalf. The crash shortly after was “random and unrelated” to the domestic violence incident, Mr Ragusa said.
Rudy Giuliani attended Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in January. Pic: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via Reuters
Mr Giuliani, who worked as an attorney for Donald Trump in his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, is expected to be released from hospital in a few days.
His son, Andrew Giuliani, thanked people for reaching out after hearing about his father’s accident, writing on X: “Your prayers mean the world.”
“As a son, I can tell you that I’m honored to have a Dad that I can call the toughest SOB I’ve ever seen,” he added.
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US
US blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials from United Nations’ annual meeting in New York
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have been blocked from attending September’s annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has revoked the US visas of delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and denied others from applying for one.
It is the latest step by Donald Trump’s administration to target Palestinians with visa restrictions, and follows the suspension of a programme to allow injured children from Gaza to receive treatment in the US.
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general assembly in 2024, but is barred from next month’s meeting. Pic: Reuters
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” a statement from the US State Department said.
It added that, to be considered partners for peace, both groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO”.
Offensive will cause ‘intolerable deaths’
Several US allies, including France, Malta, and Australia have announced plans to recognise Palestine as a state at September’s United Nations General Assembly. Canada and the UK will too, unless Israel meets certain conditions.
Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone on Friday.
The army launched a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.
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Thick smoke rises from Gaza City after Israeli strikes
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain released a joint statement saying the military operations in Gaza City will cause “intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians”.
Gaza latest: Israel’s Gaza City offensive condemned
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in Gaza City while enduring famine.
An Israeli armoured vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday. Pic: AP
Palestinians ride a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Pic: AP
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, said Mr Abbas had planned to lead the delegation to the UN meetings and was expected to address the general assembly at the general debate, which begins on 23 September.
He was also expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on 22 September about a two-state solution, a broad idea involving Israel coexisting with an independent Palestinian state.
The State of Palestine is an observer member of the UN, meaning it can speak at meetings but not vote on resolutions.
The State of Palestine cannot vote on UN resolutions. Pic: AP
US decision ‘contravenes international law’
The Palestinian Authority “expressed its deep regret and astonishment” at the visa decision, calling it “a violation of US commitments” as the host of the UN, and claiming it “contravenes international law”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body would be seeking clarification in the “hope that this will be resolved”.
Hundreds of diplomats left when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking at the general assembly in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
Under a 1947 UN agreement, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York.
But Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
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The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 63,025, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
It also reported five more malnutrition-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number during the war to 322, with 121 of them children.
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