Cassie breaks down in tears during Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial as she tells of ‘personal shame’ and alleged rape
Cassie Ventura broke down in tears in court as she described her “personal shame” at taking part in “freak off” sex sessions for Sean Combs – and also accused him of raping her as their relationship came to an end.
During her second day of testimony, the singer and model told jurors of several alleged violent incidents and said the hip-hop mogul, who was known as Puff Daddy and Diddy throughout his career, blackmailed her with compromising videos.
At one point, the courtroom in Manhattan, New York, fell silent as sexually explicit images from “freak offs” were shown to jurors, but kept private from the public gallery. These included images of Ms Ventura and escorts.
Combs asked his lawyer Marc Agnifilo to see a binder of the images, and thumbed through it for a few moments before handing it back.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Day 3 – As it happened
Combs watched as hotel CCTV was played in the courtroom
The 55-year-old, once one of the most powerful men in the music industry, has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex-trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Prosecutors allege he used his fame and fortune to coerce Ms Ventura and other women into abusive sex sessions with escorts. His lawyers have conceded he could be violent, but argue that all sexual encounters were consensual and he never veered into sex trafficking and racketeering.
Ms Ventura, who is heavily pregnant with her third child, kept calm and composed for most of her evidence on Wednesday, but broke down at the end of the day when asked why she had chosen to testify.
“I can’t carry this anymore,” she told the court. “I can’t carry the shame, the guilt, the way he treated people like they were disposable. What’s right is right, what’s wrong is wrong. I came here to do the right thing.”
Early in 2023, she said she started suffering from “flashbacks” and had suicidal thoughts, so went to rehab and trauma therapy.
Jurors were shown images of bruises on Ms Ventura’s body
It is “impossible to know” how many “freak offs” she participated in, but it was in the hundreds, she told the court. Asked if she has been involved in any since ending the relationship in 2018, she replied: “No.”
Ms Ventura, 38, alleged that Combs raped her at her home in Los Angeles, after she told him she was ending things.
“I just remember crying and saying no, but it was very fast,” she said, her voice trailing off.
She told jurors she did have consensual sex with the rapper on a subsequent occasion. “We’d been together for over 10 years. You just don’t turn feelings off,” she said.
Ms Ventura sued Combs in November 2023, and settled within 24 hours. She received £20m, the trial was told.
Combs ‘threatened Cassie and Kid Cudi’
Ms Ventura’s second day of testimony also included details of how she briefly dated Scott Mescudi, better known as singer and rapper Kid Cudi, during a low point in her relationship with Combs in 2011.
Combs lunged at her with a corkscrew and kicked her in the back when he found out, jurors heard, and threatened to blow up Mescudi’s car.
These allegations were also detailed in her lawsuit, which alleged his car did “explode in his driveway” around this time.
During several hours on the stand, Ms Ventura told how she hid the extent of Comb’s alleged violence from loved ones, and described one incident when she allegedly suffered a “pretty significant gash” above her left eye after he threw her into a bed frame.
Rather than go to hospital, his security staff took her to a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, she said.
The hotel CCTV ‘attack’
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CCTV footage shows Diddy ‘attacking’ Cassie in hotel
An incident at a hotel in Los Angeles in March 2016, which has come up several times during the trial already, was also discussed again.
CCTV from the hotel, which was first released by CNN in May 2024, showed Combs allegedly beating Ms Ventura in a hallway.
Jurors were shown photos of her with a swollen lip following the incident as she testified. She said a friend of hers saw her injuries and was “super upset” because she’d “seen me with black eyes and busted lips before”.
She also spoke about a trip to Cannes in 2013, after which she said the rapper began playing a recording of a “freak off” on his laptop on a commercial flight to New York, with other people around them – telling her he was “going to embarrass me and release them”.
Read more:
The rise and fall of Diddy
Diddy – a timeline of allegations
Everything you need to know about the trial
Combs allegedly threw a vase during the hotel incident. Pic: Department of Justice via Reuters
Asked if the freak offs impacted her health, Ms Ventura said she had stomach problems and frequently developed urinary tract infections. She was also affected mentally, she told the court, saying they made her feel “really empty” and “gross”.
Throughout her testimony, Ms Ventura has maintained she never wanted to have sexual experiences with other people but did it at first to please the man she loved, and later out of fear. She was 22 and inexperienced when she started dating Combs, who was 17 years older, she said.
The trial continues with cross-examination of Ms Ventura from the defence tomorrow.
Entertainment
‘I’m shocked at how fragile I am still’: Cumberbatch and Colman on protecting their sanity from perils of social media
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch says he’s shocked at how “fragile” he still is – despite years in the spotlight and success in the industry.
It might seem like the Doctor Strange star and The Crown actress Olivia Colman have it all when it comes to money and success – but they are also human like the rest of us.
The pair lead the cast of new satirical black comedy The Roses, which sees picture-perfect couple Ivy and Theo Rose – a rising star chef and ambitious architect – raise their two children in California, while chasing their own dreams.
‘I am shocked at how fragile I am’
But behind its dark humour and comic language, the film also looks at the realities of power imbalance, insecurity and wounded pride – in even the strongest of relationships.
And 49-year-old Cumberbatch – whose character faces a major setback in his career – tells Sky News that in real life the glare of social media only intensifies those type of situations.
“I am shocked at how fragile I am still.
“I don’t go anywhere near it [social media] because of that.
“It’s like walking into a place where people want to marry you or kill you. Those extremes.
“I think we will get to a stage, a corporate culture that’s now manifested around it where people are obliged to do that in order to sell their lives, and therefore their brand and what they do for a living.”
Co-star Colman – who’s long-shunned the online world – agrees.
Cumberbatch and Colman in The Roses. Pic: Jaap Buitendijk/ Searchlight Pictures
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“I’m afraid I am very thin-skinned.
“I don’t look at any of it. My husband will look at a review and if it’s nice he’ll show me – but if it’s anything mean he knows to just go ‘don’t look – don’t look.’
“You just have to learn to be thicker-skinned.
“But actually, I think we need people who are sensitive and kind.”
‘Don’t do it… delete it all’
Colman – now 51, and whose leading role in The Favourite bagged her an Academy Award in 2019 – says no amount of experience and success can shield her from criticism.
“My advice to a young’un – sort of dipping their toe into the world of social media for the first time is absolutely don’t do it.
“Delete it all. If you want a happy life, don’t have any of it. I’ve never had it.”
The movie – directed by Meet The Parents’ Jay Roach with The Favourite screenwriter Tony McNamara – also calls into question the notion of success – asking, is it really possible to have it all?
Or is sacrifice inevitable when it comes to spinning the plates of a high-flying career, marriage and parenthood?
Cumberbatch admits “you can’t do it all without there being a cost”.
“You just have to weigh up what those balances are,” he adds.
Colman says “there are I suppose little sacrifices along the way” – from both sides of a relationship.
The comedy drama offers a fresh take on Warren Adler’s novel The War Of The Roses – and the 1989 hit film adaptation- starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
Colman and Cumberbatch – both producers on the film – insist they weren’t daunted by that though.
“We wanted to find a project to do together, and we have utter respect for the iconic status of the film and book,” explains Cumberbatch.
“Hopefully this will have its own place in the culture – it’s very different, it’s not a remake – it’s a reimagined jumping-on point.”
“But beyond that, it’s very different,” adds Colman.
Former Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa and Barbie’s Kate McKinnon also form the cast.
The Roses is out in UK cinemas now.
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